Product and ingredient reference
Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Gel Exfoliant
Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Gel Exfoliant Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Gel Exfoliant ingredients explained: Water, Methylpropanediol, Butylene Glycol, Polysorbate 20, Salicylic Acid, Phytosphingosine, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Vitis Vini
Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Gel Exfoliant Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Gel Exfoliant ingredients explained: Water, Methylpropanediol, Butylene Glycol, Polysorbate 20, Salicylic Acid, Phytosphingosine, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Extract, Camellia Oleifera (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Epilobium Angustifolium Extract, Bisabolol, Tetrasodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide Show all ingredients by function Water solvent Methylpropanediol Butylene Glycol moisturizer/humectant, solvent 0, 1 Polysorbate 20 emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing 0, 0 Salicylic Acid exfoliant, anti-acne, soothing, preservative superstar Phytosphingosine skin-identical ingredient, cell-communicating ingredient, anti-acne, antimicrobial/antibacterial goodie Hydroxyethylcellulose viscosity controlling Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Extract antioxidant, antimicrobial/antibacterial Camellia Oleifera (Green Tea) Leaf Extract antioxidant, soothing Epilobium Angustifolium Extract Bisabolol soothing Tetrasodium EDTA chelating Sodium Hydroxide buffering Good old water, aka H2O. The most common skincare ingredient of all. You can usually find it right in the very first spot of the ingredient list, meaning it’s the biggest thing out of all the stuff that makes up the product. It’s mainly a solvent for ingredients that do not like to dissolve in oils but rather in water. Expand to read more Once inside the skin, it hydrates, but not from the outside - putting pure water on the skin (hello long baths!) is drying. One more thing: the water used in cosmetics is purified and deionized (it means that almost all of the mineral ions inside it is removed). Like this, the products can stay more stable over time. It's a type of glycol that - according to the manufacturer - is an extremely good replacement for other glycols like propylene or butylene glycol. Its main job is to be a solvent, but it has also very good antimicrobial properties and acts as a true preservative booster. Also helps with skin hydration without stickiness or tacky feel. Butylene glycol, or let’s just call it BG, is a multi-tasking colorless, syrupy liquid. It’s a great pick for creating a nice feeling product. BG’s main job is usually to be a solvent for the other ingredients. Other tasks include helping the product to absorb faster and deeper into the skin (penetration enhancer), making the product spread nicely over the skin (slip agent), and attracting water (humectant) into the skin. It’s an ingredient whose safety hasn’t been questioned so far by anyone (at least not that we know about). BG is approved by Ecocert and is also used enthusiastically in natural products. BTW, it’s also a food additive. It's a common little helper ingredient that helps water and oil to mix together. Also, it can help to increase the solubility of some other ingredients in the formula. It's one of the gold standard ingredients for treating problem skin It can exfoliate skin both on the surface and in the pores It's a potent anti-inflammatory agent It's more effective for treating blackheads than acne For acne combine it with antibacterial agents like benzoyl peroxide or azelaic acid It's a type of lipid, a so-called sphingoid base that can be found naturally in the upper layer of the skin. It's found both in "free-form" and as part of famous skin lipids, ceramides. There is emerging research about Phytosphingosine that shows that it has antimicrobial and cell-communicating properties and is considered part of the skin's natural defense system. A 2007 study showed that Phytosphingosine even works against evil acne-causing bacteria, Propionibacterium acnes and shows promise as a complementing active ingredient in treating acne-prone skin thanks to its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities. A nice one to spot in the ingredient list. :) A nice little helper ingredient that can thicken up cosmetic products and create beautiful gel formulas. It's derived from cellulose, the major component of the cell wall of green plants. It is compatible with most what‑it‑does moisturizer/humectant | solvent irritancy, com. emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing exfoliant | anti-acne | soothing | preservative skin-identical ingredient | cell-communicating ingredient | anti-acne | antimicrobial/antibacterial antioxidant | antimicrobial/antibacterial antioxidant | soothing