yavuzyilmaz/cosmetic-ingredients huggingface dataset:
Hexylene Glycol
Similar to other glycols , it's a helper ingredient used as a solvent , or to thin out thick formulas and make them more nicely spreadable. Hexylene Glycol is also part a preservative blend named Lexgard® HPO, where it helps the effectiveness of current IT-preservative, phenoxyethanol .
Camellia Oleifera  Leaf Extract
Camellia Oleifera is a type of green tea plant that's mostly known for the oil that comes from its seeds. As for the leaves, it has similar properties as the better known and more often used Camellia Sinensis leaves. You can read all the geeky details about green tea  and why it's awesome by clicking here , but in short, it has antioxidants and anti-inflammatory magic properties.
Tetrasodium EDTA
A handy helper ingredient that helps products to remain nice and stable for a longer time . It does so by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula (that usually get into there from water) that would otherwise cause some not so nice changes.
Methylpropanediol
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.
Ammonium Glycolate
A synthetic form of famous  AHA, glycolic acid . Usually used as a pH adjuster to make sure the product has the right pH (usually pH 3-4) for exfoliation to do its magic.
Hamamelis Virginiana  Leaf Extract
The extract created from the leaves of the hazelnut-bush-like-magic-tree, commonly called Witch Hazel. We have gone into detail about Witch Hazel in cosmetic products here (it's astringent, soothing, antioxidant and antibacterial), but the important part to know about the leaves is that they contain much, much less active components than the bark . In fact, it contains hardly any tannins (only 0.04%) and the most active component in the leaves is the antibacterial gallic acid . Too many tannins can be very astringent and irritating to the skin, so this is not necessarily a bad thing. Even the small amount of active components in the leaves seem to give it nice soothing, astringent, and antibacterial properties . You can read much more about witch hazel here .
Galactoarabinan
Galactoarabinan is a natural polysaccharide (a big carbohydrate molecule) that comes from the Larch trees. According to the manufacturer it can do all kinds of good in a formula: it can reduce trans-epidermal-water-loss (a fancy way of saying that it's moisturizing ), improve the appearance of skin’s superficial fine lines, improve the uniformity and spreadability of a formulation and provides SPF enhancement . What's more it can also help to boost the efficacy of AHA exfoliants (while not boosting the irritation side effect).
Adenosine
Adenosine is an important little compound in our body that has a vital cell-signalling role . Research on smearing it on our face is also promising and shows so far a couple of things: It can help with wound healing It’s a good anti-inflammatory agent It might even help with skin’s own collagen production and improve skin firmness and elasticity It helps with barrier repair and protection It might be even useful for the hair helping with hair thickness and hair growth
Glucose
A fancy name for sugar . Luckily when you put it on your skin it's good for you not like when you eat it. :) It has water-binding properties, which means that it helps to keep your skin nice and hydrated .
Fructose
Fancy name for fruit sugar . It has nice water-binding properties and helps to keep skin hydrated .
Dextrin
A little helper ingredient that can be a thickener, a humectant, a foam booster, an adhesion promoter and a filler. It's a blend of polysaccharides that helps to moisturize and soften the skin.
Urea
Yes, it's the thing that can be found naturally in pee. And in the skin. It is an awesome natural moisturizing factor, aka NMF. NMFs are important components that help the skin to hold onto water and keep it plump, elastic and hydrated. Urea makes up about 7% of NMFs next to other things such as amino acids (40%), PCA (12%) or Lactate (12%). What makes urea special, is that it is not only a simple moisturizer, but it is thought to be a " small-molecule regulator of epidermal structure and function " meaning that it has a bunch of extra biological activities. It acts as a mild keratolytic agent (some of its moisturizing action is thought to come from urea's ability to break down bonds in the protein called filaggrin and thus freeing up amino acids in the skin), enhances antimicrobial peptide expression and improves skin barrier function . Being a mild keratolytic agent and strong moisturizer means that high-percentage (10-40%) urea treatments are found effective in a bunch of skin disorders connected to excessive dryness and malfunctioning skin barrier such as ichthyosis, xerosis, psoriasis, eczema and seborrheic dermatitis. Overall , just like glycerin , urea is a real oldie but a goodie, a nice ingredient in any moisturizer.
Sucrose
A type fo sugar , usually refined from cane or beet sugar. On the skin, it has water-binding properties and helps to keep your skin hydrated .
Alanine
A non-essential amino acid (a building block of skin proteins like collagen or elastin) that hydrates the skin .
Glutamic Acid
Glutamic acid is a little molecule and non-essential (our body can synthesize it) amino acid with the important job of being a neurotransmitter in the human body meaning that it helps your nervous system work correctly. As for what it's doing in cosmetics, Glutamic acids' main thing (similar to other amino acids) is being a humectant moisturizer and skin-conditioning agent (sidenote: if you attach lots of glutamic acid molecules, you get polyglutamic acid that is claimed to be a better than hyaluronic acid humectant). It also seems to affect skin barrier repair, however, it is not clear-cut in which direction. The complication is that glutamic acid has two distinct forms, L-glutamic acid and D-glutamic acid, that are the mirror images of each other (think of it like your left and right hand). Studies show that a topical application of L-glutamic acid on damaged skin delayed skin repair, while D-glutamic acid application sped up skin repair. As both forms are used by the industry, it is a bit uncertain what you are getting with just glutamic acid on the ingredient list (but if it is a  Shiseido group product, it is probably the goodie D-form :)). Other than that, Glutamic acid can also be used as a pH adjuster and can be processed via biological pathways into pyrrolidone carboxylic acid, the sodium salt of which is a goodie and one of your skin’s natural moisturizing factors.
Hexyl Nicotinate
There is not too much info out there about Hexyl Nicotinate. It's an emollient, moisturizer ingredient. Also according to this study it increases blood flow.
Biotin
Also called vitamin H , biotin is the main component of many enzymes in our body. A nice ingredient to take as a supplement for stronger nails and hair. When you do not take it as a supplement its effects are a bit more questionable but according to manufacturer info it can smooth the skin and strengthen the hair .
Caprylic/​Capric Triglyceride
A super common emollient that makes your skin feel nice and smooth . It comes from coconut oil and glycerin, it’s light-textured, clear, odorless and non-greasy. It’s a nice ingredient that just feels good on the skin, is super well tolerated by every skin type and easy to formulate with. No wonder it’s popular.
Corylus Avellana  Seed Oil
It's the oil that comes from the edible hazelnuts. Just like many other plant oils, it's a great emollient, moisturizer , skin softener. It has a light skin feeling, spreads easily and absorbs quickly into the skin. It's rich in nourishing fatty acid, oleic containing about 66-85%.
Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/​Dicaprate
Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate is an emollient that leaves a light, non-oily smooth and velvet skin sensation . According to manufacturer info it's also great at dispersing and dissolving pigments and sunscreen actives. Most often you will meet this guy in light moisturizers, sunscreens or makeup products.
Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil
The emollient plant oil that comes from almonds . Similar to other plant oils, it is loaded with skin-nourishing fatty acids ( oleic acid - 55-86% and linoleic acid 7-35%) and contains several other skin goodies such as antioxidant vitamin E and vitamin B versions. It's a nice, basic oil that is often used due to its great smoothing, softening and moisturizing properties . It's also particularly good at treating dry brittle nails ( source ).
Triticum Vulgare Germ Extract
It's a plant extract that comes from wheat germ. Used as skin- and hair conditioner and skin protectant . Contains gluten, if you are allergic.
Sodium Benzoate
A helper ingredient that helps to make the products stay nice longer, aka preservative . It works mainly against fungi. It’s pH dependent and works best at acidic pH levels (3-5). It’s not strong enough to be used in itself so it’s always combined with something else, often with potassium sorbate .
Pentylene Glycol
A multi-functional, silky feeling helper ingredient that can do quite many things. It's used as an emulsion stabilizer , solvent and a broad spectrum antimicrobial . According to manufacturer info , it's also a moisturizer and helps to make the product feel great on the skin. It works synergistically with preservatives and helps to improve water-resistance of sunscreens.
Panax Ginseng Root Extract
A traditional Korean medicine used for more than 2000 years. Regarding skin care, its main thing seems to be enhancing skin nutrition and metabolism as a result of improving blood circulation . It also contains biologically active components referred to as ginseng saponins (ginsenosides) that have potent antioxidant properties .
Retinyl Palmitate
It's an ester form of vitamin A (retinol + palmitic acid) that belongs to the "retinoid family" . The retinoid family is pretty much the royal family of skincare, with the king being the FDA-approved anti-aging ingredient tretinoin . Retinol is also a very famous member of the family, but it's like Prince George , two steps away from the throne. Retinyl palmitate will be then Prince Charlotte (George's little sister), quite far (3 steps) away from the throne. By steps, we mean metabolic steps. Tretinoin, aka retinoic acid, is the active ingredient our skin cells can understand and retinyl palmitate (RP) has to be converted by our metabolic machinery to actually do something. The conversion is a 3 step one and looks like this: retinyl palmitate --> retinol -- > retinaldehyde --> all-trans-retinoic acid As we wrote in our lengthy retinol description the problem is that the conversion is not terribly effective. The evidence that RP is still an effective anti-aging ingredient is not very strong, in fact, it's weak. Dr. Leslie Baumann in her fantastic Cosmetic Dermatology book writes that RP is topically ineffective . What's more, the anti-aging effectiveness is not the only questionable thing about RP. It also exibits questionable behaviour in the presence of UV light and was the center of a debate between the non-profit group, EWG (whose intentions are no doubt good, but its credibility is often questioned by scientists) and a group of scientists and dermatologists lead by Steven Q. Wang, MD,  director of dermatologic surgery at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre. Dr. Leslie Baumann wrote a great review of the debate and summarized the research available about retinyl palmitate here .  It seems that there is a study showing RP being photo protective against UVB rays but there is also a study showing RP causing DNA damage and cytotoxicity in association with UVA. We think that the truth lies somewhere in the middle , and we agree with Dr. Baumann's conclusion: " sufficient evidence to establish a causal link between RP and skin cancer has not been produced. Nor, I’m afraid, are there any good reasons to recommend the use of RP ". We would add especially during the day! Bottom line : If you wanna get serious about retinoids, RP is not your ingredient ( retinol or tretinoin is!). However, if you use a product that you like and it also contains RP, there is no reason to throw it away. If possible use it at night, just to be on the safe side.
BHA
It's the acronym for Butylated Hydroxy Anisole. It's a synthetic antioxidant that's used as a preservative . It's a somewhat controversial ingredient : The U.S. National Institutes of Health says that BHA is "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen based on evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals" (source: wikipedia ). But, and this is a big but: these experiments were made on animals and BHA was used in high doses as part of their diet. There is no evidence that the same is true when used in tiny amounts in cosmetics products. So you probably have nothing to worry about, but if you are a better safe than sorry type there are plenty of nice products without BHA to choose from. :)
Polyacrylamide
It's a film-forming and thickening polymer (a large molecule composed of many repeated subunits) that comes to the formula usually as part of an emulsifier, thickener trio (with C13-14 Isoparaffin and Laureth-7 , trade named Sepigel 305). This trio is an easy-to-use liquid that helps to create nice, non-tacky gel formulas .
Ethyl Linolenate
A type of oil soluble vitamin F that is used as an emollient . Read more at ethyl oleate .
P-Anisic Acid
Though the official function of P-Anisic Acid is masking (meaning that it helps to mask not so nice smells in the product), according to manufacturer info it is rather used as a preservative. It is a skin friendly organic acid that works against fungi .
Cetearyl Alcohol
An extremely common multitasker ingredient that gives your skin a nice soft feel (emollient) and gives body to creams and lotions. It also helps to stabilize oil-water mixes (emulsions), though it does not function as an emulsifier in itself. Its typical use level in most cream type formulas is 2-3%. It’s a so-called fatty alcohol, a mix of cetyl and stearyl alcohol, other two emollient fatty alcohols.  Though chemically speaking, it is alcohol (as in, it has an -OH group in its molecule), its properties are totally different from the properties of low molecular weight or drying alcohols such as denat. alcohol . Fatty alcohols have a long oil-soluble (and thus emollient) tail part that makes them absolutely non-drying and non-irritating and are totally ok for the skin.
Cetyl Palmitate
A white, waxy emollient that gives "body" to skincare formulas. Comes from coconut or palm kernel oil.
BHT
It's the acronym for Butylated Hydroxy Toluene. It's a common synthetic antioxidant that's used as a preservative. There is some controversy around BHT. It's not a new ingredient, it has been used both as a food and cosmetics additive since the 1970s. Plenty of studies tried to examine if it's a carcinogen or not. This Truth in Aging article details the situation and also writes that all these studies examine BHT when taken orally. As for cosmetics, the CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review) concluded that the amount of BHT used in cosmetic products is low (usually around 0.01-0.1%),  it does not penetrate skin far enough to be absorbed into the bloodstream and it is safe to use in cosmetics.
Magnesium Chloride
A kind of salt that's used as a thickener in cosmetic products.
Laureth-7
A not-very-interesting helper ingredient that is used as an emulsifier and/or surfactant . Comes from a coconut oil derived fatty alcohol, lauryl alcohol.
Vinegar
The thing that you put on your salad with some olive oil. But in a more scientific sense vinegar is usually a 5% solution of acetic acid. It's used in cosmetic products to adjust pH . Larg amounts of vinegar on the skin could be irritating and drying.
C13-14 Isoparaffin
It's a petroleum derived emollient and thickener . It often comes to the formula as part of an emulsifier, thickener trio (with Polyacrylamide and Laureth-7 ). This trio is an easy-to-use liquid that helps to create nice, non-tacky gel formulas.
Serine
Serine is an amino acid that most often comes to the formula as part of a moisturizing complex. It's a non-essential amino acid (meaning that our body can synthesize it) and serves as a water-binding ingredient. In general, amino acids are great skincare ingredients that play an important role in proper skin hydration but there is not much info out there about what specifically serine can do for the skin.
Cetearyl Isononanoate
It's a clear, slightly yellowish oil (comes from coconut or palm kernel oil) that is used as a traditional, medium spreading emollient .
Cochlearia Armoracia Root Extract
Horseradish seems to be a rarely used plant extract with little info about what it's doing in a cosmetic product. Some sources say that it's purifying and stimulating , while others say that it's antibacterial and anti-inflammatory . Paula Begoun thinks that horseradish is an irritant, but she does not cite any sources.
Sodium Lactate
The sodium salt of lactic acid . It's a great skin moisturizer and also used to regulate the pH value of the cosmetic formula. It's a natural ingredient approved by both ECOCERT and COSMOS.
Sodium Salicylate
The sodium salt of salicylic acid . CosIng (the official EU cosmetic ingredient database) says that it's a preservative and helps to make the product taste bad (called denaturant), while some manufacturer claims that it has exfoliating properties and is antimicrobial. It's good to know, that the salt of an exfoliant is a neutralized form, so if you want to go for exfoliation stick to the pure acid.
Arctium Lappa Root Extract
Burdock root is a goodie plant extract that has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Also, it has some anti-fungal and seborrhea regulation magic powers that make the ingredient especially useful for greasy and flaky skin and scalp.
Arnica Montana Flower Extract
A nice yellow flower living in the mountains. It has been used as a herbal medicine for centuries, though its effect on skin is rather questionable . It's most famously used to treat bruisings , but there are some studies that show that it's not better than placebo (source: wikipedia ).  Also, some consider it to be anti-inflammatory, while other research shows that it can cause skin irritation.
Tea-Lactate
The salt form of lactic acid. It works as a moisturizer in skin care products.
Rumex Acetosa Leaf Extract
Searching high and low, all we could find about Rumex Acetosa is that it's the fancy name for sorrel and its function in cosmetics products seems to be an emollient .
Phytic Acid
Though its name says acid, it's not really an exfoliant. It's a plant extract with some antioxidant properties. Its main thing in cosmetic products is to neutralize the metal ions in the formula (that usually get into there from water) that would otherwise cause some not so nice changes.  It's a natural alternative to sometimes bad-mouthed chelating agents, EDTAs .
Sorbitol
It's a sweet tasting sugar substitute that helps your skin to hold onto water when used in cosmetic products. It also helps to thicken up products and give them a bit more slip.
Myrtus Communis Extract
Myrtle is a nice evergreen shrub that's native to the Mediterranian region. When it comes to skincare it seems to have some pros and cons . On the pro side, it has antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, works as an astringent and might be useful for acne-prone skin. On the con side, it contains essential oils and other not-so-nice components (like 1,8-cineole, linalool, eugenol) that can be a skin irritant and might be worth avoiding if your skin is sensitive. If you wanna know everything about this plant you can read this microbiological reasearch paper about it.
Allium Cepa Bulb Extract
You probably meet this guy more often in your kitchen than in the bathroom, but yes, onion extract is also used as a skincare ingredient. Its major skin benefit seems to be that it can improve the cosmetic appearance of postsurgical scars (there is also a scar-fading gel called Mederma, that has hardly anything else in it but onion extract). We also saw some manufacturer claims that onion is not only a scar healer, but it has also antibacterial and antifungal activity, it can help to reduce acne and stimulate hair growth .
Malic Acid
Malic acid comes from apple and is an AHA . If these magic three letters don’t tell you anything, click here and read our detailed description on glycolic acid , the most famous AHA. So malic acid is an exfoliant , that can - just like other AHAs - gently lift off the dead skin cells of your skin and make it more smooth and fresh. There is not much research out there about malic acid itself. We could find one comparative study, that compared the effectiveness of glycolic acid, lactic acid, citric acid and malic acid. The first two ones were the winners while malic and citric acid were less effective.
Commiphora Myrrha Resin Extract
A yellow-brown viscous liquid with a balsamic smell. It's a natural antiseptic, astringent and disinfectant . As an antibacterial, it might help acne prone skin and greasy hair.  As a strong fragrant gum, it is also a potential skin irritant .
Ethyl Oleate
It's a Vitamin F Ethyl Ester, that is used as an emollient . Coupled with other two forms of vitamin F ethyl ester ( ethyl linoleate and ethyl linolenate ), the trio is intended to treat dry, seborrheic skin with damaged lipid barrier and dry scalps with brittle and shine-less hair.
Sulfur
A yellowish element that smells of rotten eggs and it might be familiar to you from the periodic table (has the symbol S in there).  It has a long history of medicinal use thanks to its antifungal, antibacterial and keratolytic activity .   It used to be a very common ingredient in the treatment of inflammation-related skin diseases such as acne, rosacea and seborrheic dermatitis , however, due to its malodorousness, it is less popular nowadays. Sulfur's precise mechanism of action is not known, but we do know that its effectiveness depends on its direct interaction with the skin surface, meaning the smaller the particle size, the better the effect. The United States Pharmacopeia lists two types of sulfur, sublimed and precipitated. The latter one has a smaller particle size and counts as a superior version. Sulfur is also a team-player and works well when combined with other anti-acne agents, such as salicylic acid or sodium sulfacetamide . In fact, the combination of 10% sodium sulfacetamide and 5% sulfur is the active ingredient duo of several Rx-only anti-acne products. As for the disadvantages , there is the rotten egg smell.  Also in higher concentrations, it might cause a mild burning sensation and dry skin .  If you are new to sulfur, patch testing it first is a good idea.
Thymus Vulgaris  Flower/​Leaf Oil
Thyme oil is an essential oil with some pros and cons to it. On the up side, it has potent antioxidant and antibacterial properties but on the downside, it has fragrant components that might irritate skin .