yavuzyilmaz/cosmetic-ingredients huggingface dataset:
Caffeine
Hello, our favorite molecule that helps us wake up in the morning and then keeps us going through the day. As a super well-known stimulant from coffee , tea and plenty of other soft drinks, Caffeine needs no introduction. So we will skip right to the part where we talk about what the hell it does in so-so many cosmetic products. Looking at the research, we were surprised to find how versatile Caffeine is. It is a small, water-loving molecule with pretty good skin penetration abilties. Once in the skin, it has nice antioxidant properties , meaning that it reduces the formation of evil free radicals and it might even be useful in preventing UV-induced skin cancers. A well-known thing about Caffeine is that it improves the microcirculation of the blood vessels . Though conventional wisdom and anecdotal evidence says that this property is helpful for dark under-eye circles and puffy eyes , we have to mention that the double-blind research we have found about a 3% caffeine gel concluded that " the overall efficacy of the selected caffeine gel in reducing puffy eyes was not significantly different from that of its gel base ."  But you know, the proof is in the pudding. Another thing Caffeine is used for in body care products is its anti-cellulite effects . In theory, it can speed up the lipolysis process (the "fat burning"  by our cells) and stimulate the draining lymph system that might lead to the improvement of cellulite. But here again, the evidence that it actually makes a measurable, let alone visible,  improvement on actual human beings is limited (we could find only some animal skin studies or caffeine being combined with other actives). Last, but not least, we have to write about caffeine and hair growth . The theory is that it can inhibit the activity of the 5-α-reductase enzyme that plays an important role in hair loss and allows a renewed growth phase of the hair. We have found some recent and promising research to back this up. A 2017 study compared a 0.2% caffeine liquid with a 5% Minoxidil  (an FDA approved active to treat baldness) solution and found that  " a caffeine-based topical liquid should be considered as not inferior to minoxidil 5% solution in men with androgenetic alopecia ", or English translation means that the caffeine liquid was pretty much as good as the FDA-approved Minoxidil stuff. Not bad! Overall , we think that caffeine is a very versatile and biologically active ingredient. Even though some of its effects are more hyped up than backed up, it is still a nice to have on many ingredient lists.
Betula Alba Bark Extract
It's the extract from the silver-white bark of the Birch tree that grows on moors in North and Middle Europe and in North America. It contains tannins and triterpenes that give the extract antioxidant, anti-irritant and astringent magic properties. There is also research showing that birch bark extract can improve the skin barrier , increase skin hydration and reduce trans-epidermal water loss.  Can be a useful ingredient both for dry and oily skin.
Silybum Marianum Extract
The extract of a plant with nice purple flowers that's loaded with the phytochemical called silymarin . You have probably never heard of silymarin but let us tell you it's a pretty awesome ingredient. There are quite a lot of research showing it can do all kinds of good things when taken orally : it has a proven ability to protect you from liver damage, and it also shows powerful antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, protective and regenerative properties with no more side effects than placebo. But what about skincare? Well, there is less research about its topical use but it definitely deserves the goodie status: it's a potent antioxidant, an anti-inflammatory agent and it's  also a great UV-protectant . It's useful as a complementary treatment for rosacea, keeping the skin hydrated and it's also a super nice addition to any sunscreen product thanks to its unique UV-protecting abilities.
Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract
There are two primary types of Chamomile, the German and the Roman. Both has soothing properties, but the German one contains more anti-inflammatory actives (like chamazulene). The anti-inflammatory action of the Roman Chamomile is due to phenolic compounds and - according to manufacturer info - it also has some nice skin toning properties.
Cyclohexasiloxane
A light-feeling, volatile (meaning it does not absorb into the skin but evaporates from it) silicone that gives skin a unique, silky and non-greasy feel . It has excellent spreading properties and leaves no oily residue or build-up.
PPG-5-Ceteth-20
A helper ingredient that can solubilize challenging oils and oil-loving actives into cleansing products. It also has emollient, emulsifying , and wetting properties.
Oleth-10
A useful ingredient that helps water and oil to mix nicely together ( emulsifier ). It has a liquide-pasty texture and is recommended for skincare, haircare and shaving products.
Dimethicone
Probably the most common silicone of all. It is a polymer (created from repeating subunits) molecule and has different molecular weight and thus different viscosity versions from water-light to thick liquid. As for skincare, it makes the skin silky smooth , creates a subtle gloss and forms a protective barrier (aka occlusive). Also, works well to fill in fine lines and wrinkles and give skin a plump look (of course that is only temporary, but still, it's nice). There are also scar treatment gels out there using dimethicone as their base ingredient. It helps to soften scars and increase their elasticity. As for hair care, it is a non-volatile silicone meaning that it stays on the hair rather than evaporates from it and smoothes the hair like no other thing. Depending on your hair type, it can be a bit difficult to wash out and might cause some build-up (btw, this is not true to all silicones, only the non-volatile types).
Hydroxyethyl Urea
A derivative of Urea , that works as a strong moisturizer and humectant meaning that it helps the skin to cling onto water and thus to make it hydrated and elastic. According to manufacturer's data ,  Hydroxyethyl Urea has a similar moisturizing ability to glycerin (measured at 5%), but it feels nicer on the skin as it is non-sticky and non-tacky and gives a lubricous and moist feeling to the skin.
PEG-8
A smallish polymer molecule (created from repeated units of Polyethylene glycol, aka PEG) that's used as a solubilizer and viscosity control agent . It is a clear, colorless liquid that is water-soluble and water-binding (aka humectant) and can help to solubilize sparingly-water soluble things (e.g. vanilla, perfumes) into water-based formulas. Thanks to its water-binding ability, it also prevents the drying out of formulas , especially when combined with the fellow hygroscopic agent, sorbitol .
Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate
A form of skincare superstar, Vitamin C . If you do not know, what the big deal about Vitamin C is, click here and read all about it , we will wait here for you. So now you know that pure vitamin C (aka ascorbic acid, AA) is really unstable and hard to formulate so the cosmetics industry is coming up with a bunch of derivatives to solve the problem and Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate (or MAP) is one of them. MAP does solve the stability problem: it's stable up to pH 7, so far so good. What is not so good is that, as the great review study about vitamin C derivatives in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology writes, MAP is "at very best, poorly absorbed in comparison to AA." Moreover,  derivatives not only have to be absorbed into the skin, they also have to be converted into pure AA. The good news is that in-vitro data shows that MAP does convert , but the bad news is we do not really know if the same is true on real, living human skin. Even if it does, we don't know how good the conversion rate is (but to be fair the same is true for all other derivatives ). Regarding the three magic abilities of pure vitamin C (antioxidant, collagen booster, skin brightener), there is no published data about MAP's antioxidant or photoprotection capabilities. We have better news about the other two things: in-vitro data shows that MAP can boost collagen synthesis similar to AA (though in the case of AA it's proven in-vivo) and even better, MAP is proven to work as a skin brightener in-vivo (on real people). Bottom line : when it comes to vitamin C derivatives, MAP is definitely an option. We especially recommend it if you are after skin brightening as this seems to be the strongest point of MAP.
Behentrimonium Methosulfate
In itself, it's an antistatic (stops your hair from flying around because of electricity), hair conditioning and softening ingredient used mainly in haircare products. Coupled with Cetearyl Alcohol , they form an easy to handle, super stable emulsifier duo that has exceptional spreadability and gives a pleasant final touch to the products.
Ceramide NP
One of the many types of ceramides that can be found naturally in the upper layer of the skin. Ceramides make up about 50% of the goopy stuff that's between our skin cells and play a super important role in having a healthy skin barrier and keeping the skin hydrated . It works even better when combined with its pal, Ceramide 1. We wrote way more about ceramides at ceramide 1, so click here to know more.
Cholesterol
It's one of the important lipids that can be found naturally in the outer layer of the skin. About 25% of the goopy stuff between our skin cells consists of cholesterol . Together with ceramides and fatty acids, they play a vital role in having a healthy skin barrier and keeping the skin hydrated. Apart from being an important skin-identical ingredient, it's also an emollient and stabilizer .
Ci 14700
A common colorant that gives products a nice red color.
Ceramide EOP
Ceramides get quite a lot of hype recently and good news: there is a reason for that. But before we go into the details, let's just quickly define what the heck ceramides are: They are waxy lipids that can be found naturally in the outer layer of the skin (called stratum corneum - SC). And they are there in big amounts! The goopy stuff between our skin cells is called extracellular matrix that consists mainly of lipids. And ceramides are about 50% of those lipids (the other important ones are cholesterol with 25% and fatty acids with 15%). Ok, so now we know what ceramides are, let's see what they do in our skin: research shows clearly that they play a super important role in keeping the skin barrier healthy and the skin hydrated . If ceramides in the skin are decreased, more water can evaporate from the skin and there is less water remaining in the skin. So ceramides form kind of a "water-proof" protecting layer and make sure that our skin remains nice and hydrated. Now the question is only this: If we put ceramides all over our face do they work as well as ceramides already naturally in our skin? Well, the answer is probably a no, but they do work to some extent. The BeautyBrains blog made a fantastic article about ceramides and they have listed a couple of examples about studies showing that ceramides - especially when used in certain ratios with cholesterol and fatty acids  - do hydrate the skin and can help to repair the skin barrier . So far we were writing about ceramides in plural. It's because there are lots of different ceramides, a 2014 article writes that currently 12 base classes of ceramides are known with over 340 specific species. Chemically speaking, ceramides are the connection of a fatty acid and a sphingoid base and both parts can have different variations that result in the different types of ceramides. Our current one, Ceramide 1, or more recently called Ceramide EOP, was the first one that was identified in 1982 and it's a special snowflake. It contains the essential fatty acid, linoleic acid and has a unique structure. It's believed that ceramide 1 plays a "binding role" in the lipid layers of the extracellular matrix. Along with ceramides 4 and 7, they also play a vital role in epidermal integrity and serve as the main storage areas for linoleic acid (a fatty acid that's also very important for barrier repair). Oh, and one more thing: alkaline pH inhibits enzymes that help ceramide synthesis in our skin. So if you use a soap and you notice your skin is becoming dry, now you know why.
Stearyl Alcohol
A handy multi-tasker, white to light yellowish oil-loving wax that works very well in oil-in-water emulsions.  It makes your skin feel nice and smooth (emollient), stabilizes oil-water mixes and gives body to them. Oh, and one more thing: it's a so-called fatty alcohol - the good, emollient type of alcohol that is non-drying and non-irritating. It is often mixed with fellow fatty alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol , and the mixture is called Cetearyl Alcohol in the ingredient list.
Ceramide AP
A type of ceramide that can be found naturally in the upper layer of the skin. Ceramides make up 50% of the goopy stuff that's between our skin cells and play a super important role in having a healthy skin barrier and keeping the skin hydrated. We have written way more about ceramides at ceramide 1, so click here to know more .
Potassium Phosphate
It’s a little helper ingredient that helps to set the pH of a cosmetic formulation to be just right.
PEG-40 Stearate
A common water-loving surfactant and emulsifier that helps to keep water and oil mixed nicely together.
Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate
A helper ingredient that's used as a co-emulsifier (meaning next to other emulsifiers in the formula it helps water and oil to mix) and as a stabilization agent for foams . Also, has some antimicrobial activity so it can help to boost the effectiveness of the preservative system.
Phytosphingosine
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. :)
Methylparaben
The most common type of feared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason parabens . It's a cheap, effective and well-tolerated ingredient to make sure the cosmetic formula does not go wrong too soon . Apart from the general controversy around parabens (we wrote about it more here ), there is a 2006 in-vitro (made in the lab not on real people) research about methylparaben (MP) showing that when exposed to sunlight, MP treated skin cells suffered more harm than non-MP treated skin cells . The study was not done with real people on real skin but still - using a good sunscreen next to MP containing products is a good idea. (Well, in fact using a sunscreen is always a good idea. :))
Propylparaben
A very common type of feared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason parabens . It's a cheap, effective and well-tolerated ingredient to make sure the cosmetic formula does not go wrong too soon .
Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/​VP Copolymer
A kind of polymer (big molecule from repeated subunits) that helps to create beautiful gel-like textures . It's also a texturizer and thickener for oil-in-water emulsions. It gives products a good skin feel and does not make the formula tacky or sticky. It works over a wide pH range and is used between 0.5-1.2%.
Ci 17200
A super common synthetic colorant that adds a purple-red color - similar to red beet - to a product.
Isopropyl Myristate
A  clear, colorless oil-like liquid that makes the skin feel smooth and nice (aka emollient) and it does so without it being greasy. What's more, it can even reduce the heavy, greasy feel in products with high oil content. It's also fast-spreading meaning that it gives the formula a good, nice slip. It absorbs quickly into the skin and helps other ingredients to penetrate quicker and deeper. Thanks to all this, it's one of the most commonly used emollients out there. There is just one little drawback: it has a high comedogenic index (5 out of 5...), so it might clog pores if you're prone to it.
C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate
An often used emollient with a light and silky feel . It's very mild to both skin and eyes and spreads nicely and easily. It's often used in sunscreens as it's also an excellent solvent for sunscreen agents.
PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil
A mildly viscous, amber-colored liquid with fatty odor, made from Castor Oil and polyethylene glycol (PEG). If it were a person, we’d say, it’s agile, diligent & multifunctional. It’s mostly used as an emulsifier and surfactant but most often it is used to solubilize fragrances into water-based formulas.
Dicaprylyl Carbonate
A clear, colorless, almost odorless oil that spreads nicely and easily and gives a velvet dry skin feel . It is good friends with sunscreen agents and helps to solubilize them. Also, it makes sunscreens feel lighter and spread easier.
Myristyl Myristate
It's a waxy emollient with a melting point near to skin temperature. It gives body and consistency to the formula and leaves a velvety feel on the skin. It has a high comedogenicity index (5 out of 5), so it might clog pores if you are prone to it. Famous dermatologist, Dr. Leslie Baumann also writes in her book, The Skin Type Solution to avoid this ingredient if you are acne-prone.
Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate
Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate is a stable, oil-soluble form of skincare big shot Vitamin C . If you do not know, why Vitamin C is such a big deal in skincare, click here and read all about it . We are massive vitamin C fans and have written about it in excruciating detail. So now, you know that Vitamin C is great and all, but it's really unstable and gives cosmetics companies many headaches. To solve this problem they came up with vitamin C derivatives, and one of them is Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate (let's call it THDA in short). It's a really promising candidate (see below), but while reading all the goodness about it in a minute, do not forget that derivatives not only have to be absorbed into the skin but also have to be converted to pure vitamin C (ascorbic acid or AA) and the efficacy of the conversion is often unknown. In addition, vitamin C's three magic properties (antioxidant, collagen booster, skin brightener) are all properly proven in-vivo (on real people), but for the derivatives, it's mostly in-vitro studies or in the case of THDA, it's in-vitro and done by an ingredient supplier. With this context in mind let's see what THDA might be able to do. First, it is stable (if pH < 5), easy to formulate, and a joy to work with for a cosmetic chemist. Second, because it's oil-soluble, its skin penetration abilities seem to be great . So great in fact, that it surpasses the penetration of pure vitamin C threefold at the same concentration and it penetrates successfully into the deeper layers of the skin (that is usually important to do some anti-aging work). There is also in-vitro data showing that it converts to AA in the skin. Third, THDA seems to have all three magic abilities of pure vitamin C : it gives antioxidant protection from both UVB and UVA rays, it increases collagen synthesis (even more than AA) and it has a skin brightening effect by reducing melanogenesis by more than 80% in human melanoma cell cultures. So this all sounds really great, but these are only in-vitro results at this point. We could find Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate mentioned only in one published in-vivo study that examined the anti-aging properties of a silicone formula containing 10% AA and 7% THDA. The authors theorized that the 10% AA is released slowly from the silicon delivery system and probably stays in the upper layer of the skin to give antioxidant benefits, while THDA penetrates more rapidly and deeply and gives some wrinkle-reducing benefits. The study was a small (10 patients), double-blind experiment, and the formula did show some measurable anti-aging results. However, it is hard to know how much pure vitamin C or THDA can be thanked. Bottom line : a really promising, but not well-proven vitamin C derivative that can be worth a try especially if you like experimenting (but if you like the tried and true, pure vitamin C will be your best bet).
Phenyl Trimethicone
A silicone fluid that gives a nonoily, easy to spread emolliency to the formulas. It is also used as a water repellent additive and to reduce the tackiness and stickiness of other ingredients. It also imparts gloss, softness and better manageability to hair.
Avena Sativa Kernel Extract
When you hear oatmeal, you probably think of breakfast, but the finely ground version of whole oat kernels, aka colloidal oatmeal, can do good things for your skin, especially if it's dry, itchy or prone to skin-rashes or eczema . Oat is loaded with compounds good for the body , inside or outside, such as soothing agent beta-glucan (5%),  lipids (3-11%) including barrier repairing omega-3 and 6 fatty acids or phenolic antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents ( avenanthramides ). The soothing, antioxidant and skin-protecting abilities of oat are so well-established that it is an active natural ingredient covered by the FDA OTC Skin Protectant monograph in the US, meaning that colloidal oatmeal can be claimed as an active ingredient on the INCI list and Aveeno is a mass-market brand built around oat-containing products. If your skin is dry, irritated, inflamed or eczema-prone, colloidal oatmeal is something to try.
Zea Mays Starch
A corn-derived, white to yellowish, floury powder that works as a handy helper ingredient to create nice feeling emulsions . It gives a generally pleasant skin feel, has some mattifying effect (though rice starch is better at that), it reduces greasiness and tackiness and helps the formula to spread easily without whitening or shininess.
Sorbitan Oleate
A mainly oil-loving, vegetable raw material based ingredient that helps water and oil to mix together, aka emulsifier . It can also function as a wetting and dispersing agent helping insoluble particles such as color pigments or inorganic sunscreens (zinc/titanium dioxide) to disperse nice and even in liquids. Chemically speaking, it comes from the attachment of sorbitan (a dehydrated sorbitol (sugar) molecule) with the unsaturated fatty acid Oleic Acid , that creates a partly water (the sorbitan part) and partly oil soluble (oleic part) molecule.
Glyceryl Behenate/​Eicosadioate
A waxy, solid, white stuff that is used as an oil gelling agent to create smooth, nice gel textures. The recommended use level is 2-5% according to the manufacturer .