How to REALLY read an ingredient list (feat. cosmetic chemists)

Ingredient lists are one of the most useful things on a beauty product, but they're also one of the most misunderstood. Here's how cosmetic chemists read ingredient lists!

0:00 Ingredient lists, INCI names
3:57 Order of ingredients
5:34 1% line
7:28 Filler ingredients
9:31 Does the product "work"?
10:58 Ingredient grades
13:13 Product structure
14:58 Dupes
15:24 Red flags
16:08 How to use ingredient lists
21:21 How to choose products to buy
24:53 Dealbreakers
28:26 Things chemists like

Featuring @janethechemist @TheEcoWell @KindofStephen @javonford16 @themelaninchemist Mercedes (Go-To Skincare)

🙋🏻 I'm Michelle, a chemistry PhD, cosmetic chemist and science educator, here to explain how beauty products work, debunk myths, and help you make smarter decisions about your skincare, hair and makeup!

📺 RELATED POSTS AND VIDEOS

[gooseberries]

I wish beauty brands would offer more trial or travel sized products, because as most of the cosmetic chemists said, it’s almost impossible to know how a product is going to work for you unless you actually try it. I think a lot of the insistence of laypeople trying to decipher ingredients lists comes from the desire to avoid wasting their money or product. It’s a big gamble on buying full sized products, and it’s frustrating that consumers often have to take that gamble. I imagine a lot of waste from beauty products could be minimized too if there were more trial sized products available.

[GoBlueGirl]

The comments about preservative-free products are spot on. I want preservatives to ensure the products I’m using aren’t growing nasty bugs.

[ariannepine]

Big YES to fragrance science! Sincerely, an ex-Fragrantica fanatic

[julias]

HOLY WAFFLES YES please do the video about fragrance school! Seriously, that sounds amazing and I'd love to hear about your experience.

[canisnip]

Michelle, this topic might be too niche, but can you make a video or short about the technology of encapsulating ingredients? We hear it all the time nowadays, even in this video, so I am curious how in the world they can put this miniscule ingredient inside another “ingredient”.

[seanvalentinus]

“‘Aqua’? Hey fellas, this product has ‘aqua’! Well, ooh la di da, Mr. French Man.”

“Well what do you call it?”

“Tapjuice.”

[tinkersdinkers]

9:01 as a chemistry student this genuinely made me recoil in horror 😭😭great job for spooky season

[riposte]

THIS WAS SUCH A COOL VIDEO. One piece of feedback though: it would’ve been helpful to have like definition cards flash on screen when one of the experts first mentions a term, like humectant. It took me a bit to realize “IL” meant Ingredients List as well.

[valkolakk]

The number of times I've seen conditioners advertising argan oil or coconut oil or some other oil du jour but listed below the fragrance. Of course these days thanks to your videos I tend to be looking for silicones in my conditioner rather than oil.

[kw]

I would definitely be interested in hearing about what you learned in fragrance school, even if most ppl I know probably shouldn’t or can’t use it

[hrhsophiathefirst]

Yes to fragrance information, bless us with the knowledge!

[rachelpillsworth]

I worked in QA and R&D for polymers and epoxies for years and that really taught me about formulation. I think what a lot of people tend to miss (beyond what this video covered, which is very helpful) is the fact that the order in which the ingredients are mixed into a formula can make a big difference. The most simple example I could give is with a powder pigment being dispersed into a liquid (like with a shimmer cream, or some foundations). Powders can be hard to disperse properly through a liquid, and if that's the last thing added to the formula, you're not going to get a very good quality, evenly dispersed pigment in most cases. Also when you add your antifungals and PH adjusters is pretty important for overall stability in many things. You'll never learn the order of mixing from an ingredient list.

[MissKahoko]

I wish this video would reach out to way more people, because it is so important!!! The amount of people who incorrectly read the ingredients list on social media just to prove a point or sell products is gonna melt some of my brain cells at one point …. There’s absolutely no common sense anymore 😅

[FlamingoSeven]

As someone who has a ton of allergens (I have MCAS) I would LOVE if you would share what each of the ingredients are sourced from. For example at @4:46 Gylcerin, Vitamin E/Tocopherol, and Xanthan Gum are most likely sourced from soy. The FDA in the US claims you can't have an allergic reactions to these products as they're "too pure" because they remove the soy protein that would cause most people to react but for my soy allergy I do react to them. Same with citric acid. A majority of citric acid is sourced from mold often mold from corn. This is just what I know as a hairstylist and I would LOVE if you broke down other ingredients like that!

[Kasatrea]

Commenting for the algorithm and also to say yes to a fragrance video!!

[ArjentS]

i felt so proud of myself for recalling information from your book throughout this video

[shmcd]

I love the precision in how you choose your words. No ambiguity. Much appreciated

[porcupine]

I wish influencers would watch this. People are saying Verb is a dupe for Oribe just because the ingredients are similar.

[eggboi]

I know there are tons of peptides but I’d love to hear more about the common ones! Are there good studies on them? Are there any challenges with formulations with them? What are some ways that they work and also how are the sourced?

[badfaithbarometer]

Yes, clinical testing!!! And ingredient quality!! The Ordinary niacinamide serum causes a horrific allergic reaction on my skin, but I can tolerate all the ingredients in that serum when they're in other brands' formulations.