INCI revealed Understanding cosmetic labelling
So, you’ve bought a new anti-ageing cream. But do you know what it’s made of? And what about the ingredients of that extra-shine shampoo you’ve been using? Knowing the composition of products is a first, essential step to making informed choices. Achieving higher consumer awareness enables us to protect both our skin and our planet by choosing dermo-compatible products with a low environmental impact.
To get a clearer picture of the product we are buying, all we need to do is read the INCI label on the package. INCI stands for International Nomenclature for Cosmetic Ingredients; it is the international standard by which the ingredients contained in a product are listed in decreasing order of concentration down to minimal doses of 1%.
Simple as it may sound though, this is where things can get a bit complicated. In fact, the lingo of INCI labels may be rather obscure to the non-initiated.
How to make sense of INCI labels
First hint to solve the puzzle: INCI labels are written in a combination of two different languages, namely Latin and English. Herbal ingredients are listed with their botanical name – therefore in Latin – whereas ingredients that have undergone a process of chemical transformation are written in English. Please note that ingredients do not need to have been created in a lab to be chemically transformed: it just means that the raw material has undergone some kind of processing. This is the case, by way of example, when active ingredients are extracted from a plant to facilitate absorption and increase effectiveness. As a general rule, the Latin name of herbal ingredients is followed by a description in English of the parts and methods used. This is how aloe extract ends up featuring on the label as aloe barbadensis leaf juice.
Necessary additions: emulsifiers & Co.
Cosmetics need more than a combination of raw materials to be effective. Even the purest organic product requires the addition of adjuvants to bind the various ingredients, improve texture and preserve its properties for a certain amount of time. Different types of adjuvants fulfil different purposes: emollients make creams softer and easier to apply, emulsifiers enable incompatible substances like water and oil to be mixed, and preservatives prevent microbial contamination. More often than not, conventional cosmetics contain chemical additives like parabens, petrolatum waxes and SLES (Sodium Laureth Sulfate) that pollute the environment and may cause allergies and rash. Conversely, natural cosmetics rely exclusively on adjuvants of plant origin, like oils and butters extracted from seeds, floral waters and ceramides, as well as skin-friendly vitamins A, C and E, plant proteins and collagen or moisturising hyaluronic acid.
ADLER SPA Active Cosmetics – the safe choice
Developed with a focus on skin health, our cosmetics are rich in fine natural ingredients extracted and potentiated by advanced technologies. We only use eudermic vegetable adjuvants, including organic preservatives like olive oil unsaponifiables, tropolone (a bactericide extracted from aromatic plants) and various vitamins, coconut oil derived surfactants and other plants rich in unsaturated fats, and absorption-promoting emollients like jojoba, avocado and almond oil or hydrolysed wheat proteins. Emulsifiers include extracts from the phytosterol fraction of olive oil and soy lecithin.
How to recognise harmful substances in conventional cosmetics
All ingredient names ending in “-ben” (methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben etc.) indicate parabens, substances that may cause allergies and tumour cell proliferation.
Silicones are minimally biodegradable chemicals that can be recognised by their names usually ending in “thicone” or “oxane” (e.g. dimethicone, amodimethicone, cyclopentasiloxane).
Petrolatum waxes are emollients derived from petroleum that disrupt the skin’s hydrolipidic barrier and pollute the environment. They are listed as mineral oil, paraffinum, petrolatum, PEG and PPG.
SLES and SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) are polluting foaming surfactants mainly used in detergents.
Cosmetics containing allergenic chemical preservatives like Triclosan and Imidazolidinyl urea, DMDM Hydantoin, Methylisothiazolinone and Methylchloroisothiazolinone, and acronyms like EDTA, MEA, TEA and MIPA are also best avoided.
Elena Suman, ADLER Spa Resort Thermae
To get a clearer picture of the product we are buying, all we need to do is read the INCI label on the package. INCI stands for International Nomenclature for Cosmetic Ingredients; it is the international standard by which the ingredients contained in a product are listed in decreasing order of concentration down to minimal doses of 1%.
Simple as it may sound though, this is where things can get a bit complicated. In fact, the lingo of INCI labels may be rather obscure to the non-initiated.
How to make sense of INCI labels
First hint to solve the puzzle: INCI labels are written in a combination of two different languages, namely Latin and English. Herbal ingredients are listed with their botanical name – therefore in Latin – whereas ingredients that have undergone a process of chemical transformation are written in English. Please note that ingredients do not need to have been created in a lab to be chemically transformed: it just means that the raw material has undergone some kind of processing. This is the case, by way of example, when active ingredients are extracted from a plant to facilitate absorption and increase effectiveness. As a general rule, the Latin name of herbal ingredients is followed by a description in English of the parts and methods used. This is how aloe extract ends up featuring on the label as aloe barbadensis leaf juice.
Necessary additions: emulsifiers & Co.
Cosmetics need more than a combination of raw materials to be effective. Even the purest organic product requires the addition of adjuvants to bind the various ingredients, improve texture and preserve its properties for a certain amount of time. Different types of adjuvants fulfil different purposes: emollients make creams softer and easier to apply, emulsifiers enable incompatible substances like water and oil to be mixed, and preservatives prevent microbial contamination. More often than not, conventional cosmetics contain chemical additives like parabens, petrolatum waxes and SLES (Sodium Laureth Sulfate) that pollute the environment and may cause allergies and rash. Conversely, natural cosmetics rely exclusively on adjuvants of plant origin, like oils and butters extracted from seeds, floral waters and ceramides, as well as skin-friendly vitamins A, C and E, plant proteins and collagen or moisturising hyaluronic acid.
ADLER SPA Active Cosmetics – the safe choice
Developed with a focus on skin health, our cosmetics are rich in fine natural ingredients extracted and potentiated by advanced technologies. We only use eudermic vegetable adjuvants, including organic preservatives like olive oil unsaponifiables, tropolone (a bactericide extracted from aromatic plants) and various vitamins, coconut oil derived surfactants and other plants rich in unsaturated fats, and absorption-promoting emollients like jojoba, avocado and almond oil or hydrolysed wheat proteins. Emulsifiers include extracts from the phytosterol fraction of olive oil and soy lecithin.
How to recognise harmful substances in conventional cosmetics
All ingredient names ending in “-ben” (methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben etc.) indicate parabens, substances that may cause allergies and tumour cell proliferation.
Silicones are minimally biodegradable chemicals that can be recognised by their names usually ending in “thicone” or “oxane” (e.g. dimethicone, amodimethicone, cyclopentasiloxane).
Petrolatum waxes are emollients derived from petroleum that disrupt the skin’s hydrolipidic barrier and pollute the environment. They are listed as mineral oil, paraffinum, petrolatum, PEG and PPG.
SLES and SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) are polluting foaming surfactants mainly used in detergents.
Cosmetics containing allergenic chemical preservatives like Triclosan and Imidazolidinyl urea, DMDM Hydantoin, Methylisothiazolinone and Methylchloroisothiazolinone, and acronyms like EDTA, MEA, TEA and MIPA are also best avoided.
Elena Suman, ADLER Spa Resort Thermae
21.11.2018
Hotel Adler Resort
