Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant, Plant-Extracts
Backed by research for reducing discolorations, wrinkles, and other signs of aging. Contributes to improved elasticity and smoother skin.

Rating: Good
Categories: Emollient, Texture-Enhancer
Non-irritating waxy substance used as a thickening agent and emollient in cosmetics. May also be used as part of an emulsifying blend to help create a cohesive texture.

Rating: Good
Categories: Film-Forming-Agent, Polymer
A blend of glycerin and polymethacrylic acid which functions as a film-forming agent in cosmetics and helps enhance the texture and application of skin care products.

Rating: Good
Categories: Silicone, Texture-Enhancer, Polymer
Silicone derivative used as thickener, stabilizer, and suspending agent in skin care products. It has been deemed safe as used in cosmetics.

Rating: Good
Categories: Texture-Enhancer, Ph-Adjuster-Stabilizer
This fatty, non-drying alcohol enhances a product’s texture and helps its moisturizing capabilities. It’s been deemed safe as used in skin care.

Rating: Best
Categories: Humectant, Texture-Enhancer, Solvent
A naturally occurring substance in skin that helps retain moisture. It is used in skin care products to help defend against dryness.

Rating: Good
Categories: Emollient, Cleansing-Agent

Rating: Good
Categories: Emollient, Emulsifier, Cleansing-Agent
This moisturizing ingredient is found naturally in the human body but is usually plant- or synthetically derived in cosmetics. It has been deemed safe as used in cosmetics and is also used as a food additive.

Rating: Good
Categories: Emollient, Texture-Enhancer, Solvent
Skin-softening, moisture-sealing emollient that can also be used to improve the smooth/even dispersion of a formula.

Rating: Good
Categories: Cleansing-Agent, Emulsifier
Used in cosmetics primarily as a mild cleansing agent, this coconut-derived ingredient is considered extremely stable and safe.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant
Highly stable form of vitamin C that protects skin from oxidative damage and collagen breakdown.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant, Retinoids
One of the most recognized anti-aging ingredients, this powerhouse has multiple benefits for skin. With over seven decades of research proving its effectiveness, it’s used in several strengths and types of products to deliver visible results.

Rating: Best
Categories: Emollient
Formerly called ceramide 2, this ceramide helps improve skin’s barrier strength.

Rating: Best
Categories: Peptides
This peptide blends four amino acids with a fatty acid to enhance penetration, where it goes to work quieting factors in skin that trigger irritation and damage to skin’s supportive elements.

Rating: Best
Categories: Peptides
This lab-made peptide matches a sequence of amino acids found in skin. As such, skin recognizes and can understand the signals the peptide sends, which leads to a smoother, more youthful appearance.

Rating: Best
Categories: Humectant, Antioxidant
The more bio-available, salt form of hyaluronic acid. I’s considered an excellent moisturizer, helping skin retain water so it looks and feels smoother.

Rating: Best
Categories: Plant-Extracts, Antioxidant
This licorice derivative has strong antioxidant and skin soothing properties.

Rating: Best
Categories: Plant-Extracts, Antioxidant
This extract from oats has antioxidant benefits for skin and is well-known for its potent soothing properties.

Rating: Best
Categories: Emollient, Plant-Extracts, Antioxidant
Glycine soja sterols, derived from soybeans, have both moisturizing and antioxidant properties.

Rating: Best
Categories: Emollient, Emulsifier, Cleansing-Agent
Beneficial properties include emolliency (think skin softening), water-binding (to boost hydration), and emulsifying (to help water + oil ingredients mesh in a formula). Can also be used to encapsulate ingredients for improved dermal delivery.

Rating: Best
Categories: Plant-Extracts
An ingredient that can be naturally derived or made synthetically. It has skin-soothing and moisturizing properties, making it an excellent inclusion in products designed for sensitive skin.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant
A form of vitamin E frequently used in cosmetics for its antioxidant benefit.

Rating: Best
Categories: Plant-Extracts, Antioxidant
Modified version of soy protein that has antioxidant properties.

Rating: Best
Categories: Peptides
Synthetic peptide proven to strengthen skin’s underlying supportive elements and visibly reduce signs of sun damage such as wrinkles and rough texture.

Rating: Average
Categories: Ph-Adjuster-Stabilizer
Also known as lye, this ingredient is highly alkaline, meaning it is on the basic side of the pH range (its pH is naturally 13). It is used in small amounts in cosmetics (such as cleansers and exfoliants) adjust their pH.

Rating: Good
Categories: Humectant, Occlusive-Opacifying-Agent
This mix of glycerin and behenic acid conditions skin and has been deemed non-irritating and safe as used in cosmetics.

Rating: Good
Categories: Preservative, Plant-Extracts
Conditions skin and hair and is a moisturizing ingredient in many skin care products. Because of its antibacterial action, it also is an effective cosmetics preservative.

Rating: Best
Categories:
A short-chain synthetic peptide offering skin conditioning and repairing benefits that may also play a role in visibly reducing puffy eyes.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant, Plant-Extracts
Plant extract that’s an excellent source of trans-resveratrol, the form skin can readily use. It has particular value for helping to preserve skin’s youthfulness.

Rating: Good
Categories: Cleansing-Agent, Emulsifier
Cleansing agent/emulsifier that can help enhance the overall texture of the formula. In certain capacities, this ingredient can also help rejuvenate aging skin by keeping it pliant and supple.

Rating: Good
Categories: Humectant, Solvent
A synthetic polymer that works to bind moisture to skin and as a solvent for other cosmetic ingredients, helping them penetrate more efficiently.

Rating: Good
Categories: Texture-Enhancer, Absorbent
Naturally derived clay-based absorbent that is most often used to enhance the texture and spreadability of a formula.

Rating: Good
Categories: Cleansing-Agent, Emulsifier
Emulsifying agent that can be used to enhance formulary texture.

Rating: Good
Categories: Antioxidant
A phytochemical that has shown promise as a potent antioxidant and has documented soothing qualities that can visibly improve a wide range of skin and eye-area concerns.

Rating: Good
Categories: Humectant, Solvent, Preservative
This water-binding ingredient works well in cosmetics as a hydrating ingredient, solvent, and texture enhancer. It has been deemed safe for use in skin care products.

Rating: Good
Categories: Polymer, Film-Forming-Agent, Texture-Enhancer
A synthetic polymer used to stabilize cosmetics, suspend ingredients in an emulsion, enhance texture, and create a flexible film on skin’s surface.

Rating: Good
Categories: Cleansing-Agent, Ph-Adjuster-Stabilizer
Fatty alcohol-derived surfactant, emulsifier, and stabilizing ingredient that’s been ruled safe as it is used in cosmetics.

Rating: Good
Categories: Texture-Enhancer, Emollient
Beneficial skin softening ingredient for skin (completely different from damaging/drying forms of alcohol). Also influences the foaming effects of a cleanser.

Rating: Good
Categories: Cleansing-Agent
This combination of fatty alcohol from coconut oil and the sugar glucose lifts dirt and oils from skin, making it a gentle cleansing ingredient in skin care products.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant, Plant-Extracts
A synthetic ingredient which is a derivative of the bioflavonoid hesperidin. It helps to protect skin from UV damage while providing soothing and anti-redness properties.

Rating: Best
Categories: Humectant
Synthetic ingredient which softens and conditions skin. It also serves as a reagent, meaning it can trigger a reaction that leads to a new substance, such as peptides and polymers.

Rating: Good
Categories: Chelating-Agent
One of the salt forms of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, it improves the stability of other cosmetics ingredients, helping them last longer. It’s been deemed safe as used in cosmetics and is even used as an additive in some foods.

Rating: Good
Categories: Preservative
Safe preservative known to be well-tolerated by skin; offers wide spectrum protection against unwanted microbials in a formula.

Rating: Good
Categories: Preservative, Ph-Adjuster-Stabilizer
Safe, well-tolerated preservative that can also be used to achieve an ideal pH.

Rating: Good
Categories: Preservative, Humectant
Skin-softening agent with hydration boosting properties. Also plays an important preservative role to help keep cosmetic formulas stable.