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, 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, Emulsifier, Cleansing-Agent
This ester of a polymer of glycerin and lauric acid can be synthetic or naturally derived, and works as an emollient, emulsifier, and cleansing agent. It has been found safe as used in cosmetics.

Rating: Good
Categories: Emollient
A skin-conditioning agent with research backing its ability to improve immediate skin hydration. Its composition is similar to skin's natural lipids.

Rating: Best
Categories: Emollient, Plant-Extracts, Antioxidant
Non-fragrant plant oil from the passion fruit plant, and a rich source of fatty acids and antioxidants.

Rating: Best
Categories: Plant-Extracts, Emollient, Antioxidant
This oil from the borage plant is a good, non-fragrant source of antioxidants and moisturizing fatty acids.

Rating: Best
Categories: Emollient, Antioxidant, Plant-Extracts
A rich source of antioxidants; can help increase the viscosity and emolliency of a formula. Hydrogenating the oil changes it from its natural liquid state into a solid.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant, Plant-Extracts
Guava extract is a rich source of bioactive antioxidants including gallic acid, quercetin, and tocopherol.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant, Emollient, Plant-Extracts
An unsaponifiable oil is the portion of a plant oil that is not broken down when the oil's fatty acids are refined for use in cosmetics products.

Rating: Best
Categories: Emollient
Omega-6 fatty acid that’s the most abundant fatty acid found in skin’s upper layers. In skin care, it serves as an antioxidant, emollient, and thickening ingredient.

Rating: Best
Categories: Emollient, Cleansing-Agent
An omega-3 fatty acid that helps condition, support, and restore skin. Research also shows it has soothing and potentially spot-fading properties.

Rating: Best
Categories: Cleansing-Agent, Texture-Enhancer
Omega-9 fatty acid used as a cleansing agent and texture enhancer. Its skin calming properties are boosted when combined with other fats in skin care.

Rating: Best
Categories: Emollient
This ceramide helps restore skin’s hydration, texture, and suppleness.

Rating: Best
Categories: Emollient
This type of ceramide helps strengthen skin’s barrier against external stimuli.

Rating: Best
Categories: Emollient
This type of ceramide helps improve the look and feel of skin thanks to its water retention properties.

Rating: Good
Categories: Humectant, Antioxidant
This amino acid helps synthesize proteins and occurs naturally in the human body. Topically it helps skin retain moisture and supports structures for a more youthful look.

Rating: Good
Categories: Antioxidant
This amino acid is one of the building blocks of skin-strengthening proteins including collagen, elastin, and keratin. Applied topically it also has hydrating and calming properties.

Rating: Best
Categories: Humectant
This skin replenishing ingredient is an amino acid produced by the body, but that can also be obtained through diet. Chemically, it is the simplest amino acid.

Rating: Best
Categories: Humectant
This amino acid helps skin retain moisture and supports the structures in skin that keep it looking and feeling youthful.

Rating: Good
Categories: Antioxidant, Humectant
An essential amino acid known to do more in the body than on skin, with its benefit for skin mostly being about hydration and promoting firmer skin

Rating: Best
Categories: Peptides
A highly targeted multi-peptide that helps skin's supportive elements resist further damage while working to repair visible signs of aging.

Rating: Best
Categories: Emollient, Antioxidant
Prevents moisture loss and restores suppleness to skin. Also strengthens skin’s barrier and provides antioxidant support.

Rating: Best
Categories: Emollient
Plays a key role in maintaining skin's health, softness, and hydration.

Rating: Best
Categories: Emollient
This fatty acid is found naturally in the upper layers of skin and helps it retain its natural moisturizing factor (NMF), which benefits skin health. It also has calming properties.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant, Plant-Extracts
This plant extract is a source of skin-soothing, anti-aging antioxidants and may also help improve uneven tone.

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: 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: Good
Categories: Ph-Adjuster-Stabilizer, Humectant
The sodium salt of lactic acid, which works as a hydrating and buffering agent (to adjust a product’s pH value). It also offers antioxidant properties as a secondary benefit.

Rating: Best
Categories: Plant-Extracts, Antioxidant
Skin-soothing antioxidant that delivers additional beneficial compounds, such as amino acids. May also help visibly correct uneven skin tone.

Rating: Best
Categories: Plant-Extracts
Known for wrinkle-smoothing and skin-soothing benefits. Adenosine is also naturally present in skin, allowing for ideal biocompatibility.

Rating: Good
Categories: Humectant, Chelating-Agent, Exfoliant
This plant-based antioxidant can help calm sensitivity in skin. It also has mild exfoliant properties and is often used in conjunction with salicylic and glycolic acids in facial peels.

Rating: Good
Categories: Humectant
An amino acid that aids in hydrating and conditioning skin. Naturally present in the human body as well.

Rating: Good
Categories: Humectant
Helps skin adapt to moisture losses and gains, essentially working to balance skin’s hydration.

Rating: Good
Categories: Antioxidant, Texture-Enhancer
Water-binding (hydration) and film-forming agent with antioxidants properties. Can be used to enhance delivery of key ingredients.

Rating: Good
Categories: Humectant
Humectant derived from amino acids. Increases water content (hydration) in the uppermost layers of skin. Also part of skin’s natural moisturizing factor.

Rating: Best
Categories: Humectant
This excellent hydrating ingredient is part of skin’s natural moisturizing factor (NMF). As such, it is a cornerstone of many moisturizers thanks to its ability to help skin both attract and retain moisture, resulting a more supple, youthful appearance.

Rating: Good
Categories: Texture-Enhancer, Polymer, Ph-Adjuster-Stabilizer
Often used to create gel-textured formulas or to influence the product’s thickness. Research also shows carbomers can enhance the penetration effectiveness of key actives.

Rating: Good
Categories: Absorbent, Texture-Enhancer
Sodium polyacrylate starch is a mixture of a natural starch combined with a synthetic acrylate polymer.

Rating: Good
Categories: Texture-Enhancer, Ph-Adjuster-Stabilizer
This naturally derived ingredient functions as a thickener, stabilizer, and skin conditioning ingredient in cosmetics. It is a sugar-based ingredient produced through the fermentation of a fungus called Sclerotium rolfsii.

Rating: Good
Categories: Texture-Enhancer, Cleansing-Agent, Emulsifier
This naturally derived ingredient is produced from the fermentation of simple sugars, and acts as a thickening agent, texture enhancer, and emulsion stabilizer in cosmetics.

Rating: Good
Categories: Texture-Enhancer, Emulsifier
Naturally derived ingredient which functions as an emulsifier, thickener, and surfactant in skin care products. It has been ruled safe as used in cosmetics.

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