Vocab and Popular Terms
To establish this claim, the FDA has set preliminary thresholds of less than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten.
What is Gluten-Free?
These ingredients may be added to mask a formulation’s unpleasant natural smell, neutralize the smell, or improve the consumer’s experience.
What is Fragrance?
Lakes, Certified colors, and Colors exempt from certification.
What are Color Agents?
These ingredients attract water to the skin’s surface.
What are Humectants?
Vitamin A, Vitamin B3 & B5, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Vitamin K.
What are Vitamins?
This label indicates that no additional ingredients have been added to the product to specifically provide a fragrance; however, it may still have a scent.
What is Fragrance-free?
This ingredient helps keep other ingredients in a solution and acts as a vehicle to help spread products across the skin.
What is Water?
Alcohol, Water, and Polyethylene glycol.
What are Solvents?
These two ingredients are essential to your health and body functions and are needed by the skin for optimal health and function. Deficiencies can cause adverse effects on the skin.
What are Vitamins and Minerals?
Copper, Zinc, Magnesium, Selenium, and Sulfur.
What are Minerals?
This type of ingredient does not affect the appearance of the skin but is necessary for the product formulation.
What are Functional Ingredients?
These ingredients prevent bacteria, fungi, molds, and other microorganisms from living in a product.
What are Preservatives?
Methylparaben, Phenoxyethanol, and chelating agents like tetrasodium EDTA.
What are Preservatives?
These ingredients originate from plants, including herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, leaves, and seeds, and provide healing, soothing, brightening, antimicrobial, and antioxidant benefits.
What are Botanicals?
Glycerin, Hyaluronic acid, Sodium PCA, and Algae extract.
What are Humectants?
This type of ingredient causes the actual change in the appearance of the skin.
What are Performance Ingredients?
This ingredient helps place, spread, and keep other substances on the skin.
What is an Emollient?
Liquid paraffin, Coconut oil, Dimethicone, Caprylic acid, Cetyl alcohol, and Isopropyl myristate.
What is an Emollient?
These ingredients help to protect the skin from free radicals and the damaging effects of pollution, stress, UV rays, and the strong blue waves emitted by LED screens.
What are Antioxidants?
Green tea, Coenzyme Q10, Alpha lipoic acid, and Vitamins A, C, & E.
What are Antioxidants?
Typically using ingredients to mask or neutralize an odor, these products are formulated to have no smell.
What is Unscented?
This ingredient reduces surface tension between the skin and the product and increases spreadability.
What is a Surfactant?
Detergents and emulsifiers such as Sodium lauryl sulfate and Cetearyl alcohol.
What is a Surfactant?
These ingredients are short chains of amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins.
What are Peptides?
Acetyl hexapeptide, Palmitoyl pentapeptide, and Palmitoyl-tripeptide.
What are Peptides?
This term describes natural-sourced ingredients that are grown without the use of pesticides or chemicals.
What is Organic?
Also called buffering agents, these ingredients stabilize products and prevent changes in pH.
What are pH Adjusters?
Vehicles, Liposomes, and Polymers such as Water, Phospholipids, and Hydrogels.
What are Delivery Systems?
Considered one of the latest beauty breakthroughs, these ingredients act to balance and retain healthy bacteria on your skin while combatting harmful bacteria.
What are Probiotics?
Ceramide AP, Phytosphingosine, and Sphinganine.
What are Ceramides?
The FD&C Act defines these as “articles intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on, introduced to, or otherwise applied to the human body… for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance.”
What are Cosmetics?
These ingredients are used to distribute a product’s key performance ingredients into the skin.
What are Delivery Systems?
Carbomers, Xanthan gum, and Gelatin.
What are Thickeners?
These ingredients restore moisture, reinforce the skin’s natural barrier, and help protect it against harm from foreign elements. These ingredients replenish the natural lipids in the skin.
What are Ceramides?
Azelaic acid, Kojic acid, Vitamin C, and Hydroquinone.
What are Tyrosinase Inhibitors?
The FD&C Act defines these as “articles intended for the use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease and to affect the structure or any function of the body…”
What are Drugs?
These ingredients are added to a product formulation to help dissolve other ingredients.
What are Solvents?
Sodium bicarbonate, Acetic acid, and Citric acid.
What are pH Adjusters?
These ingredients are used to improve discoloration as well as provide and maintain a natural radiance of the skin.
What are Tyrosinase Inhibitors?
Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus ferment, and Bifidobacterium longum.
What are Probiotics?
Abbreviated to INCI, the FDA requires all cosmetics labels to include a list of this standardized name.
What is the International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient?
These ingredients enhance a skincare product’s visual appeal.
What are Color Agents?
These yeast cell derivatives have been found to enhance moisture content, immune response, and cellular metabolism, which boosts cellular oxygen uptake.
What are Glycoproteins?
The two most important laws pertaining to cosmetics marketed in the United States are these acts.
What are the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA)?
These ingredients are added to products to give them a specific consistency or to help suspend hard-to-mix ingredients
What are Thickeners?
Normally derived from yeast cells, these ingredients are used to enhance the skin’s defense mechanism and stimulate cell metabolism.
What are Polyglucans and Beta-glucans?