Skin Care Product Labels - Learn how to read the ingredient list.

The ingredient list has lots of good information about what’s in the skin care product. It is a waste of time and money if the product you are using has nothing in it in a quantity that can help your skin.

The best feature about the ingredient list is that US federal regulations require ingredients to be listed beginning with the largest concentration down to the smallest concentration. One problem though - the FDA requires there be no distinction made between active and inactive ingredients on the label.

Active ingredient: is the substance in a skin care product
that is pharmaceutically active. In other words, what makes the product work.

Don’t expect most active ingredients to top the list or even be second.
Most of the time the first ingredient will be water (aqua), oil, or whatever base is being used to produce the product.
This is OK. Active ingredients don’t need to be first to work.
They just need to have sufficient concentration which will vary quite a bit between ingredients.

The position of the ingredient on the list can at least give you a good idea if the concentration is in its’ active range. Another option is to email or phone the company who makes the product you are interested in and ask about the concentration of active ingredients.

An example of how to compare ingredient lists for active products:

If you are looking for a product that has retinol, and are down to a couple different choices -
First count how many total ingredients are listed on each product.
If the total is close – say one has 12 ingredients and the other has 14, this is good for comparison. Then count down from the first ingredient until you reach retinol.
If you find retinol listed as # 6 on one product and #10 on the other product, then the # 6 listed is the product contains more active retinol.

Product Labels and the Rule of Thirds

Another way to think about product labels is to do it in thirds.
The top third of ingredients listed generally consist of around 80 to 90% of the entire product.
The middle third represents around 5 to 8% of the product.
The bottom third rounds out the rest of the ingredients at 1 to 3%.


A few more ingredient tips:

• Any ingredients with concentrations below 1% may be listed in any order. After 1%, the FDA is not that particular about the order.
  
• Fragrances and color additives are usually listed last not considering concentrations. Although their concentrations are usually low.
  
• When checking ingredients, make sure they are compatible with your skin. Avoid ingredients you think you might be sensitive to or test a small skin area first.
  

For a complete guide to skin care -

check out http://www.better-skin-care.com