fragrance-free moisturizing creme helps soothe & prevent dry, itchy skin
Uploaded by: sunnydaze on
Ingredients overview
Water, Glycerin, Cetyl Palmitate, Mineral Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Octyldodecanol, Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Colloidal Oatmeal, Dimethicone, PEG-40 Stearate, Carbomer, Sodium Hydroxide, Phenoxyethanol, DMDM Hydantoin, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben
Read more on how to read an ingredient list >>
Highlights
#alcohol-free #fragrance & essentialoil-free
Alcohol Free
Fragrance and Essential Oil Free
Key Ingredients
Antioxidant: Colloidal Oatmeal
Skin-identical ingredient: Glycerin
Soothing: Colloidal Oatmeal
Other Ingredients
Abrasive/scrub: Colloidal Oatmeal
Buffering: Sodium Hydroxide
Emollient: Cetyl Palmitate, Mineral Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Octyldodecanol, Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Colloidal Oatmeal, Dimethicone
Emulsifying: Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-40 Stearate
Moisturizer/humectant: Glycerin
Perfuming: Octyldodecanol
Preservative: Phenoxyethanol, DMDM Hydantoin, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben
Solvent: Water, Mineral Oil
Surfactant/cleansing: PEG-40 Stearate
Viscosity controlling: Cetyl Alcohol, Carbomer
Skim through
| Ingredient name | what-it-does | irr., com. | ID-Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water | solvent | ||
| Glycerin | skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | 0, 0 | superstar |
| Cetyl Palmitate | emollient | 0, 0 | |
| Mineral Oil | emollient, solvent | 0, 0-2 | |
| Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride | emollient | ||
| Octyldodecanol | emollient, perfuming | ||
| Cetyl Alcohol | emollient, viscosity controlling | 2, 2 | |
| Glyceryl Stearate | emollient, emulsifying | 0, 1-2 | |
| Colloidal Oatmeal | soothing, antioxidant, emollient, abrasive/scrub | goodie | |
| Dimethicone | emollient | 0, 1 | |
| PEG-40 Stearate | emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing | ||
| Carbomer | viscosity controlling | 0, 1 | |
| Sodium Hydroxide | buffering | ||
| Phenoxyethanol | preservative | ||
| DMDM Hydantoin | preservative | icky | |
| Methylparaben | preservative | 0, 0 | |
| Ethylparaben | preservative |
Eucerin Calming Creme Daily Moisturizer
Ingredients explainedWater
Also-called: Aqua | What-it-does: solvent
Good old water, aka H2O. The most common skincare ingredient of all. You can usually find it right in the very first spot of the ingredient list, meaning it’s the biggest thing out of all the stuff that makes up the product.
It’s mainly a solvent for ingredients that do not like to dissolve in oils but rather in water.
Once inside the skin, it hydrates, but not from the outside - putting pure water on the skin (hello long baths!) is drying.
One more thing: the water used in cosmetics is purified and deionized (it means that almost all of the mineral ions inside it is removed). Like this, the products can stay more stable over time.
Glycerin - superstar
Also-called: Glycerol | What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
- A natural moisturizer that’s also in our skin
- A super common, safe, effective and cheap molecule used for more than 50 years
- Not only a simple moisturizer but knows much more: keeps the skin lipids between our skin cells in a healthy (liquid crystal) state, protects against irritation, helps to restore barrier
- Effective from as low as 3% with even more benefits for dry skin at higher concentrations up to 20-40%
- High-glycerin moisturizers are awesome for treating severely dry skin
Read all the geeky details about Glycerin here >>
Cetyl Palmitate
What-it-does: emollient | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
A white, waxy emollient that gives "body" to skincare formulas. Comes from coconutor palm kernel oil.
Mineral Oil
Also-called: Paraffinum Liquidum | What-it-does: emollient, solvent | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0-2
The famous or maybe rather infamous mineral oil. The clear oily liquid that is the "cheap by-product" of refining crude oil and the one that gets a lot of heat for its poor provenance. It is a very controversial ingredient with pros and cons and plenty of mythsaround it. So let us see them:
The pros of mineral oil
Trust us, if something is used for more than 100 years in cosmeticproducts, it hasadvantages. Chemically speaking, cosmetic grade mineral oil is a complex mixture ofhighly refined saturated hydrocarbons with C15-50 chain length.It is not merely a "by-product" but rather a specifically isolated part of petroleum that is very pure and inert.
It is a great emollient and moisturizer working mainly by occlusivity.Occlusivity is one of the basic mechanisms of how moisturizers work and it means that mineral oilsits on top of the skin and hinders so-called trans-epidermal water loss, i.e water evaporating out of your skin. When compared to heavy-duty plant oil, extra virgin coconut oil, the two of them were equally efficient and safe as moisturizers in treating xerosis, a skin condition connected to very dry skin.
The other thing that mineral oil is really good at is being non-irritating to the skin. The chemical composition of plant oils is more complex with many more possible allergens or irritatingcomponents, while mineral oil is simple, pureand sensitivity to it is extremely rare.If you check out the classic French pharmacy brands and their moisturizers for the most sensitive, allergy prone skin, they usually containmineral oil. This is no coincidence.
The cons of mineral oil
The pros of mineral oilcan be interpreted as cons if we look at them from another perspective. Not penetrating the skin but mostly just sitting on top of it and not containing biologically active components, like nice fatty acids and vitamins meanthat mineral oil does not "nourish" the skin in the way plant oils do. Mineral oil doesnot give the skin any extra goodness, it is simply a non-irritating moisturizer working mainly by occlusivity.
The myths around mineral oil
Badmouthing mineral oil is a favorite sport of many, it is a cheap material and being connected to petrolatum makes it fairly easy to demonize.
While it is true that industrial grade mineral oil contains carcinogenic components (so-calledpolycyclic compounds), these are completely removed from cosmetic and food grade mineral oil and there is no scientific data showing that the pure, cosmetic grade version is carcinogenic.
What is more, in terms of the general health effects of mineral oils used in cosmetics, a 2017study reviewed the data on their skin penetration and concluded that "the cosmetic use of mineral oils and waxes does not present a risk to consumers due to a lack of systemic exposure."
Another super common myth surrounding mineral oil is that it is comedogenic. A 2005 study titled"Is mineral oil comedogenic?" examined this very question and guess what happened? The study concluded that "based on the animal and human data reported, along with the AAD recommendation, it would appear reasonable to conclude that mineral oil is noncomedogenic in humans."
Overall, we feel that the scaremongering around mineral oil is not justified. For dry and super-sensitive skin types it is a great option. However, if you do not like its origin or its heavy feeling or anything else about it, avoiding it has never been easier. Mineral oil has such a bad reputation nowadays that cosmetic companies hardly dare to use it anymore.
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
What-it-does: emollient
A super common emollient that makes your skin feel nice and smooth. It comes from coconut oil and glycerin, it’s light-textured, clear, odorless and non-greasy. It’s a nice ingredient that just feels good on the skin, is super well tolerated by every skin type andeasy to formulate with. No wonder it’s popular.
Octyldodecanol
What-it-does: emollient, perfuming
A clear, slightly yellow, odorless oil that's a very common, medium-spreadingemollient. It makes the skin feel nice and smooth and works in a wide range of formulas.
Cetyl Alcohol
What-it-does: emollient, viscosity controlling, emulsion stabilising | Irritancy: 2 | Comedogenicity: 2
A so-calledfatty (the good, non-drying kind of)alcohol that does all kinds of things in a skincare product: it makes your skin feel smooth and nice (emollient), helps to thicken up products and also helps water and oil to blend (emulsifier). Can be derived from coconut or palm kernel oil.
Glyceryl Stearate
What-it-does: emollient, emulsifying | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1-2
A super common, waxy, white, solid stuff that helps water and oil to mix together, gives body to creams and leaves the skin feeling soft and smooth.
Chemically speaking, it is the attachment of a glycerin molecule to the fatty acid calledstearic acid. It can be produced from most vegetable oils (in oils three fattyacidmolecules are attached to glycerin instead of just one like here) in a pretty simple, "green" process that is similar to soap making. It's readily biodegradable.
It also occurs naturally in our body and is used as a food additive. As cosmetic chemistColins writes it, "its safety really is beyond any doubt".
Colloidal Oatmeal - goodie
What-it-does: soothing, antioxidant, emollient, abrasive/scrub, absorbent/mattifier
The finely ground version ofwhole oat kernels that has well-established skin soothing, skin-protecting and antioxidant abilities. We have a shiny description ofoat extract in skincare here. It is a real goodie ingredient fordry, irritated, inflamed or eczema-prone skin.
Dimethicone
What-it-does: emollient | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1
Probably themost common silicone of all. It is a polymer (created from repeating subunits) molecule and has different molecular weight and thus different viscosity versions from water-light to thickliquid.
As for skincare, it makes the skin silky smooth, creates a subtle gloss and forms a protective barrier (aka occlusive). Also, works well to fill in fine lines and wrinkles and give skin a plump look (of course that is only temporary, but still, it'snice). There are also scar treatment gels out there using dimethicone as their base ingredient. It helps to soften scars and increase their elasticity.
As for hair care, it is a non-volatile silicone meaning that it stays on the hair rather than evaporates from it andsmoothes the hairlike no other thing. Depending on your hair type, it can bea bit difficult to wash out and might cause some build-up (btw, this is not true to all silicones, only the non-volatile types).
PEG-40 Stearate
What-it-does: emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing
A commonwater-loving surfactant and emulsifierthat helps to keep water and oil mixed nicelytogether.
Carbomer
What-it-does: viscosity controlling, emulsion stabilising | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1
A big molecule created from repeated subunits (a polymer of acrylic acid) that magically converts a liquidinto a nice gel formula. It usually has to be neutralized with a base (such as sodium hydroxide) for the thickening to occur and it creates viscous, clear gels that also feel nice and non-tacky on the skin. No wonder, it is a very popular and common ingredient. Typically used at 1% or less in most formulations.
Sodium Hydroxide
Also-called: lye | What-it-does: buffering
The unfancy name for it is lye. It’s a solid white stuff that’s very alkaline and used in small amounts to adjust the pH of the product and make it just right.
For example, in case of AHA or BHA exfoliants, the right pH is super-duper important, and pH adjusters like sodium hydroxide are needed.
BTW, lye is not something new. It was already used by ancient Egyptians to help oil and fat magically turn into something else. Can you guess what? Yes, it’s soap. It still often shows up in the ingredient list of soaps and other cleansers.
Sodium hydroxide in itselfis a potent skin irritant, but once it's reacted (as it is usually in skin care products, like exfoliants) it is totallyharmless.
Phenoxyethanol
What-it-does: preservative
It’s pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, but even more importantly, it’s not a feared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason paraben.
It’s not something new: it was introduced around 1950 and today it can be used up to 1% worldwide. It can be found in nature - in green tea - but the version used in cosmetics is synthetic.
Other than having a good safety profile and being quite gentle to the skin it has some other advantages too. It can be used in many types of formulations as it has great thermal stability (can be heated up to 85°C) and works on a wide range of pH levels (ph 3-10).
It’s often used together with ethylhexylglycerin as it nicely improves the preservative activity of phenoxyethanol.
DMDM Hydantoin - icky
What-it-does: preservative
A controversial preservative that hasformaldehyde-releasing properties. It works great against bacteria and also has mildfungicide abilities.
Cosmetic chemist, Colin wrote a great article about formaldehyde and DMDM Hydantoin. He writes that formaldehyde is the perfect example of "the dose makes the poison" principle. It's a natural stuff that can also be found in fresh fruits and vegetables, and eating it in tiny amounts is totally ok. However, in larger amounts (according to Wikipedia30 mL of a solution containing 37% formaldehyde) it's deadly.
The amount offormaldehyde used in cosmetics either neat or throughformaldehyde-releasing preservatives is tiny. Probably that is why the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Broad concluded both in 1988 and in 2008 that DMDM Hydantoin is "safe as used in cosmetics".
However, Colins argues that in the case of formaldehyde-releasing preservatives,formaldehyde is released slowly and the skin has probably not evolved to deal with that. The lingeringformaldehyde might be toxic tothe Langerhans Cells that are important for the skin's defense system. Another potential issue is that formaldehyde-releasers might also release other things while reacting with amino acids in the skin that is probably the explanation why some people are not allergic to formaldehyde but are allergic to formaldehyde-releasing preservatives. These are all theories, far from proven facts, but we feel that there are some justified reasons whyformaldehyde-releasing preservatives andDmdm Hydantoin count as controversial.
All in all, it's up to you to decide if you wanna avoid this preservative groupor not. If so,there are other, less risky and more skin-friendly options out there.
Methylparaben
What-it-does: preservative | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
The most common type offeared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason parabens. It's a cheap, effective and well-tolerated ingredient to make sure the cosmetic formula does not go wrong too soon.
Apart from the general controversy around parabens (we wrote about it more here), there is a 2006 in-vitro (made in the lab not on real people) research about methylparaben (MP) showing that when exposed to sunlight, MP treated skin cells suffered more harm than non-MPtreated skin cells. The study was not done with real people on real skin but still - using a good sunscreen next to MP containing productsis a good idea. (Well, in fact using a sunscreen is always a good idea. :))
Ethylparaben
What-it-does: preservative
A very common type offeared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reasonparaben. It's a cheap, effective and well-tolerated ingredient tomake sure the cosmetic formula does not go wrong too soon. Read more about parabens here >>
You may also want to take a look at...
Normal (well kind of - it's purified and deionized) water. Usually the main solvent in cosmetic products. [more] A real oldie but a goodie. Great natural moisturizer and skin-identical ingredient that plays an important role in skin hydration and general skin health. [more] A white, waxy emollient that gives "body" to skincare formulas. Comes from coconutor palm kernel oil. A clear, oily liquid that comes from refining crude oil. Even though it is a highly controversial ingredient, the scientific consensus is that it is a safe, non-irritating and effective emollient and moisturizer working mainly by occlusivity. [more] A very common emollient that makes your skin feel nice and smooth. Comes from coconut oil and glycerin, it’s light-textured, clear, odorless and non-greasy. [more] A clear, slightly yellow, odorless oil that's a very common, medium-spreadingemollient. It makes the skin feel nice and smooth and works in a wide range of formulas. A fatty (the good, non-drying kind of)alcohol that makes your skin feel smooth and nice (emollient), helps to thicken up products and also helps water and oil to blend (emulsifier). Waxy, white, solid stuff that helps water and oil to mix together and leaves the skin feeling soft and smooth. [more] The finely ground version ofwhole oat kernels that has well-established skin soothing, skin-protecting and antioxidant abilities. We have a shiny description ofoat extract in skincare here. It is a real goodie ingredient fordry, irritated, inflamed or eczema-prone skin. [more] A very common silicone that gives both skin and hair a silky smooth feel. It also forms a protective barrier on the skin and fills in fine lines. Also used for scar treatment. [more] A commonwater-loving surfactant and emulsifierthat helps to keep water and oil mixed nicelytogether. A handy white powder that magically converts a liquid into a nice gel formula. [more] Lye - A solid white stuff that’s very alkaline and used in small amount to adjust the pH of the product. [more] Pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, and can be used up to 1% worldwide. [more] A controversial preservative that hasformaldehyde-releasing properties. It works great against bacteria and also has mildfungicide abilities. [more] The most common type offeared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason parabens. It's a cheap, effective and well-tolerated ingredient to make sure the cosmetic formula does not go wrong too soon.Apart from the general controversy around parabens (we wrote about it more here), there is a 2006 in-vitro (made in the lab not on real people) research about methylparaben (MP) sho [more] A very common type offeared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reasonparaben. It's a cheap, effective and well-tolerated ingredient tomake sure the cosmetic formula does not go wrong too soon. [more] what‑it‑does solvent what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient | moisturizer/humectant irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does emollient irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does emollient | solvent irritancy,com. 0, 0-2 what‑it‑does emollient what‑it‑does emollient | perfuming what‑it‑does emollient | viscosity controlling irritancy,com. 2, 2 what‑it‑does emollient | emulsifying irritancy,com. 0, 1-2 what‑it‑does soothing | antioxidant | emollient | abrasive/scrub what‑it‑does emollient irritancy,com. 0, 1 what‑it‑does emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing what‑it‑does viscosity controlling irritancy,com. 0, 1 what‑it‑does buffering what‑it‑does preservative what‑it‑does preservative what‑it‑does preservative irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does preservative
