Rating: Good
Categories: Silicone, Emollient
Skin-conditioning emollient that helps preserve hydration while enhancing formulary texture for more elegant aesthetics.

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: 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, 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: Humectant, Emollient, Antioxidant
A type of fat found naturally in skin, these ingredients have value in skin care for their ability to both attract water and deliver it to areas that need increased hydration. They also have antioxidant properties.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant, Plant-Extracts
Peptide that offers skin-soothing + antioxidant properties. Studies show promise for improving signs of aging, including wrinkles.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant, Plant-Extracts
A component of green tea that’s well known for its potent antioxidant abilities for skin, as well as its properties as a soothing ingredient.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant, Plant-Extracts
This soy-derived isoflavone has potent skin-soothing and antioxidant benefits that are particularly good at targeting signs of aging associated with estrogen decline.

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: Emollient
Long chain lipids that replenish and condition skin, helping to prevent water loss and maintain barrier function. They’re also precursors to skin’s ceramides.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant, Plant-Extracts
Superstar antioxidant that defends skin from environmental assault + sun damage, while also helping stabilize other antioxidants in a formula. Also helps contribute to more even skin tone.

Rating: Good
Categories: Humectant
This hydrating ingredient conditions skin and helps reduce static when used in hair care products.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant, Plant-Extracts
Offers soothing and anti-aging benefits.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant, Humectant
Antioxidant known to help visibly fade discolorations and soothe skin. It also helps skin naturally produce its own hyaluronic acid content.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant, Plant-Extracts
A natural ingredient found in a wide variety of plants, including tomatoes, kale, and berries. In skin care, it serves as an antioxidant, soothing, and restorative ingredient.

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

Rating: Best
Categories: Plant-Extracts, Coloring-Agent-Pigment, Antioxidant
Plant extract that has potent antioxidant and skin soothing properties.

Rating: Best
Categories: Plant-Extracts, Antioxidant
The extract of a type of squash that is a very good source of antioxidant cartenoids.

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: Emollient, Texture-Enhancer, Plant-Extracts
Emollient and skin-replenishing ingredient derived from coconut oil and glycerin. Contains fatty acids that help skin resist moisture loss.

Rating: Good
Categories: Absorbent, Humectant
Modified version of corn starch that delivers humectant (hydrating) properties. May also be used to adjust the opacity, viscosity cohesiveness of the formula.

Rating: Best
Categories: Emollient, Emulsifier, Suspending-Dispersing-Agent
Plays many different roles including dispersing agent, skin-conditioning emollient, and emulsifying agent. Enhances the penetration of other ingredients for greater efficacy.

Rating: Good
Categories: Occlusive-Opacifying-Agent, Cleansing-Agent, Emulsifier
This fatty acid is found naturally in skin and is the most common fatty acid found in animals, plants, and microorganisms. It has many functions in cosmetics, including as a cleansing agent and emollient.

Rating: Good
Categories: Humectant, Texture-Enhancer
Humectant (hydration booster), texture/penetration enhancer, and formulary solvent. May also help decrease rough surface skin and stabilize the formula.

Rating: Good
Categories: Texture-Enhancer, Ph-Adjuster-Stabilizer, Polymer
This synthetic ingredient is used to enhance the texture of skin care and hair care products and has been ruled safe as used in cosmetics.

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: Cleansing-Agent, Texture-Enhancer
Works as a cleansing agent and/or formulary texture enhancer.

Rating: Good
Categories: Cleansing-Agent, Texture-Enhancer
Multitasks as a cleansing agent, emulsifier/stabilizer and formulary texture enhancer.

Rating: Good
Categories: Ph-Adjuster-Stabilizer
Used to adjust and control a formula’s pH. Also enhances the penetration of other skin care ingredients, making them more effective.

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
This preservative is used to prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi in cosmetics and food products. It’s derived from benzoic acid.

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

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
Effective skin care preservative that inhibits contamination and helps stabilize the formula’s shelf life.

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
A preservative that can be naturally derived or made synthetically. It prevents the growth of bacteria, mold, and fungi and is considered safe as used in cosmetics.