Rating: Best
Categories: Silicone, Emollient
An skin-softening silicone known for its permeable (think breathable) barrier that helps skin retain hydration. It has a uniquely silky, non-greasy feel.

Rating: Good
Categories: Solvent, Texture-Enhancer
Improves ingredient absorption while adding moisturizing properties for skin. Can also be used to support the stability of a formula.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant, Humectant
Glyceryl glucoside is a humectant that helps support skin’s water balance for proper moisturization. It also has antioxidant properties.

Rating: Best
Categories: Peptides
A synthetic peptide that acts on numerous supportive elements in skin, helping to maintain a firmer, tighter look and feel.

Rating: Best
Categories: Peptides
This bio-identical single chain peptide plays a role in helping to shore up skin’s underlying support, smoothing wrinkles and improving resilience, among other benefits.

Rating: Best
Categories: Peptides
A synthetic peptide that helps visibly firm skin by supporting key collagens and other proteins that play a role in maintaining skin’s natural architecture.

Rating: Best
Categories: Peptides
Anti-aging peptide proven to visibly impact wrinkles, firmness, and rough texture for smoother, younger-looking skin.

Rating: Best
Categories: Peptides
Tridecapeptide-1 is a synthetic peptide that has a documented wrinkle-smoothing effect that works within minutes.

Rating: Best
Categories: Peptides
A synthetic peptide blend that steadily improves skin’s hydration, smoothness, and firmness by encouraging skin’s underlying support.

Rating: Good
Categories: Film-Forming-Agent, Humectant
This plant-derived or synthetic ingredient is a humectant and film-forming agent in cosmetics.

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: Solvent
Solvent used in skin care to help dissolve or dilute other substances and ingredients.

Rating: Good
Categories: Texture-Enhancer, Emulsifier
This synthetic polymer made from an ammonium salt helps stabilize emulsions and contributes to a soft finish in skin care products.

Rating: Best
Categories: Antioxidant, Plant-Extracts
Plant extract that’s a potent antioxidant and able to revive a radiant, even-toned look to dull, fatigued skin.

Rating: Best
Categories: Humectant, Peptides, Prebiotic-Probiotic-Postbiotic
A fermented peptide that offers various benefits for skin and hair, depending on the strain used to create the resulting ingredient. In general, it soothes and supports skin’s microbiome.

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: Good
Categories: Chelating-Agent
Synthetic salt form of the antioxidant phytic acid. Acts as a stabilizer and chelating agent to keep metals such as iron and copper from binding to water in the formula.

Rating: Good
Categories: Emollient
Lightweight emollient that aids skin hydration. Also assists with solubility and texture.

Rating: Good
Categories: Solvent, Texture-Enhancer
Solvent that is well-known for producing smooth spreadability and more pleasing textures in skin care formulas. Also used to enhance the efficacy of cosmetic preservative phenoxyethanol so it works better in lower amounts.

Rating: Good
Categories: Texture-Enhancer, Emollient
A derivative of fatty alcohol cetearyl alcohol and a thicker oil known as 2-ethylhexanoic acid. Works as a rich emollient and is excellent for dry skin.

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: 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, Plant-Extracts
Conditions skin and hair and is a moisturizing ingredient in many skin care products. Because of its antibacterial action, it also is an effective cosmetics preservative.

Rating: Good
Categories: Texture-Enhancer
Magnesium chloride is used with other thickening agents to create and enhance product textures. It’s also used in foods.

Rating: Good
Categories: Preservative
This preservative, which can be naturally derived, is often used in conjunction with others because of its weak activity. It also is used to help preserve foods like dried meats and cheeses.

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.