Polyethylene is a rather popular cosmetic ingredient. It&rsquo;s used in different types of beauty and self-care products. The title of the ingredient sounds &ldquo;chemical&rdquo; and it really is a chemical thing. It&rsquo;s a polymer made of repeating ethylene units. It is used for many different purposes: it unites and holds the ingredients together, it doesn&rsquo;t allow the emulsion to separate and thus it keeps the product in its shape. &nbsp;After you apply it on the skin, hair or nails it dries out and leaves a thin protective film. It&rsquo;s used as an abrasive in different scrubs. You probably have a question: is it better than natural abrasives? The general answer will be: in some cases, yes, it&rsquo;s better. That&rsquo;s because natural abrasives are more aggressive. Small parts of most natural abrasives have very sharp edges and may damage your skin if it&rsquo;s too sensitive. Abrasives made of polyethylene are much softer. They are less aggressive and will not harm your skin. If you see that your skin doesn&rsquo;t like natural abrasives, try to use a scrub with polyethylene. This may be a good replacement. A very interesting fact: manufacturers can produce polyethylene granules colored with different colors. That&rsquo;s why your scrub can be orange, blue or green. It makes some cosmetic products look more attractive.

Polyethylene

Sodium Chloride is a well-known thing. You meet it every day when you sit down the table and start eating. Of course, nobody calls it sodium chloride in this case; we usually call it &ldquo;Salt&rdquo;. Yes, this is a traditional salt you are using to make your food tasty. But this ingredient is useful not only for this; it&rsquo;s also used in cosmetics a lot. Usually, it&rsquo;s not the main component but it&rsquo;s still very useful. The manufacturers use this ingredient as a natural exfoliator. The salt crystal has sharp edges and helps to remove dead skin cells very effectively. &nbsp;It&rsquo;s also used a viscosity increasing agent and as a weak antiseptic. We all know that sea water can kill bacteria. That&rsquo;s because of concentrated salt. It&rsquo;s used as a thickener in shampoos, shower gels, and cleansers. <ul> <li>As part of the scrub, sodium chloride perfectly exfoliates the skin, removes dirt and dead cells, stimulates regeneration and makes it even.</li> <li>Dries the skin, has soft astringent properties.</li> <li>Strengthens the barrier function of the skin due to the hardening of the surface layers of the epidermis (therefore, salt peeling is not very suitable for preparing the skin to receive expensive cosmetics with ultra-active ingredients).</li> <li>Removes minor inflammation, promotes healing of minor injuries.</li> <li>Eliminates itching, including caused by parasite bites.</li> </ul> Is Sodium Chloride safe? Yes, the ingredient is 100% safe to use. It&rsquo;s 100% natural and it will not harm your skin. Of course, you may have an allergy and in this case, the component isn&rsquo;t for you. &nbsp;

Sodium Chloride

Lactic Acid

Niacinamide (Vitamine PP)

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride

Matricaria

Brassica Oleracea Acephala Leaf Extract

Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Extract

Leptospermum Scoparium (Manuka) Oil

Retinol (Vitamin A)

Glycerin is a very popular skincare component. It&rsquo;s used in moisturizers, toners, creams, cleansers and other beauty products. It&rsquo;s so popular because it&rsquo;s one of the best moisturizing ingredients ever known. Why it is one of the best? Because it has hygroscopic nature due to its chemical structure and it can take up water. It&rsquo;s a very important part of many beauty products. It also plays a very important role in human&rsquo;s body, participating in water regulation. <h2>How it affects the skin?</h2> Glycerin works similarly to Hyaluronic acid. Both ingredients are hygroscopic and absorb water from surrounding air. If you are a big fan of Hyaluronic acid you will also find Glycerin very beneficial. It hydrates top skin layers and forms a film that attracts water to the skin. It&rsquo;s reported that 1 molecule of glycerin can attract 10 molecules of water! When you apply it to your skin it hydrates top layers of the epidermis. It helps to deliver water to deeper layers as well. Double profit, deep hydration! As you see this thing is a Holy Grail for any lady with dry or combination skin. The good thing is that it fits all skin types and you can use it for oily skin too. It will not affect it badly. <h2>Manufacturing</h2> Depending on the origin, glycerin can be vegetable, animal or chemical. <ul> <li>Vegetable &ndash; is manufactured from coconut and palm oil.</li> <li>Animal - is secreted from pig fat.</li> <li>Chemical - synthesized from propylene.</li> </ul> Nowadays, animal glycerin isn&rsquo;t used in cosmetics too often. It&rsquo;s usually replaced with vegetable because it&rsquo;s more eco-friendly and more popular. People tend to buy products with vegetable glycerin and manufacturers know about this. If you are a fan of eco-friendly cosmetics you should pay attention to the origin of this ingredient. As for the quality, it depends not on the source but on the manufacturing technology. There are two ways of manufacturing: with chlorine and without chlorine. They say that glycerin manufactured without chlorine is much better and cleaner; it works better in dry air and doesn&rsquo;t irritate the skin. Yes, it may lead to irritation if it was manufactured using chlorine. Keep this in mind. <h2>How to Use: Tips</h2> Most people think that using cosmetics with this ingredient is very easy, but there are some details you need to know. This component is a strong moisturizer, but don&rsquo;t forget that it takes water from the surrounding air. It&rsquo;s recommended to use it if the air humidity is over 45%. If the air is dry, concentrated glycerin can withdraw water from your skin instead of hydrating it! You may feel tightness instead of hydration. That&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s better to apply oily cream or emulsion above it. &nbsp;Manufacturers know about this and they usually add oily ingredients to the products with glycerin. But anyway, beware!

One of the best-known humectants. It helps to hydrate skin very fast, but the effect doesn't last too long. That's why some people may feel dryness after 3 - 4 hours and have to re-apply skincare products once again. Works even in low concentrations but becomes very effective at 10 - 40% concentration. It's used in cosmetics for more than 50 years and it is researched very well. A great component to counter dryness!

Jason

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