Dhc Vitamin C Ingredients

Vitamin C Milky Essence

Contains the highest concentration of vitamin C in the DHC VC series to help smooth and firm for supple, youthful-looking skin.

Uploaded by: ryticle on 04/01/2020

Ingredients overview

Water, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Glycereth-26, Octyldodecyl Myristate, Pentylene Glycol, C14-22 Alcohols, Dimethicone, 3-Glyceryl Ascorbate, Ascorbyl Methylsilanol Pectinate, Phytosteryl/Behenyl/Octyldodecyl Lauroyl Glutamate, PEG-240/Hdi Copolymer Bis-Decyltetradeceth-20 Ether, Hydrogenated Lecithin, C12-20 Alkyl Glucoside, Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-11, Sodium Citrate, Phenoxyethanol, Citric Acid, Methylpropanediol, Enantia Chlorantha Bark Extract, Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Sterols, Disodium EDTA, Citrus Reticulata (Tangerine) Peel Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Polianthes Tuberosa Polysaccharide, Hexyl 3-Glyceryl Ascorbate, Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Peel Oil, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil, Citrus Tangerina (Tangerine) Peel Oil, T-Butyl Alcohol, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Pyridoxine Cyclic Phosphate, 3-Laurylglyceryl Ascorbate, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Peel Oil, Sodium PCA, Behenyl Alcohol, Polyglyceryl-10 Pentastearate, Potassium Hydroxide, Hydrolyzed Collagen, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Leaf Extract, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Ceramide NP, Prunus Lannesiana Flower Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Soluble Proteoglycan, Oleanolic Acid, Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Flower Oil, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil, Ascorbic Acid, Malic Acid, Retinyl Palmitate, Arachis Hypogaea (Peanut) Oil, Tocopherol

Highlights

Key Ingredients

Other Ingredients

Skim through

Ingredient name	what-it-does	irr., com.	ID-Rating
Water	solvent
Glycerin	skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant	0, 0	superstar
Butylene Glycol	moisturizer/humectant, solvent, viscosity controlling	0, 1
Glycereth-26	moisturizer/humectant, emollient, viscosity controlling	0, 0
Octyldodecyl Myristate	emollient
Pentylene Glycol	solvent, moisturizer/humectant
C14-22 Alcohols
Dimethicone	emollient	0, 1
3-Glyceryl Ascorbate	antioxidant, moisturizer/humectant
Ascorbyl Methylsilanol Pectinate	antioxidant, viscosity controlling
Phytosteryl/Behenyl/Octyldodecyl Lauroyl Glutamate
PEG-240/Hdi Copolymer Bis-Decyltetradeceth-20 Ether	viscosity controlling
Hydrogenated Lecithin	emollient, emulsifying		goodie
C12-20 Alkyl Glucoside	emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing
Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-11	viscosity controlling
Sodium Citrate	chelating, buffering
Phenoxyethanol	preservative
Citric Acid	buffering
Methylpropanediol	solvent
Enantia Chlorantha Bark Extract
Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate	antioxidant, skin brightening		goodie
Tocopheryl Acetate	antioxidant	0, 0
Ethylhexylglycerin	preservative
Glycine Soja (Soybean) Sterols	emollient
Disodium EDTA	chelating
Citrus Reticulata (Tangerine) Peel Extract
Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil	perfuming		icky
Polianthes Tuberosa Polysaccharide
Hexyl 3-Glyceryl Ascorbate	antioxidant, moisturizer/humectant
Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Peel Oil
Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil	perfuming		icky
Citrus Tangerina (Tangerine) Peel Oil
T-Butyl Alcohol	perfuming, solvent
Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract	soothing, skin brightening		superstar
Pyridoxine Cyclic Phosphate
3-Laurylglyceryl Ascorbate	antioxidant, moisturizer/humectant
Citrus Limon (Lemon) Peel Oil	perfuming		icky
Sodium PCA	skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant	0, 0	goodie
Behenyl Alcohol	emollient, viscosity controlling
Polyglyceryl-10 Pentastearate
Potassium Hydroxide	buffering
Hydrolyzed Collagen	emollient, moisturizer/humectant		goodie
Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil	antimicrobial/antibacterial, perfuming		icky
Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Leaf Extract	soothing		goodie
Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate	emulsifying
Ceramide NP	skin-identical ingredient		goodie
Prunus Lannesiana Flower Extract
Sodium Hyaluronate	skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant	0, 0	goodie
Soluble Proteoglycan
Oleanolic Acid
Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Flower Oil			icky
Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil	soothing, perfuming		goodie
Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil	perfuming		icky
Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil	antioxidant, antimicrobial/antibacterial		icky
Ascorbic Acid	antioxidant, skin brightening, buffering		superstar
Malic Acid	exfoliant, buffering		goodie
Retinyl Palmitate	cell-communicating ingredient	1-3, 1-3
Arachis Hypogaea (Peanut) Oil		0, 2
Tocopherol	antioxidant	0-3, 0-3	goodie

DHC Vitamin C Milky Essence
Ingredients explained

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.

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 at higher concentrations up to 20-40% (around 10% is a good usability-effectiveness sweet spot)
High-glycerin moisturizers are awesome for treating severely dry skin

Read all the geeky details about Glycerin here >>

Butylene glycol, or let's just call it BG, is a multi-tasking colorless, syrupy liquid. It's a great pick for creating a nice feeling product.

BG's main job is usually to be a solvent for the other ingredients. Other tasks include helping the product to absorb faster and deeper into the skin (penetration enhancer), making the product spread nicely over the skin (slip agent), and attracting water (humectant) into the skin.

It's an ingredient whose safety hasn't been questioned so far by anyone (at least not that we know about). BG is approved by Ecocert and is also used enthusiastically in natural products. BTW, it's also a food additive.

It's a nice glycerin-based humectant and emollient that gives skin a smooth and luxurious feel.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

A multi-functional, silky feeling helper ingredient that can do quite many things. It's used as anemulsion stabilizer, solvent and a broad spectrum antimicrobial. According to manufacturer info, it's also amoisturizer and helps to make the product feel great on the skin. It works synergistically with preservatives and helps to improve water-resistance of sunscreens.

A 100% vegetable origin emulsifier that usually comes to the formula with its buddy called C12-20 Alkyl Glucoside. The duo is trade-named Montanov L and works as an effective oil in water emulsifier. It creates ultra-soft, light texture, has excellent dermo-compatibility and is readily biodegradable.

Chemically speaking, it is a mixture of fatty alcohols with 14 to 22 carbon atoms in their fatty chains.

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 thick liquid.

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's nice). 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 hair like 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).

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

It's the chemically chopped up version of normal lecithin. Most often it's used to create liposomes and to coat and stabilize other ingredients.

A 100% vegetable origin emulsifier that usually comes to the formula with its buddy called C14-22 Alcohols. The duo is called Montanov L and two together help to create ultra-soft light formulas.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

A little helper ingredient that is used to adjust the pH of the product. It also helps to keep products stay nice longer by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula (they usually come from water).

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.

Citric acid comes from citrus fruits and is an AHA. If these magic three letters don't tell you anything, click here and read our detailed description on glycolic acid, the most famous AHA.

So citric acid is an exfoliant, that can - just like other AHAs - gently lift off the dead skin cells of your skin and make it more smooth and fresh.

There is also some research showing that citric acid with regular use (think three months and 20% concentration) can help sun-damaged skin, increase skin thickness and some nice hydrating things called glycosaminoglycans in the skin.

But according to a comparative study done in 1995, citric acid has less skin improving magic properties than glycolic or lactic acid. Probably that's why citric acid is usually not used as an exfoliant but more as a helper ingredient in small amounts to adjust the pH of a formulation.

It's a type of glycol that - according to the manufacturer - is an extremely good replacement for other glycols like propylene or butylene glycol. Its main job is to be a solvent, but it has also very good antimicrobial properties and acts as a true preservative booster. Also helps with skin hydration without stickiness or tacky feel.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Form of Vitamin C, Ascorbyl Isotetrapalmitate, Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate, ATIP;Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate | What-it-does: antioxidant, skin brightening

Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate is a stable, oil-soluble form of skincare big shot Vitamin C. If you do not know, why Vitamin C is such a big deal in skincare, click here and read all about it. We are massive vitamin C fans and have written about it in excruciating detail.

So now, you know that Vitamin C is great and all, but it's really unstable and gives cosmetics companies many headaches. To solve this problem they came up with vitamin C derivatives, and one of them is Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate (let's call it ATIP in short).

It's a really promising candidate (see below), but while reading all the goodness about it in a minute, do not forget that derivatives not only have to be absorbed into the skin but also have to be converted to pure vitamin C (ascorbic acid or AA) and the efficacy of the conversion is often unknown. In addition, vitamin C's three magic properties (antioxidant, collagen booster, skin brightener) are all properly proven in-vivo (on real people), but for the derivatives, it's mostly in-vitro studies or in the case of ATIP, it's in-vitro and done by an ingredient supplier.

With this context in mind let's see what ATIP might be able to do. First, it is stable (if pH < 5), easy to formulate and a joy to work with for a cosmetic chemist.

Second, because it's oil-soluble, its skin penetration abilities seem to be great. So great in fact, that it surpasses the penetration of pure vitamin C threefold at the same concentration and it penetrates successfully into the deeper layers of the skin (that is usually important to do some anti-aging work). There is also in-vitro data showing that it converts to AA in the skin.

Third, ATIP seems to have all three magic abilities of pure vitamin C: it gives antioxidant protection from both UVB and UVA rays, it increases collagen synthesis (even more than AA) and it has askin brightening effect by reducing melanogenesis by more than 80% in human melanoma cell cultures.

So this all sounds really great, but these are only in-vitro results at this point. We could find Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate mentioned only in one published in-vivo study that examined the anti-aging properties of a silicone formula containing 10% AA and 7% ATIP. The authors theorized that the 10% AA is released slowly from the silicon delivery system and probably stays in the upper layer of the skin to give antioxidant benefits, while ATIP penetrates more rapidly and deeply and gives some wrinkle-reducing benefits. The study was a small (10 patients), double-blind experiment, and the formula did show some measurable anti-aging results. However, it is hard to know how much pure vitamin C or ATIP can be thanked.

Bottom line: a really promising, but not well-proven vitamin C derivative that can be worth a try especially if you like experimenting (but if you like the tried and true, pure vitamin C will be your best bet).

Also-called: Vitamin E Acetate | What-it-does: antioxidant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0

It's the most commonly used version of pure vitamin E in cosmetics. You can read all about the pure form here. This one is the so-called esterified version.

According to famous dermatologist, Leslie Baumann while tocopheryl acetate is more stable and has a longer shelf life, it's also more poorly absorbed by the skin and may not have the same awesome photoprotective effects as pure Vit E.

If you have spotted ethylhexylglycerin on the ingredient list, most probably you will see there also the current IT-preservative, phenoxyethanol. They are good friends because ethylhexylglycerin can boost the effectiveness of phenoxyethanol (and other preservatives) and as an added bonus it feels nice on the skin too.

Also, it's an effective deodorant and a medium spreadingemollient.

Also-called: Soybean Sterols | What-it-does: emollient

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Super common little helper ingredient thathelps products to remain nice and stable for a longer time. It does so by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula (that usually get into there from water) that would otherwise cause some not so nice changes.

It is typically used in tiny amounts, around 0.1% or less.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Orange Oil | What-it-does: perfuming

The essential oil coming from the sweet orange. In the case of orange (and citruses in general), the essential oil is mainly in the peel of the fruit, so it's pretty much the same as the orange peel oil (also has the same CAS number - a unique ID assigned to chemicals).

Its main component is limonene (up to 97%), a super common fragrant ingredient that makes everything smell nice (but counts as a frequent skin sensitizer).

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Bitter Orange Essential Oil

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Bergamot Fruit Oil | What-it-does: perfuming

Theessential oil coming from the fruit (probably the rind) of the bergamot orange. It's acommon top note in perfumes and contains (among others)fragrant compounds limonene (37%), linalyl acetate (30%) and linalool (8.8%).

A well-known issue with bergamot oil (apart from the fragrance allergens) is that it contains phototoxic compounds calledfuranocoumarins, but more and more commonly furanocoumarin-free versions are used in cosmetic products. Still, if you have sensitive skin and prefer fragrance-free products, bergamot oil is not for you.

Also-called: Tangerine Oil

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

A clear liquid with a camphor-like odor that is used as a solvent.

Also-called: Licorice Root;Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract | What-it-does: soothing, skin brightening

You might know licorice as a sweet treat from your childhood, but it's actually a legume that grows around the Mediterranean Sea, the Middle East, central and southern Russia. It's sweet and yellow and not only used for licorice all sorts but it's also a skincare superstar thanks to two magic properties:

Nr. 1 magic property is that it has skin-lightening or to say it another way depigmenting properties. The most active part is called glabridin. The topical application (meaning when you put it on your face) of 0.5% glabridin was shown to inhibit UVB caused pigmentation of guinea pigs. Another study even suggested that licorice is more effective than the gold standard skin-lightening agent hydroquinone. All in all, licorice is considered to be one of the safest skin lightening agents with the fewest side effects.

There is just one catch regarding glabridin and licorice: the amount of glabridin in commercial licorice extracts can vary a lot. We have seen extracts with only 4% glabridin as well as 40% glabridin. The latter one is a very-very expensive ingredient, so if you are after the depigmenting properties try to choose a product that boasts its high-quality licorice extract.

Nr. 2 magic property is that licorice is a potent anti-inflammatory. Glabridin has also some soothing properties but the main active anti-inflammatory component is glycyrrhizin. It's used to treat several skin diseases that are connected to inflammation including atopic dermatitis, rosacea or eczema.

Oh, and one more thing: glabridin seems to be also an antioxidant, which is just one more reason to be happy about licorice root extract on an ingredient list.

Bottom line: Licorice is a great skincare ingredient with significant depigmenting, anti-inflammatory and even some antioxidant properties. Be happy if it's on the ingredient list. :)

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Lemon Peel Oil | What-it-does: perfuming

The essential oil coming from the rind of the lemon that we make (or should make) lemonade from. In general, there are two problems with citrus peel oils: first, they are essentially the fragrant component, limonene in disguise (they are about 85-98% limonene).

Second, they contain the problematic compounds called furanocoumarins that make them mildly phototoxic. Lemon peel contains a medium amount of them, more than sweet orange but less than bergamot. Be careful with it especially if it is in a product for daytime use.

PCA stands for Pyrrolidone Carboxylic Acid and though it might not sound like it, it is a thing that can be found naturally in our skin. The sodium salt form of PCA is an important skin-identical ingredient and great natural moisturizer that helps the skin to hold onto water and stay nicely hydrated.

A fatty alcohol (the non-drying type with a long oil loving chain of 22 carbon atoms) that is used to increase the viscosity of the formula and it also helps the oily and the watery parts to stay nicely mixed together (called emulsion stabilizing).

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

It's a very alkaline stuff that helps to set the pH of the cosmetic formula to be just right. It's similar to the more often used sodium hydroxide and pretty much the same of what we wrote there applies here too.

The chemically chopped up version of the big protein molecule, collagen. It is often derived from fish or bovine sources and works as a nice moisturizer and humectant that helps the skin to hold onto water.

To understand a bit more what Hydrolyzed Collagen is, you have to know that proteins are large chains of amino acids connected with so-called peptide bonds. These bonds can be broken up when a water molecule is added and the resulting thing is a mix of shorter length amino acids, also called peptides. SoHydrolyzed Collagen is not really collagen, it is rather an undefined and varying mix of largish peptides. Based on a manufacturer's data, the whole, soluble collagen has an average molecular weight of 300 000 Da, while this chopped up mixture has an average MW of 12 000 Da (still pretty big).

The main thing of these largish peptides is to act as water-binding agents, and tomake the skin nice and smooth (aka emollient). Hydrolyzed Collagen is also often used in cleansers as it can make harsh surfactants milder and in hair conditioners as it improves the flexibility and manageability of hair.

If you wanna know more about collagen in cosmetics, we have a shiny explanation about soluble collagen here >>

We have to start by writing how fascinated we are by the amazing lavender fields of Provance and we do love pretty much everything about lavender: its look, its color, its scent.... but, when it comes to skincare, lavender is a questionable ingredient that you probably do not want in your skincare products.

First, let us start with the pros: it has a lovely scent, so no wonder that it is popular as a fragrance ingredient in natural products wanting to be free from synthetic fragrances but still wanting to smell nice. The scent of lavender is famous for having calming and relaxing properties and some smallish scientific studies do support that. Inhaled volatile compounds seem to have a soothing effect on the central nervous system and studies have shown that lavender aromatherapy can improve patient's anxiety and experience in hospitals.

Another pro is that lavender oil has some nice antimicrobial and antibacterial properties. It also has some local pain relieving and muscle relaxing magical powers. Lavender oil is also often claimed to have anti-inflammatory properties. We have found a study confirming this but it was the essential oil of the leaves and not the much more commonly used flowers and the two differ in their main chemical compounds very much. (The main components of the flower essential oil are linalyl acetate and linalool [around 80% the two together] while it is 1,8-Cineole [around 65%] in the essential oil of the leaves.)

Now, let us look at the cons: similar to a bunch of other essential oils, the main components of lavender oil are potentially irritating fragrant components. The two main components arelinalyl acetate (about 50%) and linalool (about 35%) and both autoxidise on exposure to the air forming strong contact allergens. To make things even worse, lavender oil seems to be cytotoxic from concentrations as low as 0.25% (concentration up to 0.125% were ok).

There is also an often cited Japanese study that made patch tests with lavender oil for 9 years and found a huge increase in lavender oil sensitivity in 1997 (from 1.1% in 1990 to 8.7% in 1997 and 13.9% in 1998). This was the year when using dried lavender flowers in pillows, wardrobes, and elsewhere became fashionable in Japan, so it seems that increased exposure to lavender results in increased risk of sensitivity.

Overall, it makes us sad to write bad things about such a lovely plant, but when it comes to skincare, you will be better off without lavender.

Also-called: Nettle Leaf Extract | What-it-does: soothing

The extract coming from the herb stinging nettle. According to manufacturer info, it's anti-allergenic and is loaded with several good-for-the-skin stuff: it contains firming and toning mineral salts, anti-irritant flavonoids, and astringent and anti-bacterial gallic acid.

It's recommended for treatment of oily skin and even stimulation of hair growth.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

One of the many types of ceramides that can be found naturally in the upper layer of the skin. Ceramides make up about 50% of the goopy stuff that's between our skin cells and play a super important role in having a healthy skin barrier and keeping the skin hydrated. It works even better when combined with its pal, Ceramide 1.

We wrote way more about ceramides at ceramide 1, so click here to know more.

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

It's the - sodium form - cousin of the famous NMF, hyaluronic acid (HA). If HA does not tell you anything we have a super detailed, geeky explanation about it here. The TL; DR version of HA is that it's a huge polymer (big molecule from repeated subunits) found in the skin that acts as a sponge helping the skin to hold onto water, being plump and elastic. HA is famous for its crazy water holding capacity as it can bind up to 1000 times its own weight in water.

As far as skincare goes, sodium hyaluronate and hyaluronic acid are pretty much the same and the two names are used interchangeably. As cosmetic chemist kindofstephen writes on reddit "sodium hyaluronate disassociates into hyaluronic acid molecule and a sodium atom in solution".

In spite of this, if you search for "hyaluronic acid vs sodium hyaluronate" you will find on multiple places that sodium hyaluronate is smaller and can penetrate the skin better. Chemically, this is definitely not true, as the two forms are almost the same, both are polymers and the subunits can be repeated in both forms as much as you like. (We also checked Prospector for sodium hyaluronate versions actually used in cosmetic products and found that the most common molecular weight was 1.5-1.8 million Da that absolutely counts as high molecular weight).

What seems to be a true difference, though, is that the salt form is more stable, easier to formulate and cheaper so it pops up more often on the ingredient lists.

If you wanna become a real HA-and-the-skin expert you can read way more about the topic at hyaluronic acid (including penetration-questions, differences between high and low molecular weight versions and a bunch of references to scientific literature).

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Bitter Orange Flower Oil, Neroli Oil

The essential oil coming from the flowers of bitter orange (which is the sister of the sweet orange we all know and eat). It contains several fragrance components including linalool (around 30%) and limonene (around 10%) and has a lovely sweet smell.

As it's an essential oil with lots of fragrant components,be careful with it if your skin is sensitive.

Also-called: Roman Chamomile Flower Oil | What-it-does: soothing, perfuming

The essential oil coming from the second most common type of chamomile, the Roman Chamomile. It also contains the biologically active anti-inflammatory components,bisabolol, and chamazulene, but less than the more commonly used German Chamomile. It's not clear what Roman Chamomile knows that the German one does not.

Also-called: Peppermint Oil | What-it-does: perfuming

The essential oil coming from steam distillation of freshly harvested, flowering peppermint sprigs. Its major component is menthol that gives the oil its well-known refreshing and cooling properties. Peppermint oil is traditionally used as an inhalant for cold and coughs and there is also some clinical data validating its use against headaches by rubbing a peppermint oil cream on the forehead.

As for skincare, other than the nice grassy-minty smell and the refreshing sensations, we cannot write good things. It can be a skin irritant, so much so that it is a well-known counterirritant for muscle pains creating mild surface irritation to make things better in the deeper layers. But for everyday skincare, counterirritation is not something you wanna do, so we think that peppermint oil is better to avoid, especially if your skin is sensitive.

The essential oil coming from the leafs of the lovely herb, rosemary. It contains several fragrant components, including the well-known irritant, camphor (around 15%). It has a nice smell, is a potent antioxidant and it's also an antimicrobial agent.

If your skin is sensitive, it's probably a good idea to avoid it.

Works best between a concentration of 5-20%
Boosts the skin's own collagen production
Fades pigmentation and brown spots
If used under sunscreen it boosts its UV protection
Extremely unstable and oxidizes very easily in presence of light or air
Stable in solutions with water only if pH is less than 3.5 or in waterless formulations
Vit E + C work in synergy and provide superb photoprotection
Ferulic acid doubles the photoprotection effect of Vit C+E and helps to stabilize Vit C
Potent Vit. C serums might cause a slight tingling on sensitive skin

Read all the geeky details about Ascorbic Acid here >>

Malic acid comes from apple and is an AHA. If these magic three letters don't tell you anything, click here and read our detailed description on glycolic acid, the most famous AHA.

So malic acid is an exfoliant, that can - just like other AHAs - gently lift off the dead skin cells of your skin and make it more smooth and fresh.

There is not much research out there about malic acid itself. We could find one comparative study, that compared the effectiveness of glycolic acid, lactic acid, citric acid and malic acid. The first two ones were the winners while malic and citric acid were less effective.

It's an ester form of vitamin A (retinol + palmitic acid) that belongs to the "retinoid family". The retinoid family is pretty much the royal family of skincare, with the queen being the FDA-approved anti-aging ingredient tretinoin. Retinol is also a very famous member of the family, but it's like Prince William, two steps away from the throne. Retinyl palmitate will be then little Prince George, quite far (3 steps) away from the throne.

By steps, we mean metabolic steps. Tretinoin, aka retinoic acid, is the active ingredient our skin cells can understand and retinyl palmitate (RP)has to be converted by our metabolic machinery to actually do something. The conversion is a 3 step one and looks like this:

retinyl palmitate --> retinol -- > retinaldehyde --> all-trans-retinoic acid

As we wrote in our lengthy retinol description the problem is that the conversion is not terribly effective. The evidence that RP is still an effective anti-aging ingredient is not very strong, in fact, it's weak. Dr. Leslie Baumann in her fantastic Cosmetic Dermatology book writes that RP is topically ineffective.

What's more, the anti-aging effectiveness is not the only questionable thing about RP. It also exibitsquestionable behaviour in the presence of UV light and was the center of a debate between the non-profit group, EWG (whose intentions are no doubt good, but its credibility is often questioned by scientists) and a group of scientists and dermatologists lead by Steven Q. Wang, MD, director of dermatologic surgery at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre.

Dr. Leslie Baumann wrote a great review of the debate and summarized the research available about retinyl palmitate here. It seems that there is a study showing RP being photo protective against UVB rays but there is also a study showing RP causing DNA damage and cytotoxicity in association with UVA.

We think that the truth lies somewhere in the middle, and we agree with Dr. Baumann's conclusion: "sufficient evidence to establish a causal link between RP and skin cancer has not been produced. Nor, I'm afraid, are there any good reasons to recommend the use of RP". We would add especially during the day!

Bottom line: If you wanna get serious about retinoids, RP is not your ingredient (retinol or tretinoin is!). However, if you use a product that you like and it also contains RP, there is no reason to throw it away. If possible use it at night, just to be on the safe side.

Also-called: Peanut Oil | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 2

We don't have description for this ingredient yet.

Also-called: Vitamin E | What-it-does: antioxidant | Irritancy: 0-3 | Comedogenicity: 0-3

Primary fat-soluble antioxidant in our skin
Significant photoprotection against UVB rays
Vit C + Vit E work in synergy and provide great photoprotection
Has emollient properties
Easy to formulate, stable and relatively inexpensive

Read all the geeky details about Tocopherol here >>

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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]

An often used glycol that works as a solvent, humectant, penetration enhancer and also gives a good slip to the products. [more]

It's a nice glycerin-based humectant and emollient that gives skin a smooth and luxurious feel.

A multi-functional, silky feeling helper ingredient that can do quite many things. It's used as an emulsion stabilizer, solvent, and a broad spectrum antimicrobial. [more]

A 100% vegetable origin emulsifier that helps to create ultra-soft, light textures. [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]

It's the chemically chopped up version of normal lecithin. Most often it's used to create liposomes and to coat and stabilize some other ingredient.

A 100% vegetable origin emulsifier that usually comes to the formula with its buddy called C14-22 Alcohols. The duo is called Montanov L and two together help to create ultra-soft light formulas.

A helper ingredient that is used to adjust the pH of the product. Also helps to keep products stay nice longer by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula.

Pretty much the current IT-preservative. It's safe and gentle, and can be used up to 1% worldwide. [more]

An AHA that comes from citrus fruits. It is usually used as a helper ingredient to adjust the pH of the formula. [more]

A type of glycol. Its main job is to be a solvent, but it has also very good antimicrobial properties and acts as a true preservative booster. [more]

A stable, oil-soluble form of Vitamin C, that might have (in-vitro results) all the magic abilities of pure vitamin C (antioxidant, collagen booster, skin brightener). [more]

A form of vitamin E that works as an antioxidant. Compared to the pure form it's more stable, has longer shelf life, but it's also more poorly absorbed by the skin. [more]

It can boost the effectiveness of phenoxyethanol (and other preservatives) and as an added bonus it feels nice on the skin too. [more]

Super common little helper ingredient that helps products to remain nice and stable for a longer time. It does so by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula (that usually get into there from water) that would otherwise cause some not so nice changes. [more]

The essential oil coming from the sweet orange. Its main component is limonene (up to 97%), a super common fragrant ingredient that makes everything smell nice. [more]

The essential oil coming from the fruit (probably the rind) of the bergamot orange. It's a common top note in perfumes and contains (among others) fragrant compounds limonene (37%), linalyl acetate (30%) and linalool (8.8%). A well-known issue with bergamot oil (apart from the fragrance allergens) is that it contains phototoxic [more]

A clear liquid with a camphor-like odor that is used as a solvent. [more]

The essential oil coming from the rind of the lemon. Its main component (83-97%) is limonene, the super common fragrant ingredient. [more]

It's an important skin-identical ingredient and great natural moisturizer that helps the skin to hold onto water and stay nicely hydrated. [more]

A fatty alcohol (the non-drying type) that is used to increase the viscosity of the formula and stabilize emulsions. [more]

It's a very alkaline stuff that helps to set the pH of the cosmetic formula to be just right. [more]

The chemically chopped up version of the big protein molecule, collagen. It is often derived from fish or bovine sources and works as a nice moisturizer and humectant that helps the skin to hold onto water. To understand a bit more what Hydrolyzed Collagen is, you have to know that proteins are large chains of amino acids connected with so-called peptide bonds. [more]

Lavender - essential oil with a calming scent and antimicrobial properties. Contains fragrant components (linalyl acetate - 50% and linalool - 35%) and might be cytotoxic from 0.25%. [more]

Ceramides make up 50% of the goopy stuff that's between our skin cells and play a super important role in having a healthy skin barrier and keeping the skin hydrated. [more]

It's the salt form of famous humectant and natural moisturizing factor, hyaluronic acid. It can bind huge amounts of water and it's pretty much the current IT-moisturizer. [more]

The essential oil coming from the flowers of bitter orange. Contains fragrant components that give it a nice sweet smell. [more]

The essential oil coming from the second most common type of chamomile, the Roman Chamomile. It also contains the biologically active anti-inflammatory components, bisabolol, and chamazulene, but less than the more commonly used German Chamomile. [more]

The essential oil coming from steam distillation of freshly harvested, flowering peppermint sprigs. Its major component is menthol that gives the oil its well-known refreshing and cooling properties. [more]

The essential oil coming from the leafs of rosemary. It has a nice smell, is a potent antioxidant and it's also an antimicrobial agent. Contains several fragrant components, including potential skin irritant, camphor (around 15%).

Pure Vitamin C. A skincare superstar that is clinically proven to boost collagen production (in 5-20% concentration), fade hyperpigmentation and boost UV protection under sunscreen. Also, it's extremely unstable and hard to formulate. [more]

An AHA that comes from apple. An exfoliant, that can gently lift off the dead skin cells of your skin and make it more smooth and fresh. Less effective than glycolic or lactic acid. [more]

An ester form of vitamin A (retinol + palmitic acid) that is pretty much the least effective member of the retinoid family. Its anti-aging effects are quite questionable as well as its behavior in the presence of UVA light. (Use it at night if possible!) [more]

Pure Vitamin E. Great antioxidant that gives significant photoprotection against UVB rays. Works in synergy with Vitamin C. [more]

Dhc Vitamin C Ingredients

Source: https://incidecoder.com/products/dhc-vitamin-c-milky-essence

Dhc Vitamin C Ingredients