How to read a cosmetic ingredient list in 60 seconds

An ingredient list looks like a wall of Latin. It is actually a small set of rules, and once you know them the wall turns into a summary. Here is the one-minute version.

Rule 1: order is concentration

Ingredients are listed from the largest amount to the smallest, down to 1 percent. Below 1 percent the brand can list them in any order. So the first five or six names tell you what the product mostly is. Water, a humectant such as Glycerin, an oil or an emollient, and an emulsifier: that is a cream. Water, a surfactant ending in sulfate, betaine or glucoside: that is a cleanser.

Rule 2: the 1 percent line

Find the preservative. Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate and the parabens are almost always used below 1 percent. Everything after them is also below 1 percent, whatever the marketing says about it. A plant extract listed after the preservative is a garnish.

Rule 3: five endings to know

• paraben: a paraben preservative
• sulfate after sodium or ammonium: a sulfate cleanser
• methicone or siloxane: a silicone
• Alcohol standing alone, or with Denat, SD, Ethyl or Isopropyl: a drying alcohol. After Cetyl, Cetearyl or Stearyl it is a fatty alcohol, which is a wax.
• Parfum or Fragrance: perfume, usually followed by named allergens such as Limonene and Linalool

Rule 4: Latin names are plants

Two Latin words followed by a part and a form is a botanical: Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil is jojoba oil, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter is shea butter, Lavandula Angustifolia Oil is lavender essential oil. The English name is often in brackets. Seed, kernel and fruit oils are the fat of the plant; a plain oil from an aromatic plant such as lavender, citrus or mint is an essential oil, which counts as fragrance.

Rule 5: numbers are pigments and polymers

CI 77891 is titanium dioxide, CI 77491 is red iron oxide, CI 75470 is carmine, which comes from insects. PEG-100 Stearate and Polyquaternium-7 are synthetic polymers; the number is a size, not a warning.

Putting it together

Read the first five names for what the product is. Find the preservative for the 1 percent line. Scan for the five endings if you avoid something. Check the bracketed English names for plants and pigments. That is the whole method, and it is what the six checks on this site do for every product, one name at a time. The ingredient dictionary has the rest.