Should you read the Ingredient list?

When purchasing a product, for some of us, reading the ingredient list is a must. We’ve spent years learning how to properly decode a skincare ingredient list. Mentally jotting down ingredients that our skin does not particularly like. But, are we causing our skin to miss out on products that it could potentially love? Is it even possible to accurately judge a product based on its ingredient list?

At Glass Angel, we believe the cosmetic formulators, who created the product in question, have the best understanding of how a product works, and exactly why each ingredient has been used to formulate the product.

For example: You might have had a bad experience with a chemical exfoliant product that uses Citric Acid as an AHA to slough off dead skin cells. Understandably, this might make you particularly vigilant in thoroughly scanning the ingredient list to make sure there is absolutely no Citric Acid in any products you’re looking to purchase.

The problem with this is, we didn’t formulate the product. Therefore we don’t know why Citric acid (or any other ingredient) was used. Only the Cosmetic Formulator of the product knows exactly why each, and every, individual ingredient is in a product, and what its function is. 

Ingredients can be used for many purposes when formulating a product. In this case, Citric Acid could have been used to adjust the pH, mask an odour or even increase the penetration of other ingredients. It might not have even been formulated at a concentration high enough for it to exfoliate the skin. And your skin could have absolutely loved this product.

I guess what I’m trying to point out here is: The overall formulation of a product is much more important than its individual ingredients.

So then, when SHOULD you scan the ingredient list?

When it comes to choosing skincare products, allergies and particular skin conditions such as Melassezia play a huge role in our decision making process. This is where ingredient list scanning comes in handy and probably SHOULD very well be used.