How is a cosmetic formulated?

Many times we wonder how to know how to read and understand each ingredient that is present in the formulation of the products we consume, not only at a gastronomic and nutritional level, but also at a topical and beauty level.

Every day people worry about receiving real information about what they consume, because more and more people want more transparency and honesty.

People begin to understand that everything is connected and that it is useless to eat well if we then apply harmful products to our skin.

As I commented in the previous lines, it is not a specific concern, but a global one.

People begin to understand that everything is connected and that it is useless to eat well if we then apply harmful products to our skin and, likewise, it is useless to take care of our cosmetics if our diet is of poor quality.

Obviously I am a great defender of cosmetics not only naturalbut organic and ecological. In this post I want to focus on briefly explaining how cosmetics in general are formulated and how to be able to read the ingredients of each formulation in a practical way.

So you will be the ones judge the cosmetics that you choose to use and you will know if the effect and the ingredients that you are looking for in each formulation is truly present in the cosmetic.

Ingredients

In all the formulations there are (with a greater or less quantity) certain percentages of active ingredients and principles that make a balanced formulation.

Not all cosmetics have exactly these ingredients and, as I said before, the percentage varies depending on the product and the purposes of each formulation, that is, the effect that is to be achieved with said product.

But broadly speaking, in almost all products, whether conventional cosmetics or natural or organic cosmetics, the bases of the formulation and the ingredients are very similar.

Water

In all formulations, as far as creams are concerned, there is a aqueous phase. This aqueous phase serves to lighten the texture, to make the formulation more fluid or to transport the hydrophilic active ingredients of the formula, which mix with the water.

Distilled water, floral water, alcohol, fruit or plant juices can be used in the aqueous phase of the formulation. These ingredients vary according to the quality that you want to give to the product and the importance that is given to the ingredients. It is evident that water is much cheaper than floral water, for example.

oils

Then we have the oily phase. This phase, in addition to stabilizing the formula and making it more moisturizing, has an occlusive effect to limit the natural loss of water from the skin. Depending on the quality of the product, we will find either better or lower quality vegetable oils or mineral oils derived from petrochemicals or synthetic substances.

Obviously it is much better vegetable oil since they provide vitamins and fatty acids in their natural composition. However, the cost is higher than that of mineral oils, which, although of lower quality, are much cheaper.

emulsifiers

The emulsifiers are very necessary for mix the aqueous phase with the oily one. Most are of chemical origin, however there are emulsifiers of ecological origin. These emulsifiers can be known as surfactants, since they bind the water with the oil.

These emulsifiers play the role of wetting agents or moisturizers. In natural or organic cosmetics, vegetable waxes derived from coconut, beetroot or sugar are used as emulsifiers.

preservatives

preservatives They are a very important part of any formulation that contains water, since where there is water there is a risk of the proliferation of bacteria.

There are both chemical and natural preservatives that fight bacteria and their proliferation. However, they are not innocuous substances, since they are intended to eliminate bacteria. For this reason, it could be said that they are a necessary evil in any type of cosmetics, both natural, organic and in conventional cosmetics.

If the formulation does not contain an aqueous phase (a body butter for example) it is not necessary to use preservatives since bacteria cannot live in it.

The preservatives in conventional cosmetics are synthetic and the natural ones are usually alcohols or essential oils, but this does not mean that they are sometimes irritating or allergenic.

The active ingredients are the protagonists of cosmetics marketing. There are laboratories that spend millions to be able to synthetically create some new asset and thus be able to patent it, however there are other formulations that use extracts from valuable or exotic plants.

Regardless of the origin, its effectiveness is controversial, since it is difficult to demonstrate even with studies, since these studies are generally minimal or subjective.

What I can tell you is that the assets they represent a minimal part of a conventional cosmetic formulation generally… and that in natural or organic cosmetics said active principles are present in a greater percentage.

perfumes

Perfumes are used to mask the odors of some ingredients that can be unpleasant. These perfumes are found in both conventional and natural cosmetics. We can obtain perfumes from synthetic formulations and others, obtain them from essential oils.

We can see that the difference between conventional and natural or organic cosmetics lies in the quality of the ingredients, but that the bases for their formulation are quite similar.

In the next post I will teach you how to read the so-called INCIS in a simple way, which is the nomenclature of the ingredients and formulations that must be present in all cosmetics and how to know if what they sell us is what we are really buying.

I hope you liked this post.