water in skin care
Isn't water super healthy for you? Yup.
So, you might be wondering why we don't add such an amazing ingredient in our products?
Grab a bottle, any from your cabinet, and see if the first ingredient is water. Ingredients are listed in descending order of quantity, first being the largest.
Did you know that water breeds mold and bacteria when it is introduced to another ingredient in the same way a grapefruit will mold on the counter but if you dehydrate it, it will last indefinitely? So, if water is listed, know that a strong Preservative is in there somewhere.
You see, the FDA requires a preservative for products containing water because of the mold and bacteria (see below). Because we don't add water, we don't need preservatives! We love that.
By adding water, another ingredient is needed. We all remember learning in science class that oil and water don’t mix, right? Well, they do in the skin care industry, that is, if you add an Emulsifying Wax. These waxes do a fancy job of suspending oil molecules in water molecules so you have a thick creamy consistency.
Ingredients In Emulsifying Wax
Cetearyl Alcohol, Polysorbate 60, PEG-150 Stearate, and Steareth-20. (Here's a hint: if an ingredient has a number in it, it wasn't grown in nature. There are no orange-10s oranges grown on trees in Florida.)
None of these ingredients need to be put on labels, just the end product, Emulsifying Wax.
These ingredients have been tested to be harmful to the body and irritating to the skin. Yet, when applied on the skin they are absorbed into your skin and enter your bloodstream. We can’t mess around people.
Drink water.
Don't pay for it in your skincare.
If you like the science behind things, you will find that here.
Water activity is a fancy way of stating how much water a skincare formula contains. Most aqueous (formulas containing water) formulas state water as the first ingredient which means it contains mostly water.
When diluting something you add water. Why would you want diluted skincare?
Below you will find the results of an extensive study on water in cosmetics from the Senior Manager of Research and Development Microbiology with Avon Products, Inc.
More science-y proof that water does breed mold and bacteria when combined with other ingredients which is why we never use it in our formulas. Ever.
This shows how little water is needed for a preservative system to be used.
Don’t let your results get watered down.
Most products contain 50-75% water and other fillers. This dilutes the product and irritates the skin.
