Skin care ingredients are subject to trends and fads like anything else. They’re the big buzzwords used to market new products and they’re often the reason we select the skin care and beauty products we use. And while we, the consumers, might know what the big hitters in our favorite products do, or at least what the companies say they do, how often do we actually know what all the other little ingredients do? Are they good for us? Are they dangerous? What do they even do?

We know the good ingredients we want based on trends or well known benefits, and we typically know the big bads to try to avoid (sulfates, parabens, micro plastics, etc)

Hyaluronic Acid, for example, is a highly popular ingredients great for adding moisture to the skin making it great for dry, dehydrated, or aging skin. But it can be found in everything from high end serums and creams to dollar store sheet masks. It’s really all those other seemingly random ingredients that determine it’s quality. And since most people don’t have an education in esthetics, aren’t a skin care geek, and might not have the time to thoroughly research each individual ingredient, it can be difficult to know which products are really worth your hard earned dollars.

I’ve always tried to mention the important ingredients of a product in reviews, and those are pretty important. But between my previous love of skin care ingredients, and my new understanding of them (who says you don’t learn practical stuff in school?), I’ve decided to add two new features to the site. The first is that going forward, ALL ingredients will be listed in reviews and more information about the featured ingredients of each reviewed product. The second will be a built in skin care ingredients wiki. You’ll be able to click on any ingredient in the list and be taken to a page giving you everything you need to know about it. It’s uses, if it’s good or bad, who should avoid it, and products it’s found in. I hope this will become a useful tool to help enhance my reviews and to help you make the best informed decisions about which products to use on your skin. Your skin is your body’s largest organ after all.

Because I believe in the importance of these features, I will be adding the ingredients list to all existing reviews on the site whenever possible. While updating these reviews most of them will be set to “private” until updated. So if a particular article you’re looking for has disappeared it will be back up shortly!

Also coming soon will be more skin care related content, including what products you should be using for your age, foods and lifestyle habits for great skin, and so much more!