About ingredients

Behind the ingredient list - effect or scam?

In the beauty industry, skincare products are primarily associated with results. By using a cream you get fewer wrinkles, refined pores and softer skin. Effects sell products, long ingredient lists don't, because as a consumer you don't know what to look for. Which ingredients have an effect, which ingredients are just fillers, and which ingredients would you rather not put on your skin?

It's tempting to hand over responsibility for healthy skin to products with ingredients like snail slime and 24-karat gold dust, but does it really make sense? Can an eye cream make your skin 10 years younger in 10 days? Does it really make sense? Get inside the ingredient list on your skincare products with our Skin & Fascia Specialist Katja Kunimori Hollnagel and learn the difference between effectiveness and scam in skincare.

INCI

INCI is a legally required list of ingredients that must appear somewhere on the packaging of a skincare product. The ingredients are listed by their INCI name (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) and may be followed by the common name of the ingredients in parentheses. The ingredients are listed in descending order from largest to smallest amount. The INCI list is therefore a quick way for you to decode how much of each ingredient a product contains.

The base

All products consist of a base. In a cream or lotion, the base consists of oil and water. It is easy to produce a base, but it is difficult to make it stable, safe and effective. There are bases at the lower end, which consist of water and mineral oil. There are also bases where the mineral oils have been replaced with plant oils, and where the water has been replaced by, for example, aloe vera juice. The cheaper bases consisting of water and mineral oil have a minimal effect on the skin and will typically be listed on the product's INCI as:

• Aqua
• Petrolatum
• Liquid paraffin
• Paraffin
• Cera microcristallina/microcrystalline wax
• Ceresin
• Mineral oil
• Ozokerite
• Synthetic wax

(source: https://taenk.dk/kemi/plejeprodukter-og-kosmetik/saadan-spotter-du-mineralske-olier-i-laebepomade)

“The Helpers”

The “helpers” are the ingredients that affect the durability, color, scent, consistency and the general “feel” of the product. These are typically ingredients that do not directly benefit the skin, but rather for the product. Silicone is a good example. As a consumer, you get the feeling that your skin is becoming silky soft. In reality, however, it is not because the skin itself has become softer, but because the added silicone settles on the skin and creates a surface feeling of softness.

The assets

The added actives make the product more unique and define the product’s function. Unfortunately, this is also where a lot of “green washing” happens. For the vast majority of manufacturers, the content of active ingredients is limited to a maximum of 1%. If there is only 1% active in a skin care product, which ingredients make up the remaining 99%? Again, the INCI list can be a quick way to decode a product’s actives.

 “A manufacturer can add 0.005% hyaluronic acid and market their cream as a “cream with hyaluronic acid”. I call this low level of active ingredients “marketing molecules”. The content is so low and perhaps also of poor quality that the effect is questionable, but it is a good ingredient to market yourself on.” - Katja Kunimori Hollnagel

The quality of an ingredient

The quality and quantity of active ingredients in skin care products play a crucial role in efficacy and safety. Quality refers to the purity, freshness and potency of the active ingredients. It also includes whether the ingredients are sustainably grown or harvested, and whether they are free of harmful chemicals or contaminants. By using active ingredients and high-quality ingredients, this contributes to the effectiveness and safety of the product.

The amount of an ingredient

Like quality, the amount or right concentration of active ingredients is crucial to achieve desired results. As mentioned, a concentration that is too low may be ineffective, while a too high a concentration can be too harsh for the skin. It is extremely important to balance the amount of active ingredients carefully to ensure product effectiveness and skin safety.

Ingredients to avoid.

There are two ingredients in particular that we recommend avoiding. Sulfate and silicone are frequently used, but these two ingredients do not benefit the skin, only for the product.

Synthetic sulfates

Sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) are synthetic foaming agents/detergents that are often used in shampoos and hand soaps to make them foam.

"You may remember the feeling of sitting in a bathtub full of foam as a child - that foam has most likely been created by synthetic foaming agents. In addition to the fact that synthetic foaming agents are harmful for our aquatic environment, the skin can become red, irritated and dry. The synthetic sulfates dry out and disrupt the skin’s protective barrier. Therefore, simply replacing your hand soap and shampoo with a healthier alternative can make a big difference to the skin and scalp. The synthetic foaming agents are most often a type of mineral oil and are written on the INCI as SLS and SLES. Today, there are plenty of options for using foaming agents/detergents with natural origin, for example from coconut - and yes, they foam a lot." - Katja Kunimori Hollnagel

Our Hand Soap , Body Wash and Shampoo contain natural coconut sulfate, which is mild and gentle on hair, skin and scalp and therefore preserves the skin's natural moisture level.

Silicones

“If you think about it, it is mysterious and extremely unnatural to put silicone in a cream or a conditioner, because the same cream or conditioner gets on the skin and in the hair. The prioritization is also skewed based on the fact that formulation space is limited, because you cannot add unlimited amounts of ingredients to a skin care product. Silicone wraps your skin or hair by putting a film on the surface. For some skin types, it feels nice to be protected from drying out, which is caused, for example, by using hand soap with synthetic sulfates.” - Katja Kunimori Hollnagel

Silicone also makes a cream silky soft to the touch. When you apply the cream to your skin, the skin will feel silky soft to the touch. It is therefore obvious to think that this is because the skin itself has become softer from the cream. This is not the case, because the silicone sits on the surface the skin, which makes the skin just feel soft. Your skin has not become softer, it is just the silicone that mimics the softness of the skin.

“Why not go for real soft skin? All the good plant oils and worthy alternatives to silicone can provide well-hydrated skin and therefore real soft skin. You can look for and avoid ingredients that end in -thicone, -conol, -silane and -siloxane. A certain world-famous cream promises “instant softness” and contains dimethicone. I don’t think I need to say more. Instead of silicone, we at Yrolí use unique plant oils with well-documented skin-care effects.” - Katja Kunimori Hollnagel

Our choices and exclusions Our ingredient list is carefully crafted based on our One Layer principle and our Blue Beauty approach, which go hand in hand. We have one of the highest concentrations of active ingredients on the market, which work best in one layer, leaving room for the skin to do as much of the work itself. Our selection and composition of ingredients is based on formulating effective and responsible skincare with a great effect on the skin and a minimal footprint on the environment. Our ambition is to choose high-quality ingredients with clinically proven effects. All of our signature ingredients have clinically proven effects and consist of selected microalgae, oils and extracts from Nordic berries, as well as the two African oils baobab and marula. We choose organic, wild harvest or natural ingredients, which are best for both the skin and the planet. We want to respect the natural biodiversity where our ingredients are grown, and we want to avoid ingredients from endangered areas such as the rainforest. We avoid ingredients such as microplastics, silicones, Teflon, synthetic sulfates and harmful chemicals that are neither good for the skin nor the environment. Read more about our choice of ingredients here

The big picture

“Both consumers and producers need to see the big picture of the products we use and produce. It goes without saying that there is great profit in producing products with cheap ingredients in the base and a minimum of active ingredients. If the products were just sold at a correspondingly low price, it would be easier to navigate the market. But unfortunately that is not the case.” - Katja Kunimori Hollnagel

In an industry where there has been an inflation in terms such as natural, certified, organic and tested, it is almost impossible to distinguish between products where the entire formulation benefits the skin and products where the effect is questionable based on the ingredient list. A good rule of thumb is therefore that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Another good tool is, as previously mentioned, the INCI list.

"Personally, I have no doubts. I would always recommend products where the entire product works with the skin. Where the ingredients in everything from the base to the active ingredients are formulated with skin health in mind." - Katja Kunimori Hollnagel

Ecocert Cosmos certification

"How do you spot the perfect product where effectiveness, care and respect for both skin and the environment go hand in hand? A good place to start is the Ecocert Cosmos certification. An Ecocert certified product does not guarantee the quality of the product, but the certification sets requirements for the manufacturer in terms of transparency and traceability. There are different certifications within Ecocert Cosmos. If a product is Ecocert Cosmos Organic certified, the percentage of natural and organic ingredients must be stated. At the same time, the certification is an assurance about which ingredients are not in the product, as, among other things, some preservatives, perfumes with synthetic ingredients, synthetic dyes and GMO ingredients may not be included." - Katja Kunimori Hollnagel

Ecocert Cosmos is a pan-European certification that is used in more than 45 countries. There are different certifications, including organic, raw and natural. The logo will say "Organic" when it comes to organic certification. On products labeled with Ecocert Cosmos Organic you can always read how large the proportion of natural ingredients is and how high the percentage of organic is. Ecocert Cosmos also checks that the ingredients are grown responsibly and with respect for the environment. At the same time, they have a strong focus on traceability and companies must document the journey of an ingredient and a product from the place of origin and production to the final product and its distribution.

Want to learn more about the ingredients we choose – and those we avoid? Read more about Yrolí's certifications, our Blue Beauty approach, our social commitment and our core ingredients .