What Water Means in Skincare Products


Skin Caring
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2018

The Main Chemical Ingredient

The ‘Naturalist’ or the ‘Organist’ or the ‘Green Fanatic’ mind may come in a different perspective when we talk about Natural Products. Most of the time they refuse to hear anything about Chemical Ingredients. They just don’t realize that the air we breathe in is also chemicals with major components of Nitrogen (N2), Oxygen (O2), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and Water (H2O). Although they are odourless, colourless, and tasteless, WATER, is ‘chemical’. Its official chemical name is Dihydrogen Oxide with a molecular formula of H2O. Water is in skin products like toner, cream, conditioner, and any other emulsion type of products that contain mostly above 50% of each formulation. In Skincare Industry, Water has been considered as a ‘Safe Filler’ in the products’ formulation. Filler in Formulation is ‘the unnecessary ingredient’ in the composition of water-contained products to reach 100%. Although Water in some water-based wash-off products like body wash or liquid wash is not considered as a Filler because the main focus in this type of products is its toxic-free surfactants or the bubbly agents.

The Womb to Breed Microbes

Cosmetics is the One-Word to describe the products that we apply and reapply on our skin and use it on our hair to improve the appearance.  The ‘beauty claimed‘ Soap Bar, it is also considered as Cosmetics product. Water in Skin Products may come in its natural form of H2O or in its fancier form like Hydrolate. Hydrolate Water is the hydro-extraction that come from flowers, tree, and herbal plants. Unlike regular Water, Hydrolates may have a hue of colour and specific scent referring to the source of its extracted plant material. Therefore, Hydrolates offer some sort of supplement to breed the unseen microbes.

The Preservative Must Have

Some people may argue that Food is much more dangerous than Cosmetics. However, since Water is the star in many skin products, the chance of transmitting infections is higher. Water is the source of life, including the life of microbes, moulds, and bacterias. Since eliminating Water content in many skin products is nearly impossible, the preservative agent or antimicrobial system must be included in the formula. Don’t get fooled by the marketing claim of ‘Preservative-free‘ in cosmetics products that has ‘Water’ in their ingredients list. Always check first if the product contains Water or Hydra-extraction component.

 

Image Credits: David Bartus, Rawpexel

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