The ingredient list is very similar to the skin care products, why is the effect so much different?

Many brands claim to use the same XX ingredients as XX major brands, and are flat replacement products, sold at cost factory direct.

So, can these so-called same ingredients achieve the same effect?

The answer is: No! This is especially true for the popular concept of ingredients.

The same ingredients, the process and content may be a huge gap

Regardless of the big brand and flat who is good and who is bad, just say a fact, that is: although the ingredients are the same, but the production process used in the process and the content of raw materials are very different. There are several cases.

Name of the same single raw material

The current name of the ingredients is in accordance with the INCI Name (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients) to name the set of rules proposed by the U.S. cosmetics industry in the 1940s, today, it has not been fully adapted to the current situation of the raw material industry, the most common problem is that “different” raw materials correspond to the same name .

①Titanium dioxide

Starting with the relatively simple small molecule component, titanium dioxide is a commonly used physical sunscreen, which can be micron-sized or nano-sized; after surface treatment, it can be hydrophilic or hydrophobic.

Different properties of titanium dioxide have a significant impact on sun protection index, water resistance, and skin irritation.

However, it is difficult to see these details on the ingredient list, all that can be seen is the uniform name of titanium dioxide.

② Retinol and salicylic acid

Such effective but irritating ingredients as retinol and salicylic acid need to be treated with wrapping technology to reduce irritation and allow consumers to stick to them, and these treatment details are not reflected in the ingredient list.

③ Sodium hyaluronate (hyaluronic acid)

If the ingredients are large molecules obtained by polymerizing many small molecules of monomers, the different numbers of polymerization will also affect the performance of the ingredients. For example, sodium hyaluronate (hyaluronic acid) is made by microbial fermentation, and different fermentation processes can affect the molecular size and molecular weight level, thus affecting the moisturizing performance.

④Polydimethylsiloxane (commonly known as silicone oil)

Polydimethylsiloxane (commonly known as silicone oil) is obtained by polymerization of dimethicone monomers, and there is no limit to the number of monomers, from ten to ten thousand. Thus polydimethylsiloxane can span from a liquid with a very small molecular weight to a semi-solid with a large molecular weight, and their names are called polydimethylsiloxane.

Complex raw materials with the same name

The above is said to be a relatively single raw material, if the raw material itself contains a variety of ingredients, it is more complex, the most typical is the plant extract.

It is the whole herb extract of Centella asiatica, the origin of the raw material is in the plateau or plain, the extraction process is the traditional water extraction alcohol precipitation or cutting-edge supercritical extraction, the active ingredient is Centella asiatica or Centella asiatica glycosides, the concentration is the constant level or trace level ……

Although the name is “Centella asiatica extract”, some raw material suppliers can provide high purity extract, the price is often more than 10,000 yuan, while some suppliers can only boil the juice with water, relying on the price of a few dozen dollars to the market volume.

The same raw material may contain different amounts of impurities

The most typical is the niacinamide that occupies the C position in the whitening stage.

Many people worry about niacinamide stimulation intolerance, the source of this stimulation is the production process residual niacin.

Some raw materials and brands will take the residual value of niacin as an important quality control indicator, and some raw materials only spell price, the others do not care at all. Consumers with the former is fine, with the latter is easy to irritate redness.

Find the right skin care products for you

In general, the efficacy of skin care products is affected by many detailed factors, which are difficult (or even impossible) to reflect from the ingredient list.

In the face of the information that can be seen, such as literature, patents, official presentations, the grassroots, if you can make a comprehensive scientific judgment on the effectiveness of the product, this is the advanced “ingredients party”.

Of course, to achieve this step, you need to collect information more comprehensively, compare and think more deeply, and design the practice process more rigorously. Although the whole process may seem complicated, we will find that after time and time again practice and summary, we can slowly figure out the most suitable skin care products and methods.