If you walk into a grocery store, you'll probably see people reading ingredient labels. Maybe someone’s scanning a bottle of salad dressing or a box of cereal. Maybe they’re looking for calories, sodium or additives. Nowadays, a lot of us read labels looking for synthetic ingredients in our food and in our beauty products. Whether that be monosodium glutamate and Red 40 or silicone and detergents like sodium lauryl sulfate.
The real question is: Do you know how to read everything required on packaging? There's a lot more information on these labels than just ingredients. Especially cosmetic ingredient labels. Let's take a deep dive.
Where to Find Your Ingredient List
Every skin care, makeup or hair product should have its full ingredients listed on its packaging per FDA guidelines. It's typically found on the back of the product, a peel-away label or an accordion-style label.
All of our ingredients are found on the peel-away sticker label.
Ingredient Order and Naming Rules
Cosmetic ingredients are typically listed in order of predominance, so the ingredient that makes up the highest percentage is listed first. In other words, ingredients are listed in descending order of concentration, starting with the highest concentration of an ingredient and ending with the lowest concentration.
In addition, ingredient names must be listed as their recognized names in the International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary and Handbook. This was developed in 1973 by the Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association (CTFA), now known as the Personal Care Products Council (PCPC) to create an international, transparent and standardized naming system for cosmetic ingredients. The International Nomenclature Cosmetic Committee (INCI) which includes scientific experts create and manage these names.
Reading New Wash's Label
So let's look at a bottle of New Wash.
The first five ingredients are important as they're the primary agents of the product. The first five of New Wash are Water, Aloe Vera Juice, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol and Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine.
While a lot of the INCI names are long and technical, we've broken them down for you on our ingredient glossary. For example, the Cetearyl Alcohol found in New Wash is a fatty alcohol derived from coconut or palm oil that locks in moisture. Stearamidopropyl Dimethylamine found in New Wash is an oil-based conditioning agent used as a silicone alternative.
Trade Secrets and Fragrance
Some companies have trade secret ingredients which are essentially proprietary components that companies legally protect from the public to maintain a competitive advantage. We don't have any trade secret ingredients.
Sometimes fragrance or perfume ingredients are listed as is. On our list, you can find a list of the essential oils we used to make the product fragrant.
What About Phenoxyethanol?
Some of the lowest concentrated ingredients are found at the bottom of ingredient lists. One of our most controversial ingredients is Phenoxyethanol, a preservative to extend shelf life and prevent overgrowths of harmful bacteria. The level in our products is well below 0.001%, which not only meets but exceeds global safety standards set by the EU, the US FDA, and other international regulatory bodies.
Our Certifications
While companies aren't legally required to list their product certifications, we choose to. We're proudly vegan, Leaping Bunny Certified, biodegradable, detergent-free, sulfate-free, phthalate-free, paraben-free, silicone-free and 1% for the Planet.
Decoding the Symbols on the Back
A few more symbols show up on New Wash's label, and on most cosmetic packaging:
- Period After Opening (PAO): the open-jar icon with a number and "M" tells you how long a product is good for once opened. New Wash's PAO is on the back, near the QR code. This symbol is required under EU cosmetic labeling regulation.
- The hand-and-open-book icon means "refer to insert," indicating there's more ingredient or usage information in an enclosed leaflet or sticker that wouldn't fit on the primary label.
- The three arrows in a triangle mean the packaging is recyclable.
While ingredient labels seem like an easy read at first glance, there’s more than meets the eye. Now you know the wordy list reflects a descending order of concentration and the little symbols and images you see reflect certifications and instructions. The next time you’re curious about an ingredient, figure out where it’s located on the list, survey the label itself and make a decision.
Keep Reading
- WTF Are Detergents and Surfactants?
- Types of Sulfates in Shampoo
- Sodium Lauryl Sulfate: Why We Don't Use It
- Everything You Need to Know About Detergent
The information in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult a board-certified dermatologist or qualified healthcare provider if you have concerns about your hair or scalp health.
