Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Concealer Versus Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat High Cover Radiant Concealer

DSG is used as a surfactant.

Surfactants are cleansing ingredients that help remove oil, dirt, and other impurities from the skin. They work by reducing surface tension between water and oils/dirt to allow them to be easily rinsed away.

Disteardimonium Hectorite comes from the clay mineral named hectorite. It is used to add thickness to a product.

It can also help stabilize a product by helping to disperse other ingredients.

Glycerin (or glycerol) is a compound naturally found in your skin. It's a powerhouse humectant that pulls water into the stratum corneum.

Topically, glycerin does several things at once:

Hydrogenated Polyisobutene is a synthetic polymer. Polymers are compounds with high molecular weight. Hydrogenated Polyisobutene is an emollient and texture enhancer.

In one study, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene showed better skin hydration levels than Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride. As an emollient, it helps keep your skin soft and hydrated by trapping moisture in.

Magnesium Sulfate is a salt. More specifically, it is an epsom salt, or the bath salt used to help relieve muscle aches.

Despite having ‘sulfate’ in the name, it isn’t a surfactant or cleansing agent like sodium lauryl sulfate. Unlike those sulfates, magnesium sulfate doesn’t have the same cleansing or foaming properties (it's simply a type of salt).

Paraffin is a solid created from petroleum. The term 'paraffin' can also refer to either
petroleum jelly or mineral oil.

It has natural occlusive properties which can worsen oily skin. Due to its petrolatum base, this ingredient is not fungal-acne safe.

Phenoxyethanol is a preservative that has germicide, antimicrobial, and aromatic properties. Studies show that phenoxyethanol can prevent microbial growth. By itself, it has a scent that is similar to that of a rose.

It's often used in formulations along with Caprylyl Glycol to preserve the shelf life of products.

Propanediol is an all-star ingredient. It softens, hydrates, and smooths the skin. 

It’s often used to:

Propylene Glycol is a synthetic, colorless, odorless liquid that has been a staple in cosmetics for decades. It is a skin conditioning agent, humectant, and solvent.

As a humectant, it draw water to the skin to reduce flaking and restore suppleness. It's also a solvent that helps dissolve other actives and keeps formulas stable across temperature changes.

Silica Silylate is a siloxane polymer, meaning it is made up of silicon and oxygen atoms. It is not soluble in water.

This ingredient is a white powder with oil-absorbing, emollient, and anticaking properties.

Sorbitan Isostearate is an emulsifer. It is created from isostearic acid and sorbitol.

As an emulsifier, it keeps the water and oil ingredients from separating. This keeps formulas stable and smooth.

Synthetic Wax is a manufactured hydrocarbon wax. In formulas, it works as an occlusive emollient that helps reduce water loss and improves the spreadability of products.

Research comparing synthetic wax to traditional mineral-derived products found that formulas containing it perform as well for skin hydration.

Tocopherol is a fat-soluble antioxidant known as Vitamin E.

You'll find this ingredient in the vast majority of skincare (for good reason). It works to neutralize free radicals, or unstable molecules generated by UV exposure, pollution, and other environmental stressors, before they can cause oxidative damage to your skin cells.

Water. It's the most common cosmetic ingredient of all. You'll usually see it at the top of ingredient lists, meaning that it makes up the largest part of the product.

So why is it so popular? Water most often acts as a solvent - this means that it helps dissolve other ingredients into the formulation.