e.l.f. cosmetics Flawless Brightening Concealer Versus Smashbox Studio Skin Flawless 24 Hour Concealer

CI 77492 is also hydrated iron III oxide. It's sole purpose is to give a yellow hue to products.

Iron III oxides are classified as inorganic chemicals for coloring.

Ci 77499 is also hydrated iron III oxide. It is created from mixing red and black iron oxides. This helps give shades of darkness to a product.

Iron III oxides are classified as inorganic chemicals for coloring.

Ci 77891 is a white pigment from Titanium dioxide. It is naturally found in minerals such as rutile and ilmenite.

It's main function is to add a white color to cosmetics. It can also be mixed with other colors to create different shades.

Dimethicone is a type of synthetic silicone created from natural materials such as quartz. It is also known as polydimethylsiloxane.

What it does:

Disodium EDTA is a chelating agent. It grabs onto and deactivates metal ions that sneak into your products from water, packaging, or air.

This ingredient mainly works behind the scenes and helps with:

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.

This is a silicone-polyether copolymer with skin conditioning, emulsifying, texture enhancing, and surfactant properties. It is used to help blend water and silicone based ingredients to improve slip and spreadability.

Due to its large molecular size and hydrophilic-lipophilic structure (it loves both oil and water), this ingredient is minimally absorbed into the skin.

Mica is a naturally occurring mineral used to add shimmer and color in cosmetics. It can also help improve the texture of a product or give it an opaque, white/silver color.

Serecite is the name for very fine but ragged grains of mica.

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.

Silica, also known as silicon dioxide, is a naturally occurring mineral. It is used as a fine, spherical, and porous powder in cosmetics.

Though it has exfoliant properties, the function of silica varies depending on the product.

Sodium Hyaluronate is the salt form of hyaluronic acid. It is a long sugar chain that is naturally found in your skin, joints, and connective tissue that maintains hydration and elasticity.

In skincare, it works as a humectant. It pulls water from the environment and deeper layers of skin and binds it to the surface.

Triethoxycaprylylsilane is a silicon-based surface modifier that makes sunscreens feel silky and makeup stay put.

Its main job is to coat mineral particles like titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, and color pigments in a thin, oily layer so they spread smoothly, don't clump, and stick to skin better.

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.