Mise En Scène Skincare Perfume Shampoo Versus Urbanand Bubble Shampoo

Butylene Glycol (or BG) is used within cosmetic products for a few different reasons:

Overall, Butylene Glycol is a safe and well-rounded ingredient that works well with other ingredients.

Caprylyl Glycol is a humectant, skin conditioner, emollient, and preservative booster derived from either caprylic acid or synthetically created.

Typical use levels vary from 0.3-1% as a preservative booster and go up to 2% to condition skin.

Citric Acid is an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) naturally found in citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, and limes.

Like other AHAs, citric acid can exfoliate skin by breaking down the bonds that hold dead skin cells together. This helps reveal smoother and brighter skin underneath.

Coco-Glucoside is a surfactant, or a cleansing ingredient. It is made from glucose and coconut oil.

Surfactants help gather dirt, oil, and other pollutants from your skin to be rinsed away.

Cysteine is an amino acid found in our bodies. It becomes an antioxidant when converted into gluthatione.

Once it becomes gluthatione, it prevents oxidative damage to parts of our cell. Gluthatione has also been shown to protect our skin from UV-B induced damage.

This ingredient is a cleansing agent, surfactant, and foam booster. It considered an alternative to traditional sulfates (Sulfosuccinate) and is allowed in "sulfate-free" products.

According to a manufacturer, this ingredient is mild and can be used in baby and bath options.

Ethylhexylglycerin is created from glycerin. It is a multitasker ingredient that:

The CIR Expert Panel found minimal skin absorption or sensitization of any kind in a safety assessment. Though this ingredient is considered well-tolerated, a small number of cases of allergic dermatitis have been published since 2002. Just be sure to patch test if you are unsure.

Glutamic Acid is an amino acid that is found in all living organisms. Our bodies use this to help nerve cells in the brain communicate with other cells.

In cosmetics, glutamic acid is a famous humectant. It draws water from the air to your skin, keeping your skin hydrated (like hyaluronic acid).

Glycine is the smallest amino acid and a key building block of collagen. It's part if your skin's Natural Moisturizing Factor (NMF), or the water-loving molecules in your outermost layer of skin (stratum corneum) that keeps everything hydrated and happy.

A study from 2022 found that an amino acid complex featuring taurine, arginine, and glycine significantly reduced skin irritation, improved redness, and accelerated the skin repair process.

Histidine is a semi-essential amino acid used by our bodies to create protein. It has humectant and skin conditioning properties.

Our bodies use histidine to create filaggrin - filaggrin is a structural protein that the skin uses in maintaining skin barrier.

Isoleucine is an amino acid that helps reinforce our skin barrier. This amino acid plays a role in creating protein for the body.

Fun fact: Isoleucine is found in meat, fish, dairy, legumes, and nuts.

We don't have a description for Leucine yet.

Limonene is a fragrance that adds scent and taste to a formulation.

It's found in the peel oil of citrus fruits and other plants such as lavender and eucalyptus. The scent of limonene is generally described as "sweet citrus".

Linalool is a fragrance and helps add scent to products. It's derived from common plants such as cinnamon, mint, citrus, and lavender.

Like Limonene, this ingredient oxidizes when exposed to air. Oxidized linalool can cause allergies and skin sensitivity.

Lysine is an essential amino acid (your body cannot make it on its own). It has skin conditioning properties and one of the key players in collagen synthesis.

When your body creates collagen, lysine is basically the glue that holds everything together. It helps collagen fibers lock into each other and stay strong, with vitamin C being its trusty sidekick. Without enough lysine, this glue gets flimsy and less firm, resulting in less bouncy skin.

Methionine is an essential amino acid. It is a conditioning agent and commonly found in both skin and hair products.

This amino acid is a precursor to glutathione, a powerful antioxidant.

Parfum is a catch-all term for an ingredient or more that is used to give a scent to products.

Also called "fragrance", this ingredient can be a blend of hundreds of chemicals or plant oils. This means every product with "fragrance" or "parfum" in the ingredients list is a different mixture.

Phenylalanine is an amino acid. It is a skin soothing and hydrating ingredient. Amino acids play a crucial role in wound healing and skin hydration.

This ingredient is also used to help even out skin tone due to its ability to disrupt the melanin production process.

Polyquaternium-10 is an ammonium salt of hydroxyethylcellulose. It is a white and granular powder used as a film-former and anti-static agent.

This ingredient is commonly found in hair conditioning products. According to a manufacturer, its positive charge makes it great for absorbing hair proteins. The manufacturer also states this ingredient helps with curl retention.

Proline is a non-essential amino acid, meaning your body can make it on its own. In skincare, it is a skin conditioning ingredient that keeps skin soft and hydrated.

It makes up about 23% of the collagen molecule (collagen is the protein responsible for keeping your skin firm) and is involved in your skin's natural hyaluronic acid production. When applied topically, proline can penetrate the skin fairly well due to its small molecular size.

Serine is a non-essential amino acid (your body makes it on its own!). It is a major player in your skin's natural moisturizing factor (NMF), or the water-loving molecules in your outermost layer of skin (stratum corneum) that keeps everything hydrated and happy.

Serine is one of your NMF's most abundant components that works as a skin-identical humectant. Its hydroxyl group grabs onto water molecules to boost hydration without any heaviness or occlusion.

Chances are, you eat sodium chloride every day. Sodium Chloride is also known as table salt. This ingredient has many purposes in skincare: thickener, emulsifier, and exfoliator.

You'll most likely find this ingredient in cleansers where it is used to create a gel-like texture. As an emulsifier, it also prevents ingredients from separating.

Threonine is an amino-acid. It helps hydrate the skin and has antioxidant benefits.

Our skin uses threonine for creating collagen and elastin. Humans are not able to create threonine and must get it through eating foods such as fish, lentils, poultry, sesame seeds, and more.

Tyrosine is one of the amino acids used to create protein. It plays a role in melanin production.

A study from 2012 found tyrosine to show promising results in restoring skin volume.

Valine is an essential amino acid. It is used by our bodies for tissue repair and muscle growth.

An essential amino acid is one in which our bodies cannot naturally produce so we must get them through diet. Foods such as eggs, dairy, red meat, and fish contain valine.

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.