The Body Shop Seaweed Oil-Control Exfoliator Versus The Body Shop Seaweed Oil-Control Face Wash

Because it is not a free-fatty acid, this ingredient is fungal acne safe (there's nothing for Malassezia to feed on).

Some people may experience allergies from this dye, especially asthmatics and those with an aspirin intolerance.

Your skin makes glycerin on its own (mostly from sebaceous oil breakdown) and shuttles it to your outermost layer of skin, or your epidermis, via aquaporin-3.

Aquaporin-3 is a transporter that is essential for normal skin hydration, elasticity, and repair. Interestingly, mice lacking in AQP3 have dry and less elastic skin that can be fully corrected with glycerin.

This ingredient is non-irritating, plays well with almost every ingredient, and works across all skin types. Typical use is anywhere between 3-10% but can go up to 79% in some leave-on products.

Just know very high concentrations (>40%) can feel tacky in low humidity.

Glycerin is the name for this ingredient in American English. British English uses Glycerol/Glycerine.

Now the honest part:

The manufacturer sells this as an anti-seborrhoeic active that calms down oil production and refines the look of pores. This comes from supplier data and not published clinical trials so there is no randomized controlled trial on this ingredient for oiliness, acne, or anything else.

What does exist is one in-vitro study where the extract reduced melanin production in cultured cells + bumped up gluthatione (kind of promising for brightening, but petri dishes are not the same as skin).

The safety profile is the strongest part of this ingredient: human repeat insult patch tests on 50 people came back with zero sensitization. Patch testing at 8% and 16% also showed no irritation at all with only slight irritation when applied neat at 100%

Typical use levels are around 1-3% of the trade material.

You'll see algae listed as a 5/5 on a lot of pore-clogging charts and that number doesn't come from anywhere; it's not in the original rabbit-ear studies that most comedogenic ratings trace back to.

The reasoning behind the reputation is that seaweed is high in iodine and iodine can trigger acne-like breakouts when eaten. This traces back to a 1976 letter in Archives of Dermatology describing two women whose breakouts cleared after they stopped taking high-dose kelp supplements orally.

And the reaction of these two women wasn't clogged pores at all: it was an iodine-triggered pustular rash. Later research found normal dietary iodine doesn't meaningfully affect acne either and nobody has shown topical algae delivers enough iodine to matter.

What we do have is dozens of brown and red algae ingredients found to be non-irritating and non-sensitizing, and a handful of studies that found algae compounds may actually help acne.

However, plenty of people do report breaking out from algae-containing products. Skin is individual and it's worth avoiding if yours has reacted to algae before.

The EU requires it to be named on the label above 0.001% in leave-on and 0.01% in rinse-off products.

Fresh linalool is a weak sensitizer but air exposure turns some of it into hydroperoxides, which are strong sensitizers. Those oxidation products are the actual allergy concern.

Patch-test clinics see positive reactions to linalool hydroperoxides in about 4% to 12% of dermatitis patients depending on country and test concentration.

Resassuringly, one analytical study found hydroperoxide levels in real fragranced products to be orders of magnitude below what induced sensitization in animal studies with no evidence of oxidation building up during normal storage.

The practical takeaway is that linalool is fine for most people but worth avoiding if you have a confirmed fragrance contact allergy or a badly compromised barrier.

Products stored a long time after opening are also the high-risk scenario since that is when oxidation happens.

The scent of linalool is described as floral, spicy tropical, and citrus-like.

For instance, Habanolide is a proprietary trade name for a specific aroma chemical. When used as a fragrance ingredient in cosmetics, most aroma chemicals fall under the broad labeling category of “FRAGRANCE” or “PARFUM” according to EU and US regulations.

The term 'parfum' or 'fragrance' is not regulated in many countries. In many cases, it is up to the brand to define this term.

For instance, many brands choose to label themselves as "fragrance-free" because they are not using synthetic fragrances. However, their products may still contain ingredients such as essential oils that are considered a fragrance by INCI standards.

One example is Calendula flower extract. Calendula is an essential oil that still imparts a scent or 'fragrance'.

Depending on the blend, the ingredients in the mixture can cause allergies and sensitivities on the skin. Some ingredients that are known EU allergens include linalool and citronellol.

Parfum can also be used to mask or cover an unpleasant scent.

The bottom line is: not all fragrances/parfum/ingredients are created equally. If you are worried about fragrances, we recommend taking a closer look at an ingredient. And of course, we always recommend speaking with a professional.

On a cellular level, it disrupts the cell membranes of microbes by poking holes that make the cell leak. This shuts down the chemical reactions the microbe needs to make energy so it can no longer survive.

Another perk of this ingredient is that it stays functional across a wide pH range (3-10).

You'll often see it paired with boosters like Ethylhexylglycerin; one study showed that a 1:9 ratio of Ethylhexylglycerin to Phenoxyethanol damages bacterial membranes as effectively as doubling the Phenoxyethanol concentration on its own.

Typical use concentrations range from 0.3-1% depending on the formula, and this ingredient is capped at 1% int the EU.

Safety-wise, the fear mongering does not hold up to the evidence. The EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety and FDA consider it safe as a preservative at up to 1%, including for children of all ages.

Adverse systemic effects only showed up in animal studies at exposures roughly 200x higher than what people get from cosmetics. And despite its very widespread use, this ingredient is a rare sensitizer and allergic reactions are uncommon.

The common safety discussion around this ingredient involves a manufacturing byproduct called 1,4-dioxane.

Trace amounts can form during production but the EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety has concluded that levels at/below 10 ppm in finished products are safe (commercial products consistently fall within acceptable margins).

True allergic reactions are uncommon and the CIR Expert Panel has confirmed this ingredient to be safe as used in cosmetics.

Because it is derived from lauric acid, it may not be fungal acne safe.

You'll also recognize water as that liquid we all need to stay alive. If you see this, drink a glass of water. Remember to stay hydrated!