Tula Skincare Rose Glow + Get It Cooling & Brightening Eye Balm Versus e.l.f. cosmetics Daily Dew Stick

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:

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.

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.

Sodium stearate is the sodium salt of stearic acid.

The structure of sodium stearate makes it both a cleanser and emulsifier. As a cleanser, it helps dissolve dirt, oil, and other pollutants. As an emulsifier, it helps prevent ingredients from separating. This adds stability to the formula.

Synthetic Fluorphlogopite is the synthethic version of mica. It consists of fluorine, aluminum and silicate.

Synthetic Fluorphlogopite is used to add volume to products.

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.