Aveeno Positively Radiant Brightening Cleanser

Aveeno Positively Radiant Brightening Cleanser

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Overview

What it is

Face cleanser with 24 ingredients that contains exfoliants

Suited For

It has ingredients that are good for dry skin and brightening skin

Free From

It doesn't contain any harsh alcohols, common allergens, oils or silicones

Fun facts

Aveeno is from United States. This product is used in 32 routines created by our community.

We independently verify ingredients and our claims are backed by peer-reviewed research. Does this product need an update? Let us know.

Ingredients Explained

Skin Conditioning, Solvent

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.

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

Learn more about Water

Cocamidopropyl Betaine is a fatty acid created by mixing similar compounds in coconut oil and dimethylaminopropylamine, a compound with two amino groups.

This ingredient is a surfactant and cleanser. It helps gather the dirt, pollutants, and other impurities in your skin to be washed away. It also helps thicken a product and make the texture more creamy.

Being created from coconut oil means Cocamidopropyl Betaine is hydrating for the skin.

While Cocamidopropyl Betaine was believed to be an allergen, a study from 2012 disproved this. It found two compounds in unpure Cocamidopropyl Betaine to be the irritants: aminoamide and 3-dimethylaminopropylamine. High-grade and pure Cocamidopropyl Betaine did not induce allergic reactions during this study.

Learn more about Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing, Emulsifying, Foaming

Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) is a foaming, cleansing, and emulsifying ingredient. It is created from palm kernel oil or coconut oil. SLES is not the same as sodium lauryl sulfate. It is much milder and less likely to irritate.

SLES helps create foam in personal products. It also prevents ingredients from separating, helping to elongate the shelf life.

Sodium Laureth Sulfate is a type of sulfate. It can be drying. We recommend speaking with a professional about using this ingredient if you have concerns.

Learn more about Sodium Laureth Sulfate

Acrylates Copolymer is used as a film-forming agent and texture enhancer.

After applied, Acrylates Copolymer forms a thin film cover that helps skin feel more soft. It can help sunscreens become more water-resistant.

It is also used to make a product more thick.

Learn more about Acrylates Copolymer

PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate isn't fungal acne safe.

Emollient, Skin Conditioning

This ingredient is more commonly known as Cromollient SCE. It is an emollient and helps moisturize your skin by preventing evaporation.

According to the manufacturer, this ingredient is suitable for sensitive skin and works well with other ingredients.

Emulsifying

PEG-16 Soy Sterol isn't fungal acne safe.

Emulsifying, Skin Conditioning

Glycine Soja Protein comes from the soybean. It is an emulsifer and helps to condition skin. Emulsifiers prevent ingredients from separating, such as water and oils.

Learn more about Glycine Soja Oil.

Cleansing, Foaming

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.

This ingredient is considered gentle and non-comedogenic. However, it may still be irritating for some.

Learn more about Coco-Glucoside
Emollient, Emulsifying, Perfuming

Glyceryl Oleate is the ester of glycerin and oleic acid. This ingredient is mainly an emollient and emulsifier.

Emollients soften and hydrate the skin by creating a thin film on top to trap in moisture. As an emulsifier, glyceryl oleate helps stabilize formulations by preventing ingredients such as oil and water from separating. According to a manufacturer, this ingredient helps helps thicken water-in-oil formulations, shower gels, and hair shampoos.

In some products, this ingredient may be used as a fragrance / perfuming ingredient. The scent of this ingredient is described to be "waxy".

Glyceryl oleate is created from oils rich in oleic acid, such as peanut oil and olive oil.

This ingredient may not be malassezia folliculitis safe.

Learn more about Glyceryl Oleate
Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting

Glycerin is already naturally found in your skin. It helps moisturize and protect your skin.

A study from 2016 found glycerin to be more effective as a humectant than AHAs and hyaluronic acid.

As a humectant, it helps the skin stay hydrated by pulling moisture to your skin. The low molecular weight of glycerin allows it to pull moisture into the deeper layers of your skin.

Hydrated skin improves your skin barrier; Your skin barrier helps protect against irritants and bacteria.

Glycerin has also been found to have antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Due to these properties, glycerin is often used in wound and burn treatments.

In cosmetics, glycerin is usually derived from plants such as soybean or palm. However, it can also be sourced from animals, such as tallow or animal fat.

This ingredient is organic, colorless, odorless, and non-toxic.

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

Learn more about Glycerin
Cleansing, Skin Conditioning

We don't have a description for Soyamidopropyl Betaine yet.

Masking, Perfuming

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.

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.

Learn more about Parfum
Preservative

DMDM Hydantoin has antimicrobial and antifungal properties. It is a preservative that works by slowly releasing formaldehyde over time.

So what's formaldehyde?

DMDM Hydantoin is approved for use in cosmetics all around the world. In the EU, this ingredient is allowed in personal products up to 0.6 percent.

You might have heard of the class-action lawsuit about it causing hair loss. According to chemists, there has not been a link found between this ingredient and hair loss.

The Hydantoin part of this ingredient is created by reacting glycolic acid and urea.

You can check out alternatives to Dmdm Hydantoin: phenoxyethanol, potassium sorbate, and sodium benzoate.

Learn more about DMDM Hydantoin

We don't have a description for Lauryl Methyl Gluceth-10 Hydroxypropyldimonium Chloride yet.

Preservative

Methylparaben is a preservative and is a paraben. It is used to prevent the growth of fungus, mold, and other harmful bacteria. Parabens are chemicals used as preservatives in both cosmetics and food.

Methylparaben can be synthetically created. It can also be found naturally in some fruits, such as blueberries.

Oftentimes, Methylparaben is combined with other parabens to help increase the shelf life.

The safety of Methylparaben is currently being studied. While ongoing studies are looking into the safety of parabens, the results have been very mixed. Some studies have not found Methylparaben to be harmful.

Learn more about Methylparaben

Tetrasodium EDTA is the salt formed from neutralizing ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid with sodium hydroxide. It is a chelating agent and used to prevent metal ions from binding to other ingredients. This helps keep the product and ingredients stable.

Tetrasodium EDTA comes as a white solid and is soluble in water.

Buffering

Sodium Hydroxide is also known as lye or caustic soda. It is used to adjust the pH of products; many ingredients require a specific pH to be effective.

In small amounts, sodium hydroxide is considered safe to use. However, large amounts may cause chemical burns due to its high alkaline.

Your skin has a natural pH and acid mantle. This acid mantle helps prevent harmful bacteria from breaking through. The acid mantle also helps keep your skin hydrated.

"Alkaline" refers to a high pH level. A low pH level would be considered acidic.

Learn more about Sodium Hydroxide

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.

For haircare friends: this ingredient is not a silicone.

Learn more about Polyquaternium-10
Abrasive, Absorbent

Silica is a mineral naturally found in our skin. It helps to thicken and smooth the texture of a product. It also acts as an agent for other ingredients by increasing the absorption of other ingredients into the skin.

Silica is often used for absorption and can help reduce shine when products are applied. Silica occurs in naturally in materials like clay and sandstone, and it can also be produced synthetically.

Silica is present naturally within the skin during collagen production and when reducing inflammation.

Learn more about Silica
Buffering, Masking

Citric Acid is an AHA derived from citrus fruits (think oranges, lemons, and limes!).

As an AHA, Citric Acid removes the top layer of skin cells from the newer layer of skin underneath. This helps skin to remove dark spots and even out skin tone.

If you spot Citric Acid near the end of an ingredient list, it's likely there as a pH adjuster rather than an active ingredient.

Read more about some other popular AHA's here:

Learn more about Citric Acid
Humectant, Masking, Skin Conditioning

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

  • It is a solvent, meaning that it helps to dissolve other ingredients. This also enhances the absorption of the product into one's skin.
  • It is a humectant, which means that it helps attract moisture into the skin.
  • It helps improve product application.
  • It has mild preservative properties.

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

Cosmetic Colorant

Mica refers to a group of silicate minerals. Mica crystals are easily split to give products a shimmer. These crystals are able to reflect light to temporarily give your skin a glowy look.

Mica is found to be safe. Trace amounts of heavy metals may be found in mica, but these metals are not harmful in our personal products.

Mica has been used since prehistoric times throughout the world. Ancient Egyptian, Indian, Greek, Roman, Aztec, and Chinese civilizations have used mica.

Mica can be naturally found throughout the world. However, some sources of mica may be controversial. In 2016, mica mined in the Jharkhand state in India was found to be using child labor. However, companies are able to source ethical mica affiliated with international organizations that monitor the mica supply chain.

Learn more about Mica
Cosmetic Colorant, UV Absorber, UV Filter

Titanium dioxide is known for its UVA and UVB protection properties. It is non-comedogenic and non-irritating. Titanium Dioxide is a physical sunscreen. Physical sunscreens reflect light and prevent it from reaching your skin.

Protecting your skin against UV radiation can prevent the signs of aging. Sun damage is associated with fine-lines, wrinkles, loss of firmness, and hyperpigmentation. Titanium dioxide can help prevent premature aging.

With modern production, nano-scale or fine-grade titanium dioxide can be easily produced for cosmetics. In sunscreen, titanium dioxide absorbs UV light. Our skin is not able to absorb Titanium dioxide, even nanoparticles.

Titanium itself is the 9th most common element in the Earth's crust. Titanium dioxide is formed when oxygen is introduced and can be found in ores, dust, sand, and soil.

Pure titanium dioxide is a white powder that is used in many products to add or change color.

Learn more about Titanium Dioxide

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· Published July 13, 2020