The Body Shop Ethiopian Honey Deep Nourishing Mask

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.

This property also makes Pentylene Glycol a great texture enhancer. It can also help thicken or stabilize a product.

Pentylene Glycol also acts as a mild preservative and helps to keep a product microbe-free.

Some people may experience mild eye and skin irritation from Pentylene Glycol. We always recommend speaking with a professional about using this ingredient in your routine.

Pentylene Glycol has a low molecular weight and is part of the 1,2-glycol family.

Propanediol is not likely to cause sensitivity and considered safe to use. It is derived from corn or petroleum with a clear color and no scent.

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.

Due to its large molecule size, it doesn't penetrate beyond the skin's surface.

This ingredient has a solid regulatory track record; the CIR Expert Panel first concluded it was safe for use in cosmetics at concentrations up to 100% in 1997. A 2012 reassessment reaffirmed that finding. Safety studies have also found no irritation or evidence of toxicity.

A 2019 study did find this ingredient to grow Malassezia, so this ingredient may not be fungal acne safe.

Safety-wise, it's been found safe in cosmetics with minimal skin irritation and no evidence of toxicity.

This ingredient may not be fungal acne safe; it's a diester of stearic acid (C18) that falls into the C11-24 range that the Malassezia yeast feeds on. In vitro studies have also shown the Malassezia can metabolize PEG stearates by cleaving the ester bond to release the fatty acid.

Xanthan gum is a pretty common and great ingredient. It is a natural, non-toxic, non-irritating ingredient that is also commonly used in food products.

A high amount of carbomer can cause pilling or balling up of products. Don't worry, most products contain 1% or less of carbomer.

As a preservative, it works by disrupting the membrane of microbial proteins. This helps keep bacteria and fungi from growing in your products.

The sensitization picture is actually quite assuring as well:of nearly 71,000 patients patch tested with benzyl alcohol, only 0.21% showed a positive reaction with most of them being weakly positive.

This led researchers to conclude that benzyl alcohol cannot be regarded as a significant contact allergen.

It is worth noting this ingredient is classified as one of the EU's regulated fragrance allergens and restricted to 1% in finished products.

Labels must also declare it in concentrations above 0.001% in leave-on products and 0.01% in rinse-off products.

At concentrations around 5%, localized redness and itching can appear as a direct irritant response and not as a true allergic reaction.

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.

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.

Squalene is also naturally present in olive oil and exhibits moisturizing and antioxidant properties.

The polyphenols in olive oil also show anti-aging promise; one clinical study found a measurable improvement in skin appearance after 30 days of topical serum use.

Just be aware that applying olive oil directly to skin can weaken the barrier and cause redness. One study with volunteers found even people without sensitive skin experienced a significant reduction in stratum corneum integrity and induced mild erythema.

It's best to use this ingredient as part of a carefully crafted formula (instead of putting it on skin directly from the bottle).

Because it has a 2-3 on the comedogenic scale, it is a moderate risk for acne-prone skin. However, the overall formulation of a product matters more than a few ingredients with comedogenic ratings.

This ingredient may not be fungal acne safe because of the oleic and palmitic acid content. These fall within the C11-24 fatty acid range that the Malassezia yeast can metabolize to grow.

Overall, olive oil is a well-studied and nourishing skincare ingredient.

These fatty acids are very similar to those naturally found in the epidermis, making this oil biomimetic; basically, your skin recognizes it.

Clinical testing found this ingredient to be moisturizing and non-irritating, with noteworthy effects on reducing transepidermal water loss (TEWL).

Besides fatty acids, marula oil is also rich in oxidative stabilizers like vitamin E, vitamin C precursors, and polyphenols. This gives it excellent shelf stability compared to most facial oils.

This is a great ingredient for dry, dull, or barrier-compromised skin.

Just know it may not be fungal acne safe due to the oleic and palmitic acid content. These fatty acids can as as a food source for the Malassezia yeast.

This pairing gives it barrier-supporting and moisturizing properties. Linoleic acid, an essential omega-6 fatty acid, can be incorporated into complex skin lipids. Topical application has shown barrier repair, anti-inflammatory, and wound-healing effects in cell and animal studies.

Beyond fatty acids, sesame oil brings something more distinctive to the table:

It contains natural antioxidants sesamol, sesamolin, and gamma-tocopherol. These also give the oil notably high oxidative stability.

One of the oil's key lignans, sesamin, has also demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity in preclinical models.

A 2023 clinical study found that a single application of sesame seed oil to the forearms of 35 healthy women improved stratum corneum hydration (though it didn't outperform raspberry seed oil).

The comedogenic rating of 1-3 depends on the type of sesame oil; unrefined carries a rating of 3 while refined sesame oil drops to a 1.

This ingredient may not be safe for fungal acne as it contains fatty acids that can feed Malassezia.

On top of that, this ingredient can counteract the effects of hard water by binding to the minerals in it.

One thing worth knowing is that Disodium EDTA has been shown to be a mild penetration enhancer. It can help other ingredients absorb into skin more effectively which can be a double-edged sword (great for actives, but can also make the active too strong if you have sensitive skin).

Clinical patch testing showed no significant skin irritation at typical use concentrations and minimal dermal absorption.

You'll most likely see this ingredient near the end of an ingredient list. It's typically found in concentrations less than 1%.

This ingredient has a scent that is floral, spicy tropical, and citrus-like.