The Face Shop Pomegranate & Collagen Volume Lifting Emulsion

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.

Dipropylene Glycol is a synthetically created stabilizer and solvent. It is a part of the glycol class in the alcohol family.

Dipropylene Glycol helps dissolve and evenly distribute ingredients. It also helps decrease viscosity and thin out texture.

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.

1,2-Hexanediol is a synthetic liquid and another multi-functional powerhouse. 

It is a:

• Humectant, drawing moisture into the skin
• Emollient, helping to soften skin
• Solvent, dispersing and stabilizing formulas
• Preservative booster, enhancing the antimicrobial activity of other preservatives 

This ingredient is an emollient, solvent, and texture enhancer. It is considered a skin-softener by helping the skin prevent moisture loss.

It helps thicken a product's formula and makes it easier to spread by dissolving clumping compounds.

Triethylhexanoin is created from glycerin and 2-ethylhexanoic acid. It is a solvent and emollient.

As a solvent, Triethylhexanoin helps dissolve ingredients to stable bases or help evenly distribute ingredients throughout the product.

Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate is an emollient that helps make your skin smooth and hydrated. It specializes in creating a non-oily and "wet" feeling on skin.

This ingredient comes from isostearic acid, a saturated fatty acid. It is a synthetic ingredient.

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.

Cetyl Ethylhexanoate is an emollient ester. It comes from cetearyl alcohol and 2-ethylhexanoic acid.

Cetyl Ethylhexanoate is an emollient that adds a velvety feel to skin without being greasy or oily. Emollients help trap moisture into your skin, keeping your skin soft and hydrated.

You might know this ingredient as pomegranate fruit. It has been shown to have antioxidant, skin soothing and anti-aging benefits.

Pomegranates are rich in antioxidant compounds such as polyphenolic compounds such as ellagic acid, phenolic acids, anthocyanins, and flavonoids.

Betaine is a common humectant (a substance that promotes retention of moisture). It's known to be gentle on the skin and can help balance hydration.

This ingredient is best for improving hydration and soothing irritated skin. Studies also show it helps even out skin tone.

Hydrolyzed collagen has a misleading name because it is actually a mixture of various proteins/peptides. This ingredient has skin hydrating properties.

Collagen is the most abundant type of structural protein found in your body. In your skin, it is responsible for keeping it firm and youthful.

Peg-100 Stearate is an emollient and emulsifier. As an emollient, it helps keep skin soft by trapping moisture in. On the other hand, emulsifiers help prevent oil and water from separating in a product.

PEGS are a hydrophilic polyether compound . There are 100 ethylene oxide monomers in Peg-100 Stearate. Peg-100 Stearate is polyethylene glycol ester of stearic acid.

Glyceryl Stearate is a mix of glycerin and stearic acid.

It is used to stabilize the mixing of water and oil ingredients. By preventing these ingredients from separating, it can help elongate shelf life. It can also help thicken the product's texture.

Cyclopentasiloxane, or D5, is a silicone used to improve texture of products and trap moisture.

D5 is considered lightweight and volatile. Volatile means it evaporates quickly after application. Once evaporated, D5 leaves a thin barrier that helps keep skin hydrated.

Dimethicone is a type of synthetic silicone created from natural materials such as quartz.

What it does:

Cetearyl alcohol is a mixture of two fatty alcohols: cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol. It is mainly used as an emulsifier. Emulsifiers help prevent the separation of oils and products. Due to its composition, it can also be used to thicken a product or help create foam.

Cetearyl alcohol is an emollient. Emollients help soothe and hydrate the skin by trapping moisture.

Caprylic/capric glycerides are a mixture of fats from caprylic and capric acids.

As an emollient, Caprylic/Capric Glycerides helps soften and moisturize the skin. Emollients create a moisture-trapping film on the skin.

C14-22 Alcohols is made up of synthetic fatty alcohols. More specifically, these fatty alcohols contain 14 to 22 carbons in the alkyl chain.

Its main purpose is to stabilize products. As an emulsifier, it helps prevent waters and oils from separating.

Carbomer is a polymer of acrylic acid. Its main role is to create a gel consistency.

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

Dimethiconol is a silicone that resembles the popular dimethicone. Like other silicones, it is an emollient. Emollients create a thin film on skin to prevent moisture from escaping.

This ingredient helps to create a silky texture and improve spreadability. Due to its high molecular weight and thickness, it is often combined with cyclopentasiloxane.

Potassium hydroxide is commonly known as caustic potash. It is used to fix the pH of a product or as a cleaning agent in soap. In cleansers, it is used for the saponification of oils.

Sapnification is the process of creating fatty acid metal salts from triglycerides and a strong base. During this process, Potassium Hydroxide is used up and is not present in the final product.

Xanthan gum is used as a stabilizer and thickener within cosmetic products. It helps give products a sticky, thick feeling - preventing them from being too runny.

On the technical side of things, xanthan gum is a polysaccharide - a combination consisting of multiple sugar molecules bonded together.

We don't have a description for C12-20 Alkyl Glucoside yet.

Adenosine is in every living organism. It is one of four components in nucleic acids that helps store our DNA.

Adenosine has many benefits when used. These benefits include hydrating the skin, smoothing skin, and reducing wrinkles. Once applied, adenosine increases collagen production. It also helps with improving firmness and tissue repair.

Sodium Hyaluronate is hyaluronic acid's salt form. It is commonly derived from the sodium salt of hyaluronic acid.

Like hyaluronic acid, it is great at holding water and acts as a humectant. This makes it a great skin hydrating ingredient.

Disodium EDTA plays a role in making products more stable by aiding other preservatives.

It is a chelating agent, meaning it neutralizes metal ions that may be found in a product.

Ci 77491 is also hydrated iron III oxide. It's sole purpose is to give a red/pink hue to products.

Iron III oxides are classified as inorganic chemicals for coloring.

Ethylhexylglycerin (we can't pronounce this either) is commonly used as a preservative and skin softener. It is derived from glyceryl.

You might see Ethylhexylglycerin often paired with other preservatives such as phenoxyethanol. Ethylhexylglycerin has been found to increase the effectiveness of these other preservatives.

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.