This lightweight AHA leave-on exfoliant smooths skin, fades sun damage and reveals younger-looking skin.
Uploaded by: judit on
Ingredients overview
Water (Aqua), Glycolic Acid, Sodium Hydroxide, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Camellia Oleifera (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Panthenol, Sodium PCA, Propylene Glycol, Butylene Glycol, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Polyquaternium-10, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate
Read more on how to read an ingredient list >>
Highlights
#alcohol-free #fragrance & essentialoil-free
Alcohol Free
Fragrance and Essential Oil Free
Key Ingredients
Antioxidant: Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Camellia Oleifera (Green Tea) Leaf Extract
Exfoliant: Glycolic Acid
Skin-identical ingredient: Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium PCA
Soothing: Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Camellia Oleifera (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Panthenol
Other Ingredients
Buffering: Glycolic Acid, Sodium Hydroxide
Moisturizer/humectant: Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Sodium Hyaluronate, Panthenol, Sodium PCA, Propylene Glycol, Butylene Glycol
Preservative: Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate
Solvent: Water (Aqua), Propylene Glycol, Butylene Glycol
Viscosity controlling: Hydroxyethylcellulose, Polyquaternium-10
Skim through
| Ingredient name | what-it-does | irr., com. | ID-Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water (Aqua) | solvent | ||
| Glycolic Acid | exfoliant, buffering | superstar | |
| Sodium Hydroxide | buffering | ||
| Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract | soothing, antioxidant | 0, 0 | goodie |
| Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice | soothing, moisturizer/humectant | goodie | |
| Camellia Oleifera (Green Tea) Leaf Extract | antioxidant, soothing | goodie | |
| Sodium Hyaluronate | skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | 0, 0 | goodie |
| Panthenol | soothing, moisturizer/humectant | 0, 0 | goodie |
| Sodium PCA | skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | 0, 0 | goodie |
| Propylene Glycol | moisturizer/humectant, solvent | 0, 0 | |
| Butylene Glycol | moisturizer/humectant, solvent | 0, 1 | |
| Hydroxyethylcellulose | viscosity controlling | ||
| Polyquaternium-10 | viscosity controlling | ||
| Phenoxyethanol | preservative | ||
| Sodium Benzoate | preservative |
Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 8% Aha Gel Exfoliant
Ingredients explainedWater (Aqua)
Also-called: Aqua | What-it-does: solvent
Good old water, aka H2O. The most common skincare ingredient of all. You can usually find it right in the very first spot of the ingredient list, meaning it’s the biggest thing out of all the stuff that makes up the product.
It’s mainly a solvent for ingredients that do not like to dissolve in oils but rather in water.
Once inside the skin, it hydrates, but not from the outside - putting pure water on the skin (hello long baths!) is drying.
One more thing: the water used in cosmetics is purified and deionized (it means that almost all of the mineral ions inside it is removed). Like this, the products can stay more stable over time.
Glycolic Acid - superstar
What-it-does: exfoliant, buffering
- It’s the most researched AHA with the most proven skin benefits
- It gently lifts off dead skin cells to reveal newer, fresher, smoother skin
- It can help skin’s own collagen production that results in firmer, younger skin
- It can fade brown spots caused by sun damage or PIH
- Choose a product where you know the concentration and pH value because these two greatly influence effectiveness
- Don’t forget to use your sunscreen (in any case but especially so next to an AHA product)
- Slight stinging or burning with a stronger AHA product is normal
- If your skin is very sensitive, rosacea prone choose rather a BHA or PHA product
Read all the geeky details about Glycolic Acid here >>
Sodium Hydroxide
Also-called: lye | What-it-does: buffering
The unfancy name for it is lye. It’s a solid white stuff that’s very alkaline and used in small amounts to adjust the pH of the product and make it just right.
For example, in case of AHA or BHA exfoliants, the right pH is super-duper important, and pH adjusters like sodium hydroxide are needed.
BTW, lye is not something new. It was already used by ancient Egyptians to help oil and fat magically turn into something else. Can you guess what? Yes, it’s soap. It still often shows up in the ingredient list of soaps and other cleansers.
Sodium hydroxide in itselfis a potent skin irritant, but once it's reacted (as it is usually in skin care products, like exfoliants) it is totallyharmless.
Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract - goodie
Also-called: German Chamomile Flower Extract | What-it-does: soothing, antioxidant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
Chamomileprobably needs no introduction as it's one of the most widely used medicinal herbs. You probably drink it regularly as a nice, calming cup of tea and it's also a regular on skincare ingredient lists.
Cosmetic companies use it mainly for its anti-inflammatory properties. It contains the terpenoids chamazulene and bisabolol both of which show great anti-inflammatory action in animal studies. On top of that chamomile also has some antioxidant activity (thanks to some other active ingredients called matricine, apigenin and luteolin).
Though chamomile is usually a goodie for the skin, it's also not uncommon to have anallergic reaction to it.
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice - goodie
Also-called: Aloe Vera | What-it-does: soothing, moisturizer/humectant
Aloe Vera is one of today’s magic plants. It does have some very nice properties indeed, though famous dermatologist Leslie Baumann warns us in her book that most of the evidence is anecdotal and the plant might be a bit overhyped.
What research does confirm about Aloe is that it’s a great moisturizer and has several anti-inflammatory (among others contains salicylates, polysaccharides, magnesium lactate and C-glucosyl chromone) as well as some antibacterial components. It also helps wound healing and skin regeneration in general. All in all definitely a goodie.
Camellia Oleifera (Green Tea) Leaf Extract - goodie
Also-called: tea oil camellia;Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract | What-it-does: antioxidant, soothing
Camellia Oleifera is a type of green tea plant that's mostly known for the oil that comes from its seeds. As for the leaves, it has similar properties as the better knownand more often used Camellia Sinensis leaves. You can read all the geeky details about green tea and why it's awesome byclicking here, but in short, it has antioxidants and anti-inflammatory magic properties.
Sodium Hyaluronate - goodie
What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
It’s the - sodium form - cousin of the famous NMF,hyaluronic acid(HA). If HA does not tell you anything we have a super detailed, geeky explanation about it here. The TL; DR version of HA is that it's a huge polymer (big molecule from repeated subunits) found in the skin that acts as a sponge helping the skin to hold onto water, being plump and elastic. HA is famous for its crazy water holding capacity as it can bind up to 1000 times its own weight in water.
As far as skincare goes, sodium hyaluronate and hyaluronic acid are pretty much the same and the two names are used interchangeably. As cosmetic chemist kindofstephenwrites on reddit "sodium hyaluronate disassociates into hyaluronic acid molecule and a sodium atom in solution".
In spite of this, if you search for "hyaluronic acid vs sodium hyaluronate" you will find on multiple places that sodium hyaluronate is smaller and can penetrate the skin better. Chemically, this is definitely not true, as the two forms are almost the same, both are polymers and the subunits can be repeated in both forms as much as you like. (We also checkedProspector for sodium hyaluronate versions actually used in cosmetic products and found that the most common molecular weight was 1.5-1.8 million Da that absolutely counts as high molecular weight).
What seems to be a true difference, though, is that the salt form is more stable, easier to formulate andcheaper so it pops up more often on the ingredient lists.
If you wanna become a real HA-and-the-skin expert you can read way more about the topic at hyaluronic acid(including penetration-questions, differences between high and low molecular weight versions and a bunch of references to scientific literature).
Panthenol - goodie
Also-called: Pro-Vitamin B5 | What-it-does: soothing, moisturizer/humectant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
An easy-to-formulate, commonly used, nice to have ingredient that’s also called pro-vitamin B5. As you might guess from the “pro” part, it’s a precursor to vitamin B5 (whose fancy name is pantothenic acid).
Its main job in skincare products is to moisturise the skin. It’s a humectant meaning that it can help the skin to attract water and then hold onto it. There is also research showing that panthenol can help our skin to produce more lovely lipids that are important for a strong and healthy skin barrier.
Another great thing about panthenol is that it has anti-inflammatory and skin protecting abilities. A study shows that it can reduce the irritation caused by less-nice other ingredients (e.g. fragrance, preservatives or chemical sunscreens) in the product.
Research also shows that it might be useful for wound healing as it promotes fibroblast (nice type of cells in our skin that produce skin-firming collagen) proliferation.
If that wasn’t enough panthenol is also useful in nail and hair care products. A study shows that a nail treatment liquide with 2% panthenol could effectively get into the nail and significantly increase the hydration of it.
As for the hair the hydration effect is also true there. Panthenol might make your hair softer, more elastic and helps to comb your hair more easily.
Sodium PCA - goodie
Also-called: Sodium Pyrrolidone Carboxylic Acid | What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
PCA stands for Pyrrolidone Carboxylic Acid and though it might not sound like it, it is a thing that can be found naturally in our skin. The sodium salt form of PCA is an important skin-identical ingredient and great natural moisturizer that helps the skin to hold onto water and stay nicely hydrated.
Propylene Glycol
What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant, solvent | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
- It's a helper ingredient that improves the freeze-thaw stability of products
- It's also a solvent, humectant and to some extent a penetration enhancer
- It has a bad reputation among natural cosmetics advocates but cosmetic scientists and toxicology experts do not agree (read more in the geeky details section)
Read all the geeky details about Propylene Glycol here >>
Butylene Glycol
What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant, solvent | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1
Butylene glycol, or let’s just call it BG, is a multi-tasking colorless, syrupy liquid. It’s a great pick for creating a nice feeling product.
BG’s main job is usually to be a solvent for the other ingredients. Other tasks include helping the product to absorb faster and deeper into the skin (penetration enhancer), making the product spread nicely over the skin (slip agent), and attracting water (humectant) into the skin.
It’s an ingredient whose safety hasn’t been questioned so far by anyone (at least not that we know about). BG is approved by Ecocert and is also used enthusiastically in natural products. BTW, it’s also a food additive.
Hydroxyethylcellulose
Also-called: HEC | What-it-does: viscosity controlling, emulsion stabilising
A nice little helper ingredient that can thicken up cosmetic products and create beautifulgel formulas. It's derived from cellulose, the major component ofthe cell wall of green plants. It is compatible with most co-ingredients and gives a very good slip to the formulas.
Polyquaternium-10
What-it-does: viscosity controlling
A cellulose derived polymer (abig molecule that consists of many parts) that can help to thicken up products, form a nice film on the skin or hair and is considered to be an excellent hair conditioner.
Phenoxyethanol
What-it-does: preservative
It’s pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, but even more importantly, it’s not a feared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason paraben.
It’s not something new: it was introduced around 1950 and today it can be used up to 1% worldwide. It can be found in nature - in green tea - but the version used in cosmetics is synthetic.
Other than having a good safety profile and being quite gentle to the skin it has some other advantages too. It can be used in many types of formulations as it has great thermal stability (can be heated up to 85°C) and works on a wide range of pH levels (ph 3-10).
It’s often used together with ethylhexylglycerin as it nicely improves the preservative activity of phenoxyethanol.
Sodium Benzoate
What-it-does: preservative
A helper ingredient that helps to makethe products stay nice longer, aka preservative. It works mainly against fungi.
It’s pH dependent and works best at acidic pH levels (3-5). It’s not strong enough to be used in itself so it’s always combined with something else, often with potassium sorbate.
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Normal (well kind of - it's purified and deionized) water. Usually the main solvent in cosmetic products. [more] The most researched and well-known AHA exfoliant. It gently lifts off dead skin cells to reveal newer, fresher, smoother skin. In larger concentration (>10%) it's a proven collagen booster. [more] Lye - A solid white stuff that’s very alkaline and used in small amount to adjust the pH of the product. [more] Chamomile extract - has great anti-inflammatory and some antioxidant properties. [more] The famous aloe vera. A great moisturizer and anti-inflammatory ingredient that also helps wound healing and skin regeneration. [more] A type of green tea that has antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. [more] It's the salt form of famous humectant and natural moisturizing factor, hyaluronic acid. It can bind huge amounts of water and it's pretty much the current IT-moisturizer. [more] Pro-Vitamin B5 is a goodie that moisturises the skin, has anti-inflammatory, skin protecting and wound healing properties. [more] It's an important skin-identical ingredient and great natural moisturizer that helps the skin to hold onto water and stay nicely hydrated. [more] A common glycol that improves the freeze-thaw stability of products. It's also a solvent, humectant and to some extent a penetration enhancer. [more] An often used glycol that works as a solvent, humectant, penetration enhancer and also gives a good slip to the products. [more] A nice little helper ingredient that can thicken up cosmetic products and create beautifulgel formulas. It's derived from cellulose, the major component ofthe cell wall of green plants. [more] A cellulose derived polymer that can help to thicken up products, form a nice film on the skin or hair and is considered to be an excellent hair conditioner. Pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, and can be used up to 1% worldwide. [more] A preservative that works mainly against fungi. Has to be combined with other preservatives. [more] what‑it‑does solvent what‑it‑does exfoliant | buffering what‑it‑does buffering what‑it‑does soothing | antioxidant irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does soothing | moisturizer/humectant what‑it‑does antioxidant | soothing what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient | moisturizer/humectant irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does soothing | moisturizer/humectant irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient | moisturizer/humectant irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does moisturizer/humectant | solvent irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does moisturizer/humectant | solvent irritancy,com. 0, 1 what‑it‑does viscosity controlling what‑it‑does viscosity controlling what‑it‑does preservative what‑it‑does preservative
