Author: hadadian

Every cosmetic sold in the EU must list its ingredients using INCI names, in descending order of concentration down to 1%. Below 1% the order is arbitrary. That single rule tells you most of what you need.

The first five matter most

If water (Aqua) is first, the product is mostly water — normal for a lotion, disappointing in a "pure" oil. If the active you are paying for appears after the preservatives, there is very little of it in there.

Words that are not what you think

• Fragrance / Parfum — can hide dozens of undisclosed compounds, and is the most common cause of cosmetic contact allergy
• Alcohol Denat. — drying; Cetearyl Alcohol is a fatty alcohol and is not
• Natural — legally meaningless on its own; look for a certification body instead
• Hypoallergenic — unregulated marketing term with no agreed standard

Preservatives are not the enemy

Any product containing water needs a preservative or it grows bacteria within weeks. Phenoxyethanol and sodium benzoate are well studied and safe at cosmetic concentrations. A water-based product with no preservative is a red flag.

Where the allergens hide

EU law requires 26 fragrance allergens to be named individually when present above a threshold — linalool, limonene, citronellol and geraniol among them. These occur naturally in essential oils, which is why botanical products are not automatically gentler than synthetic ones.

The best routine is the one you repeat. A twelve-step regimen abandoned after a fortnight does less for your skin than four steps done consistently for a year.

Morning

• Cleanse — or just rinse with water if your skin is dry
• Mist — rebalances pH and adds a first layer of hydration
• Moisturise — seals that water in
• SPF — the single highest-impact anti-ageing step there is

Evening

Cleanse properly to remove sunscreen and the day’s pollution, mist, then apply a facial oil while skin is still slightly damp. Oils work by slowing water loss, so they need water underneath them to hold in.

Introduce one thing at a time

If you add four products at once and react, you will not know which one did it. Leave two weeks between new introductions.

What actually needs to be expensive

Very little. A gentle cleanser and a good sunscreen matter more than an expensive serum. Spend where the formula does real work — a cold-pressed oil, for instance — and save on the steps you rinse straight off.