How do I read an INCI list?

.. Caprylic / Capric Triglyceride, Silybum Marianum Ethyl Ester, Melaleuca Alternifolia Oil, CI77947, Lavandula Angustifolia Flower Water, Vaccinium Myrtillus Fruit Powder, Mentha X Piperita ..
If you are using facial products When you turn around, you usually get a large list in front of you. Maybe your first reaction is: "No, this is not possible, I don't understand anything about this". But it's not impossible to have one inci list to read - and understand. If you understand what inci in cosmetics means it opens up a whole new world for you and you get an insight into what you really put on your skin. 
Inci list
If you don't have time to learn how to read a difficult or long INCI, but are interested in the contents of cosmetics - you can click on any Flow Cosmetics product page - we've translated all the ingredients in an understandable way. Are you interested in more information? We have collected all the ingredients we use in our Flow Cosmetics products on one page, you can see the list here.

Which means INCI in cosmetics

The abbreviation “INCI” stares for: International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient, or International Naming for Cosmetic Ingredients. Every ingredient you put in one inci list is an internationally standardized substance, which has been used in cosmetics. The European cosing database (cosmetic ingredient database) contains approximately 30.000 different synthetic and natural cosmetic raw materials. It's good to know that not all cosmetic ingredients are safe even though they are legally approved. On the label of cosmetic products you will find a complete inci list - which tells what exactly your product contains and which ingredients a producer has chosen. It also tells you if there is something specific to look out for, such as warnings. 
 
At Flow Cosmetics we only choose wild, organic or ecocert certified, natural and safe ingredients for our products. The only warning needed at Flow is that you will fall in love with our skin loving formulas.

And finally let's read the inci list

What is generally good to know.

The names in inci list are usually chemical or English names of dustn Such as TOCOPHERYL ACETATE or GLYCERIN.

The exceptions are the plants, fruits, flowers and components or extracts of which, the scientific Latin names are used. Like HELIANTHUS ANNUUS SEED OIL (Sunflower seed oil) or VACCINIUM MYRTILLUS SEED OIL (Bilberry kernel oil). Water and some natural ingredients are also in the inci list in Latin. 

The first ingredient you find on the INCI is the most commonly used in the product (by weight). If you see water / aqua as the first ingredient - unfortunately your product consists mostly of water. Water in products is not always bad, it all depends on the use of the product. The only question is: do you want to pay for water?

If the product contains 1% or less of the raw material, the raw material may be placed in random order on the inci list to stand. A good example is rose toner, which may be advertised as rose water face, but actually only contain 1% rose. Don't worry, there are other types too rose water toners, with a large amount of organic rose water. 

Perfume or fragrance are the most allergenic ingredients in cosmetics. One synthetic fragrance can contain tens, sometimes even hundreds, of different chemicals - they don't need to be listed in the inci (so no one knows what they really contain). Do you want to play it safe? There are alternatives to synthetic perfumes - such as organic ones essential oils of aromatherapy quality. 

A lot of plastic is used in cosmetics, there are micro, nano and liquid plastics - and they are all unhealthy for you and nature. Plastic is often identified by the words PEG and polyethylene. All our products are zero plastic-inside certified, so you can use all our products without any guilt

Inci Cosmetics

TIP: If you want to know about plastic in your cosmetics - and avoid them, you can get them for free Beat The Microbead use super app!

This blog post is just a scratch on the surface of the inci list, but we hope to have taught you something new. If you still have questions, you can always send an email - we will do our best to answer all your questions.


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