What is this all about?

Before we start making our lovely skincare products I thought I'll give you a little introduction to the beauty products' components, their roles and functions and how it affects the skin and us.

I came across many ways of describing each individual ingredient but this my favorite so far - every ingredient belongs to one of these categories:

• solvent

• emollient

• emulsifier

• thickener

• stabilizer

• humectant

• active ingredient

• preservative

• fragrance

Often one ingredient falls within two or three categories or it can be one or the other, depending on the recipe of certain product. I'll explain briefly each category and give you an example.

Solvent - a substance that dissolve a solute which results in creating solution. For us main solvent is distilled water or hydrosols.

Emollient - prevents evaporation of the water from the skin by forming an occlusive coating on the surface of the stratum corneum ( top layer of the skin). Example: shea butter, jojoba oil, etc.

Emulsifier - contains hydrophilic (attracted to water) and lipophilic (attracted to oil) elements, combines water and oil well creating an emulsion. Example: sorbitan oleate.

Thickener - strengthens the oil/water bonding in emulsions. Example: cetyl alcohol.

Stabilizer - similar function to thickeners. Example: EDTA.

Humectant - attracts water from deeper layers of the skin to reduce loss of moisture on the surface. Example: glycerine.

Active ingredient - directly effects changes in the skin. Example: coenzyme Q10

Preservative - extends shelf life of the product. Example: Preservative ECO.

Fragrance - these are basically essential oils. It gives your product lovely fragrance.

There are few more categories, but I will elaborate on them later on. I think this is enough for now. We will be working with two or three categories at the beginning so you can get grasp of each of them.

In the picture at the top of this post you can see my notes from the courses I have taken, one of my favorite books "Power of the seed" by Susan M. Parker and a catalogue with great variety of oils. Hope I can inspire you to look a little deeper in this topic - find something that is interesting for you and share your thoughts with me here or on Facebook page :) #poweroftheseed #booktolearnfrom #organicingredients #homemadebeautyproducts #organicoils #diybeautyproducts #youlearneveryday #skincaremaker #ZEAskincareuk

P.S. Just a little reminder that on Monday I'll give you the first easy recipe how to make a beauty balm, ideal for hands, especially now with frequent washing and using antibacterial gels and sanitizers