Is there any “other trace ingredients” in the ingredients list of the skin care products you bought recently?
What are “other trace ingredients”?
The label “other trace ingredients” is actually a new regulation from the State Food and Drug Administration’s “Cosmetics Labeling Management Measures”, which not only inherits the original requirements, but also has new development .
In the past, it was stipulated that cosmetics should be marked with all the ingredients, and arranged according to the content from high to low; no more than 1%, can be arbitrarily arranged among each other. The new regulations further require that ingredients with a content of no more than 0.1% should be marked separately in “other trace ingredients”, which can be arranged at will.
That is to say, the content of “other trace ingredients” does not exceed 0.1%. Of course, this does not mean that it must be a conceptual addition or an IQ tax, or it should be discussed on a case-by-case basis. Generally speaking, there are the following types.
Which conditions would mark a content not exceeding 0.1%?
The first is due to regulatory requirements not exceeding 0.1%.
These ingredients are mainly preservatives, such as methylisothiazolinone (not more than 0.01%, the same below), iodopropynyl butylcarbamate (0.02%), benzalkonium chloride Ammonium (0.1%), 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3diol (0.1%), hexamidine diisethionate (0.1%). These preservatives are easy to cause skin irritation, so there are restrictions on their content. Now they are clearly listed as “other trace ingredients”, which may make consumers feel at ease.
The second is the color of the ingredients.
For example, astaxanthin, anthocyanin, lutein, curcumin, lycopene, etc., you can tell by the name that there is a certain color. If you add too much, the color will be significantly different from the general white cream, and the engineers will consider the pros and cons, whether to be unconventional or to add leisurely.
The third added ingredient less than 0.1% is relatively simple, one word: expensive!
For example, polypeptides (peptides), resveratrol, ergothioneine, cycloastragalus. These ingredients are often biotech products, and the price of a kilogram can be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands. In many cases, limited by the cost budget, only a little bit can be added conceptually, but it will be hyped in advertising. The sky is falling. Now it is also clearly listed, which protects consumers’ right to know.
Sodium hyaluronate and retinol are also low in content
There are also some well-known ingredients, often in very low levels.
The most common is sodium hyaluronate, the content is generally about 0.1%, rarely more than 0.2%, the reason is that adding too much will produce a sticky feeling like glue, even if the brand wants to disregard the cost Adding, can not violate the laws of science.
The other is retinol (vitamin A), which is the A in “morning C and evening A”. Retinol is easy to irritate the skin, so the dosage is generally relatively low, so as to avoid adverse reactions and affect the reputation.
What do you think of the “Other trace ingredients” regulations?
For the efficacy of cosmetics, ingredients are not omnipotent (because of the influence of formula and process), but no ingredients are absolutely impossible. For ordinary consumers, Although I do not understand the interlocking relationship between ingredients, formulas, processes and efficacy, I can at least know which ingredients are more and which are less, so that I can make clear and rational decisions.