Is it important to explore the ingredient list?Updated a year ago
The next step is to scan the ingredient list and try to understand what story it tells. In fact, if you’re looking for specific effects, this might even be better as your first step.
The first 5 ingredients are usually the ones that’ll have the greatest impact (with some exceptions - retinal, for example, is very potent at just 0.1%).
If a brand claims that a product contains vitamin C, it’s only meaningful if the vitamin C shows up near the top of the ingredient list - any lower, and there isn’t enough of it in the formula to make much of an impact on your skin.
Admittedly, there’s a lot more to know about choosing a vitamin C serum but consider this advice generally useful regardless of the “hero” ingredient.
Looking up every one of these ingredients can be tedious, so INCIDecoder becomes a useful tool again. If you notice that the first few ingredients are strictly texture enhancers or solvents, you’re probably looking at a product that won’t do much, especially in comparison to a product where the first few ingredients have research-backed benefits.