
We like to prevent sunburns, but if you get one, our soothing aloe gel is a lifesaver.
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Ingredients overview
Water, Glycerin, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Carbomer, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Polysorbate 20, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, Blue 1, Yellow 5
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Highlights
#alcohol-free
Alcohol Free
Key Ingredients
Anti-acne: Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil
Antioxidant: Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate
Skin-identical ingredient: Glycerin
Soothing: Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil
Other Ingredients
Antimicrobial/antibacterial: Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil
Buffering: Sodium Hydroxide
Chelating: Disodium EDTA
Colorant: Blue 1, Yellow 5
Emulsifying: Polysorbate 20
Moisturizer/humectant: Glycerin, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Perfuming: Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil
Preservative: Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin
Solvent: Water
Surfactant/cleansing: Polysorbate 20
Viscosity controlling: Carbomer
Skim through
Ingredient name | what-it-does | irr., com. | ID-Rating |
---|---|---|---|
Water | solvent | ||
Glycerin | skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | 0, 0 | superstar |
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice | soothing, moisturizer/humectant | goodie | |
Carbomer | viscosity controlling | 0, 1 | |
Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil | soothing, anti-acne, antioxidant, antimicrobial/antibacterial, perfuming | goodie | |
Tocopheryl Acetate | antioxidant | 0, 0 | |
Polysorbate 20 | emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing | 0, 0 | |
Phenoxyethanol | preservative | ||
Ethylhexylglycerin | preservative | ||
Disodium EDTA | chelating | ||
Sodium Hydroxide | buffering | ||
Blue 1 | colorant | ||
Yellow 5 | colorant |
Sun Bum After Sun Cool Down Gel
Ingredients explainedWater
Also-called: Aqua | What-it-does: solvent
Good old water, aka H2O. The most common skincare ingredient of all. You can usually find it right in the very first spot of the ingredient list, meaning it’s the biggest thing out of all the stuff that makes up the product.
It’s mainly a solvent for ingredients that do not like to dissolve in oils but rather in water.
Once inside the skin, it hydrates, but not from the outside - putting pure water on the skin (hello long baths!) is drying.
One more thing: the water used in cosmetics is purified and deionized (it means that almost all of the mineral ions inside it is removed). Like this, the products can stay more stable over time.
Glycerin - superstar
Also-called: Glycerol | What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/humectant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
- A natural moisturizer that’s also in our skin
- A super common, safe, effective and cheap molecule used for more than 50 years
- Not only a simple moisturizer but knows much more: keeps the skin lipids between our skin cells in a healthy (liquid crystal) state, protects against irritation, helps to restore barrier
- Effective from as low as 3% with even more benefits for dry skin at higher concentrations up to 20-40%
- High-glycerin moisturizers are awesome for treating severely dry skin
Read all the geeky details about Glycerin here >>
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice - goodie
Also-called: Aloe Vera | What-it-does: soothing, moisturizer/humectant
Aloe Vera is one of today’s magic plants. It does have some very nice properties indeed, though famous dermatologist Leslie Baumann warns us in her book that most of the evidence is anecdotal and the plant might be a bit overhyped.
What research does confirm about Aloe is that it’s a great moisturizer and has several anti-inflammatory (among others contains salicylates, polysaccharides, magnesium lactate and C-glucosyl chromone) as well as some antibacterial components. It also helps wound healing and skin regeneration in general. All in all definitely a goodie.
Carbomer
What-it-does: viscosity controlling, emulsion stabilising | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1
A big molecule created from repeated subunits (a polymer of acrylic acid) that magically converts a liquidinto a nice gel formula. It usually has to be neutralized with a base (such as sodium hydroxide) for the thickening to occur and it creates viscous, clear gels that also feel nice and non-tacky on the skin. No wonder, it is a very popular and common ingredient. Typically used at 1% or less in most formulations.
Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil - goodie
Also-called: Tea Tree Oil, TTO | What-it-does: soothing, anti-acne, antioxidant, antimicrobial/antibacterial, perfuming
The famous tea treeoil. One of the best known essential oils which comes from Australia where it has been used for almost 100 years for its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory actions. Legend has itthat the medicinal benefits of the oil were considered so important that Australian soldiers were supplied with some tea tree oil in their World War II military kit.
Similar to other essential oils, tea tree oil is a very complex chemical mixture consisting of about 100 components,themajor ones being terpinen-4-ol(40%), γ-Terpinene (23%)and α-Terpinene (10%). Terpinen-4-ol is considered to be the main active component but as a greatarticle in Clinical Microbiology Reviews states "while some TTO components may be considered less active, none can be considered inactive" and most components contributeto TTO's strong antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal effects.
Regarding skincare and tea tree oil, its most well-known effect is probably being a well established anti-acne ingredient. Multiple studies confirm that TTO is effective against the evil acne-causingbacteria called P. acnes and the effectiveness of 5% TTO gel is comparable to the gold standard anti-acne treatment,5% Benzoyl Peroxidelotion. You need to be a bit more patient with TTO, though, as its effects come slower but also with fewer side effects.
Regarding TTO and sensitive skin, we say that you should be careful. Even if your skin is not sensitive you should never put undiluted TTO on your skin. Luckily, it contains only very small amounts of the common allergens (such as limonene), but irritant and allergic reactions still happen, especially by oxidation products that occur in older ornot properly stored oil. So if you have some pure TTO at home, know that storage matters, keep it in a cool, dry, dark place and use it up in a reasonable amount of time.
Overall, we do not often give a goodie status to essential oils, but we feel that TTO's unique antibacterial and anti-acne properties with its minimal allergen content warrant an exception. If your skin is acne-prone, TTO is something to experiment with.
Tocopheryl Acetate
Also-called: Vitamin E Acetate | What-it-does: antioxidant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
It’s the most commonly used version of pure vitamin E in cosmetics. You can read all about the pure form here. This one is the so-called esterified version.
According to famous dermatologist, Leslie Baumann while tocopheryl acetate is more stable and has a longer shelf life, it’s also more poorly absorbed by the skin and may not have the same awesome photoprotective effects as pure Vit E.
Polysorbate 20
What-it-does: emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
It's a common little helper ingredient that helps water and oil to mix together. Also, it can help to increase the solubility of some other ingredients in the formula.
Phenoxyethanol
What-it-does: preservative
It’s pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, but even more importantly, it’s not a feared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason paraben.
It’s not something new: it was introduced around 1950 and today it can be used up to 1% worldwide. It can be found in nature - in green tea - but the version used in cosmetics is synthetic.
Other than having a good safety profile and being quite gentle to the skin it has some other advantages too. It can be used in many types of formulations as it has great thermal stability (can be heated up to 85°C) and works on a wide range of pH levels (ph 3-10).
It’s often used together with ethylhexylglycerin as it nicely improves the preservative activity of phenoxyethanol.
Ethylhexylglycerin
What-it-does: preservative, deodorant
If you have spottedethylhexylglycerinon the ingredient list, most probably you will see there also the current IT-preservative,phenoxyethanol. They are good friends becauseethylhexylglycerincan boost the effectiveness of phenoxyethanol (and other preservatives) and as an added bonus it feels nice on the skin too.
Also,it's an effective deodorant and a medium spreadingemollient.
Disodium EDTA
What-it-does: chelating
Super common little helper ingredient thathelps products to remain nice and stable for a longer time. It does so by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula (that usually get into there from water) that would otherwise cause some not so nice changes.
It is typically used in tiny amounts, around 0.1% or less.
Sodium Hydroxide
Also-called: lye | What-it-does: buffering
The unfancy name for it is lye. It’s a solid white stuff that’s very alkaline and used in small amounts to adjust the pH of the product and make it just right.
For example, in case of AHA or BHA exfoliants, the right pH is super-duper important, and pH adjusters like sodium hydroxide are needed.
BTW, lye is not something new. It was already used by ancient Egyptians to help oil and fat magically turn into something else. Can you guess what? Yes, it’s soap. It still often shows up in the ingredient list of soaps and other cleansers.
Sodium hydroxide in itselfis a potent skin irritant, but once it's reacted (as it is usually in skin care products, like exfoliants) it is totallyharmless.
Blue 1
Also-called: Ci 42090 | What-it-does: colorant
CI 42090 or Blue 1 is a super common synthetic colorant in beauty & food. Used alone, it adds a brilliant smurf-like blue color, combined with Tartrazine, it gives the fifty shades of green.
Yellow 5
Also-called: Tartrazine, Yellow 5;Ci 19140 | What-it-does: colorant
Ci 19140 or Tartrazine is a super common colorant in skincare, makeup, medicine & food. It’s a synthetic lemon yellow that'sused alone or mixed with other colors for special shades.
FDA saysit's possible, but rare, to have an allergic-type reaction to a color additive. As an example, it mentions that Ci 19140may cause itching and hives in some people but the colorant is always labeled so that you can avoid it if youare sensitive.
You may also want to take a look at...
Normal (well kind of - it's purified and deionized) water. Usually the main solvent in cosmetic products. [more] A real oldie but a goodie. Great natural moisturizer and skin-identical ingredient that plays an important role in skin hydration and general skin health. [more] The famous aloe vera. A great moisturizer and anti-inflammatory ingredient that also helps wound healing and skin regeneration. [more] A handy white powder that magically converts a liquid into a nice gel formula. [more] The famous tea treeoil. One of the best known essential oils which comes from Australia where it has been used for almost 100 years for its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory actions. [more] A form of vitamin E that works as an antioxidant. Compared to the pure form it's more stable, has longer shelf life, but it's also more poorly absorbed by the skin. [more] It's a common little helper ingredient that helps water and oil to mix together. Also, it can help to increase the solubility of some other ingredients in the formula. Pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, and can be used up to 1% worldwide. [more] It can boost the effectiveness of phenoxyethanol (and other preservatives) and as an added bonus it feels nice on the skin too. [more] Super common little helper ingredient thathelps products to remain nice and stable for a longer time. It does so by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula (that usually get into there from water) that would otherwise cause some not so nice changes. [more] Lye - A solid white stuff that’s very alkaline and used in small amount to adjust the pH of the product. [more] Synthetic colorant with smurf-like blue color. [more] A super common colorant with the color yellow. [more] what‑it‑does solvent what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient | moisturizer/humectant irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does soothing | moisturizer/humectant what‑it‑does viscosity controlling irritancy,com. 0, 1 what‑it‑does soothing | anti-acne | antioxidant | antimicrobial/antibacterial | perfuming what‑it‑does antioxidant irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does preservative what‑it‑does preservative what‑it‑does chelating what‑it‑does buffering what‑it‑does colorant what‑it‑does colorant