2 Quick Tips for Reading Cosmetic Labels

When you buy an article clothing, you check the tag to see what material it’s made of, right?

When you buy candy for your children (honestly, it’s for yourself), you check and make sure it doesn’t have high-fructose corn syrup, right?

When you buy makeup or skincare, are you checking the ingredient list?

It’s not wrong that we tend to check food ingredient labels more than cosmetic ingredient labels...we’ve been wired to do this! When was the last time you heard of a cosmetic ingredient “fiasco” on the news? Probably never. As a society, we’re more focused on what we’re putting into our body and less on what we’re putting ON it.

Here are two tricks of the trade when reading cosmetic ingredient labels so that you know exactly what you’re putting on your body’s largest organ:

INCI:

INCI stands for “International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient”. It’s either English, Latin, or a Scientific name that is the common identification for the ingredient across the cosmetic industry and scientific community. This makes it easier for you to keep track of the ingredients that work for your skin and those that don’t! 

Period After Opening Symbol

The little “can” symbol on labels with the number inside it is SUPER important. The number followed by an “M” represents how many months you have to use the product once opening it before you need to throw it away regardless if it’s a natural product or not…. So time to dig through your drawers and CLEAN OUT!

Brb, off to clean out my makeup bag!