A Mom In Red High Heels recently blogged about how Proactiv Green Tea is good for skin, but does green tea really moisturize? Let’s look at the label to find out.
Ingredients
Water (aqua)
This ingredient is properly listed for a change! Usually we see “”pure water” or “natural spring water” or some other illegal version. Kudo’s to Proactiv for getting it right.
Glycerin
A good humectant which means it will attract moisture to skin from the air.
Butylene glycol
Another moisture binder.
Dimethicone
One of the best ingredients for sealing moisture into the skin.
Iris florentina root extract, macadamia ternifolia seed oil
Nuts and flowers.
Epigallocatechin gallate
This active ingredient in green tea extract that everyone is so excited about. (It’s not found in black tea.) When taken internally it supposedly has a variety of therapeutic effects; when rubbed into the skin it MAY act as an antioxidant. (Read this article to learn how to tell if you’re using enough antioxidants.) Maybe good for skin but it is NOT providing the moisturizing benefits of this product.
Sodium polyacrylate
A thickening agent.
Hydrogenated polydecene
Another occlusive moisturizer like dimethicone.
Trideceth-6
Surfactant, probably is carried in with one of the other ingredients.
Zinc PCA
Moisturizing salt, one of the natural moisturizing factors of skin.
Retinyl palmitate
Vitamin A.
Sodium hyaluronate
Another natural moisturizer.
Squalane
A natural oil that’s a component of sebum.
Caprylic/capric triglyceride
Coconut oil derived moisturizer.
Ethylhexyl palmitate
A chemical known as an ester that used to provide a slippery feel.
PPG-2 myristyl ether propionate
Emulsifier (helps oil and water mix together.)
Alcohol
Not sure why this is here, my guess is that it’s a carrier for one of the other ingredients in the formula. Also, thinking about it makes me thirsty.
Allantoin
Alleged skin calming ingredient. I wonder if there’s enough in here to do any good.
C12-15 alkyl lactate
Emulsifier, feel-modifier.
Polyquaternium-11
Preservative.
Disodium EDTA
pH control, also helps boost preservative efficacy.
Ethylparaben, Methylparaben, propylparaben, phenoxyethanol
Preservatives. And lots of ‘em! You rarely see formulators include three different parabens, especially these days when parabens scare the crap out of people (for no real scientific reason.)
Fragrance (parfum)
Smell ‘em if you got ‘em.
Alpha-isomethyl ionone, butylphenyl methylpropional, citronellol, hexyl cinnamal, hydroxycitronellal, linalool
Friendly neighborhood fragrance allergens.
Image courtesy of Proactiv
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
About “Glycerin will attract moisture to skin from the air.”
How does that happen?
What about Relative Humidity? Doesn’t that have negative effect if the RH is 20%
@Jeff
The lotion or cream will always contain more water than glycerin, so I don’t personally think it’s that big a deal.
But I’m sure one of the Brains will come along with a more definitive explanation than that.
@Jeff: Yes, there are some who say that if the relative humid is very low glycerin can pull moisture OUT of the skin instead of out of the air. Our understanding is that in a properly balanced formula other moisturizers seal moisture into the skin so this is not an issue.
I’m a follower of The Cosmetics Cop and she says, “Green Tea Moisturizer contains a lot of green tea and vitamin A, two antioxidants with considerable value for all skin types. The problem is that the amount of iris root extract (also known as orris root) can cause allergic or sensitizing skin reactions and there is no research showing it to be beneficial for skin (Source: Botanical Dermatology Database, http://bodd.cf.ac.uk/BotDermFolder/BotDermC/CACT.html). What a shame, because this is otherwise a great moisturizer for normal to dry skin.”
No bueno.
Sorry Guys, my critical thinking is screaming at me.
Ok, If we use other moisturizers to seal in moisture into the skin, aren’t we also sealing moisture from the air as well?
I know that the belief of taking moisture out of the air has been around for a long time. But I can’t seem to find any documentation demonstrating and substantuating this theory.
If you happen to know of a study, please let me know.
@Jeff: That’s good critical thinking Jeff. I’ll poke around and see if I can find anything. But remember, even if the product was sealing moisture “out” of the deeper layers of the skin there could still be some value in the glycerine (or other humectant) attracting moisture to the upper most surface of the stratum corneum where the lotion is sitting. Still, that’s speculation on my part. I’d like to find a study that shows an increase in key skin moisturization measures after using application of a humectant to definitively address your point.