Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Cream ingredients (Explained) (2024)

Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Cream ingredients (Explained) (1)

Daily moisturizing cream for face and body

Uploaded by: maxipoo on

Ingredients overview

Water, Glycerin, Isopropyl Myristate, Cetyl Alcohol, Carbomer, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Flour, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Caprylyl Glycol, Sodium Hydroxide, P-Anisic Acid, Ethylhexyl-Glycerin

Read more on how to read an ingredient list >>

Highlights

#alcohol-free #fragrance & essentialoil-free

Alcohol Free

Fragrance and Essential Oil Free

Key Ingredients

Antioxidant: Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Flour

Skin-identical ingredient: Glycerin

Soothing: Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Flour

Other Ingredients

Buffering: Sodium Hydroxide

Emollient: Isopropyl Myristate, Cetyl Alcohol, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Flour, Caprylyl Glycol

Moisturizer/humectant: Glycerin, Caprylyl Glycol

Perfuming: Isopropyl Myristate

Preservative: P-Anisic Acid, Ethylhexyl-Glycerin

Solvent: Water

Surfactant/cleansing: Potassium Cetyl Phosphate

Viscosity controlling: Cetyl Alcohol, Carbomer

Skim through

Ingredient name what-it-does irr., com. ID-Rating
Water solvent
Glycerin skin-identical ingredient, moisturizer/​humectant 0, 0 superstar
Isopropyl Myristate emollient, perfuming 3, 3-5
Cetyl Alcohol emollient, viscosity controlling 2, 2
Carbomer viscosity controlling 0, 1
Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter emollient goodie
Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Flour soothing, antioxidant, emollient goodie
Potassium Cetyl Phosphate emulsifying, surfactant/​cleansing
Caprylyl Glycol moisturizer/​humectant, emollient
Sodium Hydroxide buffering
P-Anisic Acid preservative
Ethylhexyl-Glycerin preservative

Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Cream

Ingredients explained

Water

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 >>

Isopropyl Myristate

What-it-does: emollient, perfuming | Irritancy: 3 | Comedogenicity: 3-5

A clear, colorless oil-like liquid that makes the skin feel smooth and nice (aka emollient) and it does so without it being greasy.

What's more, it can evenreduce the heavy, greasy feel in products with high oil content.It's also fast-spreading meaning that it gives the formulaa good, nice slip. Itabsorbs quickly into the skin and helps other ingredients to penetrate quicker and deeper.

Thanks to all this, it's one of the most commonly used emollients out there. There is just one little drawback:it has ahigh comedogenicindex (5 out of 5...), so it might clog poresif you're prone to it.

Cetyl Alcohol

What-it-does: emollient, viscosity controlling, emulsion stabilising | Irritancy: 2 | Comedogenicity: 2

A so-calledfatty (the good, non-drying kind of)alcohol that does all kinds of things in a skincare product: it makes your skin feel smooth and nice (emollient), helps to thicken up products and also helps water and oil to blend (emulsifier). Can be derived from coconut or palm kernel oil.

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.

Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter - goodie

Also-called: Shea Butter | What-it-does: emollient

Unless you live under a rock you must have heard about shea butter. It's probably the most hyped up natural butter in skincare today.It comes from the seeds of African Shea or KariteTreesand used as a magic moisturizer and emollient.

But it's not only a simple emollient, it regenerates and soothes the skin,protects it from external factors (such as UV rays or wind) and is also rich in antioxidants (among others vitamin A, E, F, quercetin and epigallocatechin gallate). If you are looking for rich emollient benefits + more, shea is hard to beat.

Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Flour - goodie

What-it-does: soothing, antioxidant, emollient, absorbent/mattifier

Afinely powdered form of Oat Extract that has the same skin soothing, skin protecting and antioxidantbenefits we have written about atAvena Sativa Kernel Extract. It is loaded with skin-goodies such as anti-inflammatory agent beta-glucan, skin nourishing lipids, and moisturizing carbohydrates. A real goodie fordry, irritated, inflamed or eczema-prone skin.

Potassium Cetyl Phosphate

What-it-does: emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing

A white to beige powder that is described as the goldenstandard emulsifier for emulsions (oil+water mixtures) that are difficult to stabilize. It is especially popular in sunscreens as it can boost SPF protection and increase the water-resistance of the formula.

Caprylyl Glycol

What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant, emollient, deodorant

It’s a handy multi-tasking ingredient that gives the skin a nice, soft feel. At the same time, it also boosts the effectiveness of other preservatives, such as the nowadays super commonly used phenoxyethanol.

The blend of these two (caprylyl glycol + phenoxyethanol) is called Optiphen, which not only helps to keep your cosmetics free from nasty things for a long time but also gives a good feel to the finished product. It's a popular duo.

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.

P-Anisic Acid

What-it-does: preservative

Though the official function ofP-Anisic Acid is masking (meaning that it helps to mask not so nice smells in the product), according to manufacturer info it is rather used as a preservative. It is a skin friendly organic acid that works against fungi.

Ethylhexyl-Glycerin

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.

You may also want to take a look at...

what‑it‑does solvent

Normal (well kind of - it's purified and deionized) water. Usually the main solvent in cosmetic products. [more]

what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient | moisturizer/humectant
irritancy,com. 0, 0

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]

what‑it‑does emollient | perfuming
irritancy,com. 3, 3-5

A clear, colorless oil-like liquid that's used as a fast-spreading, non-greasy emollient. [more]

what‑it‑does emollient | viscosity controlling
irritancy,com. 2, 2

A fatty (the good, non-drying kind of)alcohol that makes your skin feel smooth and nice (emollient), helps to thicken up products and also helps water and oil to blend (emulsifier).

what‑it‑does viscosity controlling
irritancy,com. 0, 1

A handy white powder that magically converts a liquid into a nice gel formula. [more]

what‑it‑does emollient

Shea butter that's considered to be a magic moisturizer and emollient. It is also soothing and rich in antioxidants. [more]

what‑it‑does soothing | antioxidant | emollient

Afinely powdered form of Oat Extract that has the same skin soothing, skin protecting and antioxidantbenefits we have written about atAvena Sativa Kernel Extract. [more]

what‑it‑does emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing

A white to beige powder that is the goldenstandard emulsifier for emulsions (oil+water mixtures) that are difficult to stabilize. [more]

what‑it‑does moisturizer/humectant | emollient

A handy multi-tasking ingredient that gives the skin a nice, soft feel and also boosts the effectiveness of other preservatives. [more]

what‑it‑does buffering

Lye - A solid white stuff that’s very alkaline and used in small amount to adjust the pH of the product. [more]

what‑it‑does preservative

Though the official function ofP-Anisic Acid is masking (meaning that it helps to mask not so nice smells in the product), according to manufacturer info it is rather used as a preservative. [more]

what‑it‑does preservative

It can boost the effectiveness of phenoxyethanol (and other preservatives) and as an added bonus it feels nice on the skin too. [more]

Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Cream ingredients (Explained) (2024)

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