A luxurious oil that wraps skin in moisture while eliciting true feelings of wellbeing. Moisturizes calms brightens
Uploaded by: j098uj on
Ingredients overview
Squalane, Aleurites Moluccanus Seed Oil, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Cannabigerol, Fragrance/Parfum, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Withania Somnifera Root Extract, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Linalool, Limonene, Citronellol, Geraniol
Read more on how to read an ingredient list >>
Highlights
#alcohol-free
Alcohol Free
Key Ingredients
Antioxidant: Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Tocopherol
Skin brightening: Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate
Skin-identical ingredient: Squalane
Soothing: Aleurites Moluccanus Seed Oil, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil
Other Ingredients
Antioxidant: Ascorbyl Palmitate
Emollient: Squalane, Aleurites Moluccanus Seed Oil, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil
Perfuming: Fragrance/Parfum, Linalool, Limonene, Citronellol, Geraniol
Solvent: Limonene
Skim through
| Ingredient name | what-it-does | irr., com. | ID-Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squalane | skin-identical ingredient, emollient | 0, 1 | goodie |
| Aleurites Moluccanus Seed Oil | soothing, emollient | goodie | |
| Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil | emollient | goodie | |
| Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil | soothing, emollient | 2, 3 | goodie |
| Cannabigerol | |||
| Fragrance/Parfum | perfuming | icky | |
| Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil | emollient | 0, 0 | goodie |
| Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate | antioxidant, skin brightening | goodie | |
| Withania Somnifera Root Extract | |||
| Tocopherol | antioxidant | 0-3, 0-3 | goodie |
| Ascorbyl Palmitate | antioxidant | 0, 2 | icky |
| Linalool | perfuming | icky | |
| Limonene | perfuming, solvent | icky | |
| Citronellol | perfuming | icky | |
| Geraniol | perfuming | icky |
Rose Inc Body Oil
Ingredients explainedSqualane - goodie
What-it-does: skin-identical ingredient, emollient | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 1
It seems to us that squalane is in fashion and there is a reason for it. Chemically speaking, it is a saturated (no double bonds) hydrocarbon (a molecule consisting only of carbon and hydrogen), meaning that it's a nice and stable oily liquid with a long shelf life.
It occurs naturally in certain fish and plant oils (e.g. olive), and in the sebum (the oily stuff our skin produces) of the human skin. As f.c. puts it in his awesome blog post, squalane's main things are"emolliency, surface occlusion, and TEWL prevention all with extreme cosmetic elegance". In other words, it's a superb moisturizer that makes your skin nice and smooth, withoutbeing heavy or greasy.
Another advantage of squalane is that it is pretty much compatible with all skin types and skin conditions. It isexcellent for acne-prone skin and safe to use even if you have fungi-related skin issues, likeseborrhea or fungal acne.
The unsaturated (with double bonds) and hence less stable version ofSqualane is Squalene, youcan read about it here >>
Aleurites Moluccanus Seed Oil - goodie
Also-called: Kukui Nut Oil;Aleurites Moluccana Seed Oil | What-it-does: soothing, emollient
Having such a cool name and coming from Hawaii how could this oil be not good? Well, it is good. It's absorbedexcellently by the skin and is used traditionally by the Hawaiians to soothe sunburn and other inflammations.
Research confirms this: it's shown to have anti-inflammatory, pain reducing, and wound healing properties. It's also a particularlyrich source of moisturizing essential fatty acidslinoleic and linolenic(about 42 and 32%) and it's not so rich in oleic acid - around 15% - that can be good even for acne prone skin.
Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil - goodie
Also-called: Macadamia Oil | What-it-does: emollient
The golden yellow oil coming from the Macadamia nut, a native Australian nut. Similar to other plant oils, it's loaded with emollientand nourishing fatty acids. It's a high oleic acid oil (50-67% oleic acid and only 0-5% linoleic acid) that makes it very emollient and ideal for dry skin types (and less ideal for acne-prone skin).
Its unique property is that it contains high amounts of a rare fatty acid called palmitoleic acid (12-25%) that give Macadamia oil a "cushiony" feel. It's also easily absorbed and makes the skin soft and supple.
Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil - goodie
Also-called: Evening Primrose Oil, EPO | What-it-does: soothing, emollient | Irritancy: 2 | Comedogenicity: 3
The oil coming from the seeds of the nice, little, yellow-flowered plant called Evening Primrose. Similar to other plant oils, it's loaded with nourishing and moisturizing fatty acids. It's a very rich source of linoleic acid (66-76%), and also contains thesoothing and healing superstar fatty acid, gamma-linolenic acid (aka GLA, 7-12%) (Btw, the richest known source of GLA is the borage oil, but evening primrose still counts as a very good source of it). It also contains oleic acid, but not too much around 6-15%.
Since the 1980's, EPO is a well-known food supplement and there are quite a lot of studies examining what happens if you take it orally. It seems to be helpful with a bunch of things: atopicdermatitis, dry eyes, brittle nails, sunburn and even acne.
As for the skin, it's a great hydrating plant oil, that can also reduce inflammation and irritation. It's a superb healing agent that can truly help dry skin, not just on the surface by covering it (and not letting waterto evaporate) but by initiating structural changes within the skin. If that's not enough, it also helps skin cell regeneration.
All in all, a real goodie especially for dry, easily irritated skin.
Cannabigerol
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Fragrance/Parfum - icky
Also-called: Fragrance, Parfum;Parfum/Fragrance | What-it-does: perfuming
Exactly what it sounds: nice smelling stuff put into cosmetic products so that the end product also smells nice. Fragrance in the US and parfum in the EU is a generic term on the ingredient list that is made up of 30 to 50 chemicals on average (but it can have as much as 200 components!).
If you are someone who likes to know what you put on your face then fragrance is not your best friend - there's no way to know what’s really in it.
Also, if your skin is sensitive, fragrance is again not your best friend. It’s the number one cause of contact allergy to cosmetics. It’s definitely a smart thing to avoid with sensitive skin (and fragrance of any type - natural is just as allergic as synthetic, if not worse!).
Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil - goodie
Also-called: Sunflower Oil | What-it-does: emollient | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
Sunflower does not need a big intro as you probably use it in the kitchen as cooking oil, or you munch on the seeds as a healthy snack or you adore its big, beautifulyellow flower during the summer - or you do all of these and probably even more. And by even more we mean putting it all overyour face as sunflower oil is one of the most commonly used plant oils in skincare.
It’s a real oldie: expressed directly from the seeds, the oil is used not for hundreds but thousands of years. According to The National Sunflower Association, there is evidencethat both the plant and its oil were used by American Indians in the area of Arizona and New Mexico about 3000 BC. Do the math: it's more than 5000 years – definitely an oldie.
Our intro did get pretty big after all (sorry for that), so let's get to the point finally: sunflower oil - similar to other plant oils - is a great emollient that makes the skin smooth and nice and helps to keep it hydrated. It also protects the surface of the skin and enhances the damaged or irritated skin barrier. Leslie Bauman notes in Cosmetic Dermatology that one application of sunflower oil significantly speeds up the recovery of the skin barrier within an hour and sustains the results 5 hours after using it.
It's also loaded withfatty acids(mostly linoleic (50-74%) and oleic (14-35%)). The unrefined version(be sure to use that on your skin!) is especially high in linoleic acid that is great even for acne-prone skin. Its comedogen index is 0, meaning that it's pretty much an all skin-type oil.
Truth be told, there are many great plant oils and sunflower oil is definitely one of them.
Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate - goodie
Also-called: Form of Vitamin C, THDA | What-it-does: antioxidant, skin brightening
Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate is a stable, oil-soluble form of skincare big shot Vitamin C. If you do not know, why Vitamin C is such a big deal in skincare, click here and read all about it. We are massive vitamin C fans and have written about it inexcruciating detail.
So now, you know that Vitamin C is great and all, but it's really unstable and gives cosmetics companies many headaches. To solve this problem they came up with vitamin C derivatives, and one of them is Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate (let's call it THDA in short).
It's a really promising candidate (see below), but while reading all the goodness about it in a minute, do not forget that derivatives not only haveto be absorbed into the skin but also have to beconverted to pure vitamin C (ascorbic acid or AA) and the efficacy of the conversion is often unknown. In addition,vitamin C's three magic properties (antioxidant, collagen booster, skin brightener) are all properly proven in-vivo (on real people), but for the derivatives, it's mostly in-vitro studies or in thecase of THDA, it's in-vitro and done by an ingredient supplier.
With thiscontext in mind let's see what THDA might be able to do. First, it is stable (if pH < 5), easy to formulate, and a joy to work with for a cosmetic chemist.
Second, because it's oil-soluble, its skin penetration abilities seem to be great. So great in fact, that it surpasses the penetration of pure vitamin Cthreefold at the same concentration and it penetrates successfully into the deeper layers of the skin (that is usually important to do some anti-aging work). There is also in-vitro data showing that it converts to AA in the skin.
Third, THDA seems to have all three magic abilitiesof pure vitamin C: it gives antioxidant protection from both UVB and UVA rays, it increases collagen synthesis (even more than AA) and it has askin brightening effect by reducing melanogenesis by more than 80% in human melanoma cell cultures.
So this all sounds really great, but these are only in-vitro results at this point. We could find Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate mentioned only in one publishedin-vivo study that examined the anti-aging properties of a silicone formula containing 10% AA and 7% THDA. The authors theorized that the 10% AA is released slowly from the silicon delivery system and probably stays in the upper layer of the skin to give antioxidant benefits, while THDA penetrates more rapidly and deeply and gives some wrinkle-reducing benefits. The study was a small (10 patients), double-blind experiment,and the formula did show some measurable anti-aging results. However, it is hard to know how much pure vitamin C or THDA can be thanked.
Bottom line: a really promising, but not well-proven vitamin C derivative that can be worth a try especially if you like experimenting (but if you likethe tried and true, pure vitamin Cwill be your best bet).
Withania Somnifera Root Extract
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Tocopherol - goodie
Also-called: Vitamin E | What-it-does: antioxidant | Irritancy: 0-3 | Comedogenicity: 0-3
- Primary fat-soluble antioxidant in our skin
- Significant photoprotection against UVB rays
- Vit C + Vit E work in synergy and provide great photoprotection
- Has emollient properties
- Easy to formulate, stable and relatively inexpensive
Read all the geeky details about Tocopherol here >>
Ascorbyl Palmitate - icky
Also-called: Form of Vitamin C | What-it-does: antioxidant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 2
A form of skincare superstar, vitamin C.Even though we are massive vitamin C fans, Ascorbyl Palmitate (AP) is our least favorite. (Btw, if you do not know whatthe big deal with vitamin C is then you are missing out. You must go and read our geeky detailsabout it.)
So, AP is one of the attempts by the cosmetics industry to solve the stability issues with vitamin C while preserving its benefits, but it seems to fall short on several things.
What's the problem?
Firstly, it's stability is only similar to that of pure ascorbic acid (AA), which means it is not really stable. A great study in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology compared a bunch of vitamin C derivatives and this derivative was the only one where the study said in terms of stability that it's "similar to AA". Not really that good.
Second, a study that examined the skin absorption of vitamin C found that ascorbyl palmitate did not increase the skin levels of AA. This does not mean thatascorbyl palmitate cannot penetrate the skin (because it can, it's oil soluble and the skin likes to absorb oil soluble things) but this means that it's questionable ifascorbyl palmitate can be converted into pure Vit C in the skin. Even if it can beconverted, the palmitate part of the molecule is more than the half of it, so the efficacy will not be good and we have never seen a serum that contains a decent (and proudly disclosed) amount of AP. We are highly skeptical what effect a tiny amount of AP has in a formula.
Third, another study that wanted to examine the antioxidant properties of AP was surprised to find that even though AP does have nice antioxidant properties;following UVB radiation (the same one that comesfrom the sun) it also promotes lipid peroxidation and cytotoxicity. It was only an in-vitro study meaning that it was done on cellcultures and not on real people, but still, this also does not support the use of AP too much.
The only good thing we can write about Ascorbyl Palmitate is that there is an in-vitro (made in the lab, not on real people) study showing that it might be able toboost collagen production.
Regarding the skin-brightening properties of pure vitaminC, this is another magic property AP does not have, or at least there is no data, not evenin-vitro,about it.
Overall, Ascorbyl Palmitate is our least favorite vitamin C derivative. It is there in lots of products in tiny amounts (honestly, we do not really understand why), however, we do not know about any vitamin C serum featuring AP in high amounts. That is probably no coincidence. If you are into vitamin C, you cantake a look at more promising derivatives here.
Linalool - icky
What-it-does: perfuming, deodorant
Linalool is a super common fragrance ingredient. It’s kind of everywhere - both in plants and in cosmetic products. It’s part of 200 natural oils including lavender, ylang-ylang, bergamot, jasmine, geranium and it can be found in 90-95% of prestige perfumes on the market.
The problem with linalool is, that just like limoneneit oxidises on air exposure and becomes allergenic. That’s why a product containing linalool that has been opened for several months is more likely to be allergenic than a fresh one.
A study made in the UK with 483 people tested the allergic reaction to 3% oxidised linalool and 2.3% had positive test results.
Limonene - icky
What-it-does: perfuming, solvent, deodorant
A supercommon and cheap fragrance ingredient. It's in many plants, e.g. rosemary, eucalyptus, lavender, lemongrass, peppermint and it's the main component (about 50-90%) of the peel oil of citrus fruits.
It does smellnice but the problemis that it oxidizes on air exposure and the resulting stuff is not good for the skin. Oxidizedlimonene cancause allergic contact dermatitis and counts asa frequent skin sensitizer.
Limonene's nr1 function is definitely being a fragrance component, but there are several studies showing that it's also a penetration enhancer, mainly for oil-loving components.
All in all, limonene has some pros and cons, but - especially if your skin is sensitive -the cons probably outweigh the pros.
Citronellol - icky
What-it-does: perfuming
Citronellol is a very common fragrance ingredient with a nice rose-like odor. In the UK, it’s actually the third most often listed perfume on the ingredient lists.
It can be naturally found in geranium oil (about 30%) or rose oil (about 25%).
As with all fragrance ingredients, citronellol can also cause allergic contact dermatitis and should be avoided if you have perfume allergy. In a 2001 worldwide study with 178 people with known sensitization to fragrances citronellol tested positive in 5.6% of the cases.
There is no known anti-aging or positive skin benefits of the ingredient. It’s in our products to make it smell nice.
Geraniol - icky
What-it-does: perfuming
Geraniol is a common fragrance ingredient. It smells like rose and can be found in rose oil or in small quantities in geranium, lemon and many other essential oils.
Just like other similar fragrance ingredients (like linalool and limonene) geraniol also oxidises on air exposure and becomes allergenic. Best to avoid if you have sensitive skin.
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An emollient and natural moisturizer that can be found also in the sebum (oily stuff our skin produces). It leaves a nice non-greasy, non-heavy feeling on the skin. [more] Kukui nut oil coming from Hawaii that is traditionally used to soothe sunburn and other inflammations. It's also a great moisturizing oil rich in essential fatty acids linoleic and linolenic. [more] Macadamia nut oil - A highly emollient oil rich in oleic acid (50-67%) and a rare fatty acid called palmitoleic acid (12-25%). It gives the skin a soft, supple and "cushiony" feel. [more] An emollient plant oil loaded with nourishing and moisturizing fatty acids. It's a very rich source of linoleic acid (66-76%), and also contains thesoothing and healing superstar fatty acid, gamma-linoleic acid. [more] The generic term for nice smelling stuff put into cosmetic products so that the end product also smells nice. It is made up of 30 to 50 chemicals on average. [more] Sunflower Oil - it's a great emollient that protects & enhances the skin barrier. [more] A stable, oil-soluble form of Vitamin C, that might have (in-vitro results) all the magic abilities of pure vitamin C (antioxidant, collagen booster, skin brightener). [more] Pure Vitamin E. Great antioxidant that gives significant photoprotection against UVB rays. Works in synergy with Vitamin C. [more] An oil soluble vitamin C derivative that has mixed data about its effectiveness. [more] A super common fragrance ingredient that can be found among others in lavender, ylang-ylang, bergamot or jasmine. The downside of it is that it oxidises on air exposure and might become allergenic. [more] A supercommon fragrance ingredient found naturally in many plants including citrus peel oils, rosemary or lavender. It autoxidizes on air exposure and counts as a common skin sensitizer. [more] A common fragrance ingredient with a nice rose-like smell. [more] A common fragrance ingredient that smells like rose and can be found in rose oil. [more] what‑it‑does skin-identical ingredient | emollient irritancy,com. 0, 1 what‑it‑does soothing | emollient what‑it‑does emollient what‑it‑does soothing | emollient irritancy,com. 2, 3 what‑it‑does perfuming what‑it‑does emollient irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does antioxidant | skin brightening what‑it‑does antioxidant irritancy,com. 0-3, 0-3 what‑it‑does antioxidant irritancy,com. 0, 2 what‑it‑does perfuming what‑it‑does perfuming | solvent what‑it‑does perfuming what‑it‑does perfuming
