What’s in your skin care? Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash

This is a skin care product I would highly recommend to any teenager with mild acne or acne prone skin.  The humectant ingredients found in this product helps pull moisture from the dermis layer of the skin up to the top layer and it attracts the moisture from the environment to the skin to help retain the needed moisture.  You can find Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash at any Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreen’s, CVS, and grocery store.  

The ingredients are not listed in the order on the product.

Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract – Aloe Vera.  (Good stuff!!)

Benzalkonium Chloride – Preservative.  Can be a skin irritant. (a controversial ingredient).

Cetyl Alcohol – Emollient. Emulsifier. Thickener. Binder. Foam booster. Stabilizer.  Derived from coconut or palm oil.  May be non-comedogenic.  Unlike “alcohol” cetyl alcohol softens and conditions the skin.  (Good stuff!!)

C12-15 Alkyl Lactate – Fatty acid ester of lactic acid and C12-15 alcohols.  Also known as Ceraphyl 41.

Cetyl Lactate – Emollient used to improve the feel and texture of cosmetic preparations.

Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract – Chamomile oil.  Wild chamomile extract.  Soothing medication for inflammation.  (Good Stuff!!)

Cocamidopropyl PG-Diaonium Chloride Phosphate – Antimicrobial and antifungal.  Very mild to skin.

Cellulose – Thickener.  Emulsifier.  (Good stuff!!)

Glycerin – Humectant.  Retains moisture.  Found naturally in the skin.  (Good stuff!!)

Glycolic Acid – Alpha Hydroxy Acid.  Exfoliates.  Improves skin hydration.  Beneficial for acne prone skin.  Helps diminish signs of age spots and reduces appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.  Naturally found in sugar cane.   (Good stuff!)

Hydroxypropyl Methycellulose – Reduces active surfactant concentrations without the loss of the desirable lathering properties.  Mild to skin and eyes.

Mannitol – Humectant.  Mostly prepared from seaweed.

Menthol – Fragrance.  Gives a cooling sensation to the skin.  Derived from peppermint.  Can be a skin irritant.  (throw your hands up in the air and run away from this ingredient screaming)

PEG-15 Stearyl Ether – Also known as PPG-11 Stearyl Ether.  Emollient.  Used in skin care products to give a silky look and feel.  (Good stuff!!)

Polyethylene – Bonds ingredients together.  Provides product stability in cosmetic formulations.  Derived from petroleum gas or dehydration of alcohol.  No known skin toxicity.  (Good stuff!!)

Polysorbate 60 – Emulsifier.  Stabilizer of essential oils in water.  (Good stuff!!)

Panthenol – Vitamin B5.  Penetrating moisturizer.  Aides in tissue repair.  Improves hydration, reduces itching and inflammation.  (Good stuff!!)

Propylene Glycol – Humectant.  Better skin permeation than Glycerin.  (Good stuff!!)

Potassium Cetyl Phosphate – Mixture of esters of phosophoric acid and cetyl alcohol.  Surfactant.  Emulsifier.  (Good stuff!!)

Salicylic Acid – Beta Hydroxy Acid.  Helps dissolve the top layer of Corneum cells.  Effective ingredient in acne products.  Reduces blockage by penetrating pores and exfoliate build up.  Antimicrobial and antiseptic.  For anti-aging products it appears to help improve wrinkles.  Related to aspirin and found in wintergreen leaves and sweet birch bark.  (Good stuff!!)

Steareth-21 – Emulsifier.  Surfactant with minor irritation potential to skin and eyes.  (Good stuff!!)

Sodium Benzotriazoyl Butyphenol Sulfonate – Protects light sensitive ingredients from degradation.

Sodium Hydroxide – Caustic Soda.  Soda Lye.  An alkali and emulsifier in liquid face powders and soaps.  A pH adjuster.  Skin irritant in higher quantities.  (a controversial ingredient)

Xanthan Gum – Thickener.  Emulsifier. Corn Starch Gum.  Texturizer, carrier agent, and gelling agent in cosmetic preparations.  (Good stuff!!)

If you don’t see your ingredients listed here, they might be compiled in another future article, so keep checking back.  Feel free to send me an email listing the ingredients in your skin care products!  Also, look for the Ingredients page above for all of the ingredients I have posted so far.

This was originally published by Roni on www.examiner.com on March 6, 2011