See What’s Actually In Your Skincare Products With This Search Engine

Do you know what you’re putting on your skin? If not, you can use this product search engine to decode what’s in your lotions, face serums and makeup.

Image: Charisse Kenion on Unsplash

You can search for individual ingredients and popular products by name on INCIDecoder, and it will list out all of the ingredients as well as descriptions of what they actually are and what they do. Because while I know what Aqua is, I’m less familiar with PPG-26-Buteth-26 and Ethylhexylglycerin.

Here’s an example using the Ordinary’s Buffet, which I use as a PM moisturiser:

It lists all of the ingredients:

And then breaks them down, describing if they’re good for your skin, what it is, exactly, they do, and the irritancy qualities of each ingredient. Here’s an example of one:

Similar sites include CosDNA and Skincarisma. INCIDecoder’s isn’t as expansive as CosDNA’s, but I found it easier to understand, and you can create an account and add in the ingredients in your own products if you can’t find them on the site. That’s super useful if you’re thinking of splurging on a product but aren’t sure exactly what you’re in for.

You could also use it to figure out what was in products that irritated your skin in the past so you can avoid those ingredients in the future.