The 1% Line Skincare Ingredients Rule

Ever felt mislead by a cosmetic that just hasn’t done that much for your skin? Well you’re not the only one, there are plenty of claims made by cosmetic companies on what ingredients are used and and what they can do for your skin - and while those claims are not exactly false, they can be misleading to the consumer.

The 1% Line

There is something in cosmetics called the “1% line” - basically, everything after a certain point in the full list of ingredients of a product is under 1% concentration. This is important if you’re paying specifically for active ingredients such as Vitamin C, niacinamide etc. If the active ingredient is to the right of the 1% line, it is very often in such low concentrations it will not be effective as marketed (this doesn’t apply to all actives, some like retinol and hyaluronic acid are effective below 1%).

This line is based on the idea that ingredients are listed in order from the greatest to least concentration. According to INCI –  the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients, a skincare brand is required to print the ingredients on the packaging in the order of highest to lowest concentration.

So how can you find the 1% line?

There are some indicators that can tell you if a product is after the 1% line. A common indicator of an ingredient that is used in this very low percentage is Xantham Gum. Xantham Gum is a thickening agent, which, unless your product is viscous, thick (likely a gel), Xanthum Gum or any gum will rarely every be above 1% as it would make the product very tacky. The more fluid the formula, the less likely that Xantham Gum will be in the product in large quantities. Other gums incude:

Gellan Gum

Guar Gum

Sclerotium Gum

Hydroxyethylcellulose

Hydroxypropylmethyl Cellulose

Hydroxypropyl Cellulose

Another indicator is Phenoxyethanol. This is the go to preserver for most cosmetics now as it is the greener alternatives to to parabens. There is a legal limit in the EU and FRA that Phenoxyethanol can never be above 1% concentration. So as as a fact you can be aware that everything after this ingredient is below 1% in concentration.

Here’s where it gets tricky though. once the list gets to ingredients that are included at a concentration of 1% or less, they no longer have to be in order. Brands can float these ingredients as they like, so they often move ingredients like Phenoxyethanol or thickening agents to the bottom of the list and put extracts at the top to make the ingredients look better - but there’s a trick to that too.

Extracts in general are not going to be above 1%. This includes essential oils, and fragrances - especially for face products. For one, larger concentration of these ingredients can cause irritation, and two, extracts are expensive and not always stable.

Therefore, your full 1% Line Indicator is:

Phenoxyethanol

Extracts (with some exceptions)

Fragrance and Essential oils (for the face)

Parabens

Disodium EDTA

Sodium Benzoate

Potassium Sorbate

Thickening Agents