Once upon a time, Allure ran advice columns by our favorite beauty pros.
But there are still words I can’t make heads or tails of.
What unpronounceable superhero ingredients should I be looking out for?"
Getty Images/Allure
(Unless you’re eating your serums and shampoos, and like don’t do that.)
And after 12 years atAllure,a few of them do roll off my tongue.
But to fully answer your question, I also reached out to some of our favorite cosmetic chemists.
Behold, the ultimate unpronounceable glossary.
“Vitamin C’s are antioxidants, but most degrade quickly, like apples turning brown.
How effective are they if you don’t stabilize them?”
asks cosmetic chemist Ginger King rhetorically.
“Ascorbates are stabilized forms of vitamin C’s.
The only other stable one is 3-o-ethyl-ascorbic acid.”
Azulenes
When irritated skin needs TLC, it’s great to know about azulenes.
It’s a black sheep in the good quat family."
“They can have vastly different properties.”
That means not all alcohols are drying.
Cyclodextrins
If you love cooking with garlic but hate smelling like a restaurant, you want cyclodextrins.
Dimethicone
For less frizz, more shine, “dimethicone is your friend,” says King.
“It is a linear silicone that coats hair, and it is not volatile.
There are concerns over cyclic silicones having volatility issues that could lead to inhalation that may not be safe.
Granted, there are many so-calledsiliconealternatives, but none of them really work well.”
Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate
Whether you want to preservenew highlightsoravoid frizz, look for this in ashampoo.
“It is like Saran Wrap, but with a soft, adhesive property,” says King.
This story originally appeared in the August 2022 issue of Allure.
