What Ingredient Lists Don’t Tell You

You’ve seen it before, a trendy skincare product with rave reviews and ingredients like niacinamide, hyaluronic acid and peptides highlighted on the label. Sounds impressive. But if you’re a formulator, you know better than to take an ingredient list at face value.

Ingredient lists are useful, but they’re not the whole story. In fact, they can mislead you if you don’t know how to read between the lines.

Here’s what ingredient labels don’t tell you and why understanding that matters when you’re developing or evaluating a cosmetic product.

1. Concentration Is a Guess After the First Few Ingredients

Ingredients are listed in descending order of concentration until the 1% threshold. After that point, everything 1% or below can appear in any order. That includes:

• Preservatives

• Actives

• Botanical extracts

• Fragrance

So when you see something like “niacinamide” near the end of the list, don’t assume it’s at an effective dose, it might just be enough to support a label claim.

Without the actual formula or technical data, you won’t know how much is in there.

2. Function Isn’t Disclosed

An ingredient like glycerin could be in your formula as:

• A humectant

• A solvent

• Part of a premixed ingredient blend

You won’t know from the label. INCI names don’t tell you how the ingredient is being used or what its real impact is in the formula.

3. Grade and Purity Are Invisible

An INCI name stays the same whether you’re using:

• A pharmaceutical-grade 99% active

• A 5% solution in a carrier

• A blend of multiple materials labeled under one name

This can affect performance, compatibility, and even safety. The same “niacinamide” might behave differently depending on its source and format.

4. Delivery Systems Are Hidden

Encapsulated actives, time-release systems, liposomes, and microemulsions don’t get called out clearly on most labels. You’ll just see the active name.

So “ascorbic acid” on one label might be stabilized in a phospholipid complex, while another is just free-form and highly unstable.

That matters for performance but it’s invisible to the consumer and even to many formulators who aren’t digging into supplier data.

5. Ingredient Lists Don’t Show Synergy

You can’t tell how ingredients are interacting. For example:

• Are emollients being used to balance skin feel?

• Are polymers creating rheological structure?

• Are surfactants buffered by co-surfactants for mildness?

The ingredient list doesn’t show formulation architecture. Two products can have identical ingredient lists and behave differently because of ratio, processing or ingredient synergy.

6. Skill and Intent Are Not Reflected

Some formulas are well thought out using a minimal and balanced approach.

Others are a mess of redundant or conflicting ingredients.

Formulation is engineering. And a good formula isn’t just about the ingredients, it’s about how those ingredients are chosen and combined.

So How Should You Use an Ingredient List?

As a formulator, treat ingredient lists as a clue, not a conclusion. They’re useful for:

• Understanding basic structure (e.g., emulsion vs. anhydrous)

• Spotting functional groups (humectants, emulsifiers, etc.)

• Learning common ingredient pairings

But don’t assume you know everything just by looking. If you really want to understand what makes a formula work, you’ll need:

• Concentration data

• Supplier information

• Processing context

• Actual lab testing

Ingredient lists are a great place to start when breaking down formulas. However, when trying to get down to the details, more research and insight is invaluable in helping you craft the best formula.