How to Read a Skincare Ingredient Label Like a Pro

Know Which Ingredients You Want

While which exact ingredients you want will look different for everyone based on skin type, concerns, allergies, and more, it’s important to make sure that you see what you want near the top of the list. Picking up a vitamin C serum? Be sure that vitamin C is a top-listed ingredient, and so on (refer back to the active ingredients list above; Common names for Vitamin C on the label include L-ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbyl phosphate, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, and ascorbyl palmitate).

“Ingredients that I want to see in topical skincare include antioxidants (like vitamin C, vitamin E, and resveratrol), retinol, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, squalane, ceramides, growth factors, and peptides,” Gharavi says.