The skincare industry makes a staggering amount of money per year by quite simply confusing us – there we said it. Seeing women (generally) trying to decipher calories on the back of food packets is soul destroying enough – we’re not about to let the ‘byouty’ industry do the same – so here’s five simple ways to better understand what’s going onto your body and ultimately into your bloodstream.

First off, what’s the INCI list?

It’s the industry name for the ingredients list – it stands for the International Nomenclature of Cosmetics Ingredients. Every beauty product has an INCI list by law and as if not confusing enough it’s usually printed in the smallest font humanly possible at the back of your product.

Order matters

When you’re reading the label, keep in mind that ingredients will be listed from highest to lowest concentration. The closer the ingredient is to the beginning of the list, the greater the amount of that ingredient can be found. What does that mean for you? If you’re picking up a product that’s claiming to include pure rose and rose oil – you’d better hope you see the word rose within the first five ingredients listed to know that you’re getting your money’s worth.

NB: It’s important to note that even if an ingredient is listed towards the end of the list, it can still be a game changer, it may just be a real less is more ingredient.

Sound it out

Don’t stress over words and phrases you need a degree in Latin to pronounce. Forget the myth that says ‘if you can’t pronounce it, it shouldn’t be in your skincare’. Even plant names can sound scary when listed in Latin. If clean is your jam then you probably want to look to avoid things such as: parabens (methylparabens, propylarabens, and butylparabens), sulfates (sodium laureth sulfates, alkylbenzene sulfonate, sodium cocoyl sarcosinate), artificial fragrances and dyes.

Expiration – every product will expire eventually

But how soon depends on factors such as preservatives, ingredients, antioxidants, packaging and where you store your products. You can check the expiry date by looking for either the pot logo with how many months until it expires on it – usually displayed by 6M, 12M 18M and so on, or look for the exact month and year printed on the packaging – it looks no different to the one you’d find on your grocery products.

And last but by no means least in the words of guru Caroline Hirons “The ingredients list is merely a guide, the true breakdown of ingredient will always only ever be known by its formulators”.