Shampoo，Suitable For: Helps control Psoriasis, Seborrhoeic, Dermatitis, Dandruff
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Ingredients overview
Active Ingredients: Coal Tar (0.5%)
Inactive Ingredients: Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamide MEA, Laureth-4, Fragrance, Sodium Chloride, Polysorbate 20, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Dmdm Hydantoin, Citric Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA
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Highlights
#alcohol-free
Alcohol Free
Buffering: Citric Acid
Chelating: Tetrasodium EDTA
Emulsifying: Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamide MEA, Laureth-4, Polysorbate 20
Perfuming: Fragrance
Preservative: Dmdm Hydantoin
Solvent: Water
Surfactant/cleansing: Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamide MEA, Laureth-4, Polysorbate 20, Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Viscosity controlling: Cocamide MEA, Sodium Chloride, Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Skim through
| Ingredient name | what-it-does | irr., com. | ID-Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coal Tar (0.5%) | |||
| Water | solvent | ||
| Sodium Laureth Sulfate | surfactant/cleansing, emulsifying | ||
| Cocamide MEA | surfactant/cleansing, viscosity controlling, emulsifying | ||
| Laureth-4 | emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing | 4, 5 | |
| Fragrance | perfuming | icky | |
| Sodium Chloride | viscosity controlling | ||
| Polysorbate 20 | emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing | 0, 0 | |
| Cocamidopropyl Betaine | surfactant/cleansing, viscosity controlling | ||
| Dmdm Hydantoin | preservative | icky | |
| Citric Acid | buffering | ||
| Tetrasodium EDTA | chelating |
Neutrogena T/Gel Therapeutic Shampoo
Ingredients explainedCoal Tar (0.5%)
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Water
Also-called: Aqua | What-it-does: solvent
Good old water, aka H2O. The most common skincare ingredient of all. You can usually find it right in the very first spot of the ingredient list, meaning it’s the biggest thing out of all the stuff that makes up the product.
It’s mainly a solvent for ingredients that do not like to dissolve in oils but rather in water.
Once inside the skin, it hydrates, but not from the outside - putting pure water on the skin (hello long baths!) is drying.
One more thing: the water used in cosmetics is purified and deionized (it means that almost all of the mineral ions inside it is removed). Like this, the products can stay more stable over time.
Sodium Laureth Sulfate
Also-called: SLES | What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing, emulsifying
It’s probably the most common cleansing ingredient of all. It’s usually the Chief Bubble Officer responsible for bigbubbles in cleansing products through the foam it creates is a bit airy and loose and not as dense and luxurious as the foam created by infamous SLS.
As for mildness, it goes somewhere in the middle. It’s often confused with sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), but they are absolutely not the same. The SLES molecule has a bigger water-soluble head part that makes it milder and much less irritating. It is considered absolutely ok in the amount used in cosmetic products, though if you are looking for a mild facial cleanser, you have better chances with a formula withoutSLES. For an average shower gel? SLES works just fine.
Cocamide MEA
What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing, viscosity controlling, emulsifying, emulsion stabilising
A cleansing agent whose main thing is adding viscosity and foam to cleansing formulas.
Chemically speaking, it is the little sister of Cocamide DEA and has similar properties to that guy. However, being a monoethanolamine instead of diethanolamine has the advantagethat thenitrosamine-concern does not apply for Cocamide MEA.
Laureth-4
What-it-does: emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing | Irritancy: 4 | Comedogenicity: 5
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Fragrance - icky
Also-called: Fragrance, Parfum;Parfum/Fragrance | What-it-does: perfuming
Exactly what it sounds: nice smelling stuff put into cosmetic products so that the end product also smells nice. Fragrance in the US and parfum in the EU is a generic term on the ingredient list that is made up of 30 to 50 chemicals on average (but it can have as much as 200 components!).
If you are someone who likes to know what you put on your face then fragrance is not your best friend - there's no way to know what’s really in it.
Also, if your skin is sensitive, fragrance is again not your best friend. It’s the number one cause of contact allergy to cosmetics. It’s definitely a smart thing to avoid with sensitive skin (and fragrance of any type - natural is just as allergic as synthetic, if not worse!).
Sodium Chloride
Also-called: Salt | What-it-does: viscosity controlling
Sodium chloride is the fancy name of salt. Normal, everyday table salt.
If (similar to us) you are in the weird habit of reading the label on your shower gel while taking a shower, you might have noticed that sodium chloride is almost always on the ingredient list. The reason for this is that salt acts as a fantastic thickener in cleansing formulas created with ionic cleansing agents(aka surfactants) such as Sodium Laureth Sulfate. A couple of percents (typically 1-3%) turns a runny surfactant solution into a nice gel texture.
If you are into chemistry (if not, we understand, just skip this paragraph), the reason is that electrolytes (you know, the Na+ and Cl- ions) screen the electrostatic repulsion between the head groups of ionic surfactants and thus support the formation of long shaped micelles (instead of spherical ones) that entangle like spaghetti, and viola, a gel is formed. However, too much of it causes the phenomenon called "salting out", and the surfactant solution goes runny again.
Other than that, salt also works as an emulsion stabilizer inwater-in-oil emulsions, that is when water droplets are dispersed in the outer oil (or silicone) phase. And last but not least, when salt is right at the first spot of the ingredient list (and is not dissolved), the product is usually a body scrub where salt is thephysical exfoliating agent.
Polysorbate 20
What-it-does: emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
It's a common little helper ingredient that helps water and oil to mix together. Also, it can help to increase the solubility of some other ingredients in the formula.
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing, viscosity controlling
Super common ingredient in all kinds of cleansing products: face and body washes, shampoos and foam baths.
Number one reason for its popularity has to do with bubbles. Everyone loves bubbles. And cocamidopropyl betaine is great at stabilizing them.
The other reason is that it’s mild and works very well combined with other cleansing agents and surfactants. The art of cleansing is usually to balance between properly cleansing but not over-cleansing and cocamidopropyl betaine is helpful in pulling off this balance right.
Oh, and one more nice thing: even though it’s synthetic it’s highly biodegradable.
More info on CAPB on Collins Beaty Pages.
Dmdm Hydantoin - icky
What-it-does: preservative
A controversial preservative that hasformaldehyde-releasing properties. It works great against bacteria and also has mildfungicide abilities.
Cosmetic chemist, Colin wrote a great article about formaldehyde and DMDM Hydantoin. He writes that formaldehyde is the perfect example of "the dose makes the poison" principle. It's a natural stuff that can also be found in fresh fruits and vegetables, and eating it in tiny amounts is totally ok. However, in larger amounts (according to Wikipedia30 mL of a solution containing 37% formaldehyde) it's deadly.
The amount offormaldehyde used in cosmetics either neat or throughformaldehyde-releasing preservatives is tiny. Probably that is why the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Broad concluded both in 1988 and in 2008 that DMDM Hydantoin is "safe as used in cosmetics".
However, Colins argues that in the case of formaldehyde-releasing preservatives,formaldehyde is released slowly and the skin has probably not evolved to deal with that. The lingeringformaldehyde might be toxic tothe Langerhans Cells that are important for the skin's defense system. Another potential issue is that formaldehyde-releasers might also release other things while reacting with amino acids in the skin that is probably the explanation why some people are not allergic to formaldehyde but are allergic to formaldehyde-releasing preservatives. These are all theories, far from proven facts, but we feel that there are some justified reasons whyformaldehyde-releasing preservatives andDmdm Hydantoin count as controversial.
All in all, it's up to you to decide if you wanna avoid this preservative groupor not. If so,there are other, less risky and more skin-friendly options out there.
Citric Acid
What-it-does: buffering
Citric acid comes from citrus fruits and is an AHA. If these magic three letters don’t tell you anything, click here and read our detailed description on glycolic acid, the most famous AHA.
So citric acid is an exfoliant, that can - just like other AHAs - gently lift off the dead skin cells of your skin and make it more smooth and fresh.
There is also some research showing that citric acid with regular use (think three monthsand 20% concentration) can help sun-damaged skin, increase skin thickness and some nice hydrating things called glycosaminoglycans in the skin.
But according to a comparative study done in 1995, citric acid has less skin improving magic properties than glycolic or lactic acid. Probably that’s why citric acid is usually not used as an exfoliant but more as a helper ingredient in small amounts to adjust the pH of a formulation.
Tetrasodium EDTA
What-it-does: chelating
A handy helper ingredient thathelps products to remain nice and stable for a longer time.It does so by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula (that usually get into there from water) that would otherwise cause some not so nice changes.
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Normal (well kind of - it's purified and deionized) water. Usually the main solvent in cosmetic products. [more] It’s probably the most common cleansing ingredient of all. It’s usually the Chief Bubble Officer responsible for bigbubbles in cleansing products through the foam it creates is a bit airy and loose and not as dense and luxurious as the foam created by infamous SLS.As for mildness, it goes somewhere in the middle. [more] A cleansing agent whose main thing is adding viscosity and foam to cleansing formulas.Chemically speaking, it is the little sister of Cocamide DEA and has similar properties to that guy. [more] The generic term for nice smelling stuff put into cosmetic products so that the end product also smells nice. It is made up of 30 to 50 chemicals on average. [more] Sodium chloride is the fancy name of salt. Normal, everyday table salt.If (similar to us) you are in the weird habit of reading the label on your shower gel while taking a shower, you might have noticed that sodium chloride is almost always on the ingredient list. [more] It's a common little helper ingredient that helps water and oil to mix together. Also, it can help to increase the solubility of some other ingredients in the formula. Super common ingredient in all kinds of cleansing products: face and body washes, shampoos and foam baths.Number one reason for its popularity has to do with bubbles. [more] A controversial preservative that hasformaldehyde-releasing properties. It works great against bacteria and also has mildfungicide abilities. [more] An AHA that comes from citrus fruits. It is usually used as a helper ingredient to adjust the pH of the formula. [more] A helper ingredient that helps to neutralize the metal ions in the formula (that usually get into there from water) that would otherwise cause some not so nice changes. what‑it‑does solvent what‑it‑does surfactant/cleansing | emulsifying what‑it‑does surfactant/cleansing | viscosity controlling | emulsifying what‑it‑does emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing irritancy,com. 4, 5 what‑it‑does perfuming what‑it‑does viscosity controlling what‑it‑does emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does surfactant/cleansing | viscosity controlling what‑it‑does preservative what‑it‑does buffering what‑it‑does chelating
