Aqua (Water)
Aqua · INCI Aqua
Look at the ingredient list on almost any moisturiser and the first word is Aqua. Ingredient lists run in order of quantity, so water is the largest single thing in the bottle, ours included.
It is the first ingredient on our labels because there is more of it than anything else, and it carries every water-soluble ingredient in the formula.
What it is
A moisturiser is an emulsion, which is a dispersion of oil droplets in water held together by an emulsifier. Take the water away and you have an oil, which behaves differently, feels different and does a different job.
The water also does work of its own. Several of our ingredients only dissolve in water and would have nowhere to go without it: the glycerin, the inulin, the barley ferment, the chlorella active. And the water phase is much of why a cream spreads easily, sinks in and does not leave you glossy.
What it does in our formulas
Water forms the base of the emulsion and carries every ingredient that dissolves in it.
It is the water phase of the cream
A moisturiser is an emulsion, a dispersion of oil droplets in water held together by an emulsifier, and the water is one of its two phases. It carries the glycerin, the inulin, the barley ferment and the chlorella, which dissolve in water and not in oil. It is also much of why a cream spreads easily and sinks in.
Well characterisedWhat the research does not show
Water attracts a peculiar kind of scorn in skincare marketing.
Marketed as Water is a cheap filler, and a good product would use less
Marketed as Waterless skincare is more concentrated, and therefore better
On the label and in the range
Aqua is the first ingredient on every one of our labels, because ingredient lists are ordered by weight and there is more water in a cream than anything else. That is true of nearly every moisturiser. The exact percentage is published on each product page.
Is it suitable for me?
The water we use is purified to cosmetic standard before it goes anywhere near a formula. It is suitable for every skin type and every routine, and it is the one ingredient in the range that will not surprise anybody.
As with anything new, if your skin reacts easily it is worth patch testing first.
The research behind this page
We review the published literature. We do not conduct the studies below.
- Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on cosmetic products, Article 19(1)(g): ingredients listed in descending order of weight. Official Journal of the European Union 2009;L342:59-209. →