Ingredients

Plants

Ingredients made from plants using minimal processing methods such as distilling, cold pressing, extraction (using CO2 or traditional macerations or tinctures), cooking, dehydrating, and grinding.

  • Hydrosols – Flower Water smells great and provides benefits to the skin and hair based on the benefits of the botanicals used. We mainly use them to give our products a light, pleasing scent without relying on high concentrations of Essential Oils for scenting.

  • Vegetable Glycerin – Vegetable Glycerin is a humectant, which means it attracts and holds hydration to the hair and skin. It also contributes to the texture of our final products.

  • Aloe Vera Powder – Aloe Vera is a humectant; it attracts and holds hydration. Aloe Vera Powder is a potent conditioning and hydrating addition to our formulas.

  • Gums – Xantham Gum, Acacia Gum – Gums can come from many plant sources such as nuts, trees, and algae. They are used for thickening formulations and provide a product that is easy to apply and has a pleasing skin feel. 

  • Essential Oils – Essential Oils are extracted from a countless number of plants. We use them at low concentrations alongside Hydrosols to scent our products and for their botanical properties in some of our more active formulas, such as scrubs and serums. As a company, we believe in the botanical benefits of essential oils and enjoy working with and using them.

  • Fixed Oils – Fixed oils are pressed from plants and seeds and are one of our favorite ingredients to work with as there is a huge range of plant oils offering a large spectrum of benefits. We use a variety of plant oils at PlantCraft, some of our favorites include Kalahari Melon Oil, Cold-Pressed Grapeseed Oil, Broccoli Oil, Argan Oil, Rosehip Oil and Sacha Inchi Oil, to name a few.

  • Green Tea Extract – Green Tea lends a potent antioxidant effect to skin and hair care preparations.

  • Walnut Shell Powder – Good physical exfoliator for the scalp or body. We do not recommend or use physical exfoliators in our facial products.

Plants Meet Science

Ingredients made from plants using laboratory methods to achieve specific properties in a formula, such as surfactants (cleansers) or emulsifiers (lotions and conditioners). We want our products to function according to their traditional uses and whenever they are available and effective, we use plant derived versions of functional ingredients instead of synthetics.

  • Modified Gums – Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Xanthan Gum (and) Lecithin (and) Sclerotium Gum (and) Pullulan - Natural gums can be tricky to work with and are not compatible with every type of cosmetic formulation. Sometimes they undergo additional processing to make them compatible with different ingredients or to improve their solubility or final texture. Oftentimes natural gums are combined into proprietary products to capture the benefits of multiple gums in a single-use ingredient.

  • Hydrolyzed Proteins – Isolated plant proteins provide great benefits to the skin and hair. At PlantCraft we use Hemp Protein, Oat Protein and Quinoa Protein for a wide range of benefits throughout our range of products.

  • Plant Based Surfactants – Sodium Cocyl Apple Amino Acids, Sodium Cocyl Isethionate, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Coco Glucoside, Decyl Glucoside, Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate (Not to be confused with Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, which we do not use)– Surfactants are cleansers, binding to dirt and oils and allowing them to be carried away from the skin and hair. The plant-based surfactants we use at PlantCraft are biodegradable and provide gentle cleansing. We use a blend of surfactants together in our shampoo formulations to achieve optimal cleansing, foam, and lather.

  • Plant Based Emulsifiers – Distearoylethyl Dimonium Chloride (and) Cetearyl Alcohol, Polyglyceryl-4 Oleate, Cetearyl Glucoside and Cetearyl Alcohol – Emulsifiers blend water and oil together into a stable cream or lotion. In cleansers they can be used to make a conditioning formula, or they can be used in an oil-based formula to help with rinse off. The plant-based emulsifiers we use at PlantCraft are biodegradable and provide excellent moisturizing and conditioning properties to our final formulations.

  • Fatty Alcohols – Cetearyl Alcohol and Cetyl Alcohol – Not to be confused with rubbing alcohol or ethanol, fatty alcohols are derived from oil and are used as emollients and thickeners in hair and skincare formulations. They are non-irritating and non-drying, instead they leave the hair and skin moisturized.

  • Solubilizers – Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside & Water & Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate & Glyceryl Caprylate & Citric Acid & Polyglyceryl-6 Oleate & Sodium Surfactin. For products that contain a high amount of oils without an emulsifier, solubilizers can be used to disperse the oil in water. Solubilizers are very similar in form to surfactants and emulsifiers.

  • pH Adjusters – The skin is slightly acidic and maintaining the natural pH of the skin is essential to providing the best care. To maintain our formulations at the proper pH, we utilize Citric Acid or Sodium Hydroxide according to the needs to the formula.

  • Sodium Phytate – Sodium Phytate, a chelating agent, binds to trace metals in products and in hard water. Use of chelating agents boost the effectiveness of the formula as well as the preservative system. Sodium Phytate is a plant based chelating agent made from phytic acid from plants.

  • Tocopherol – Vitamin E derived from plant oils is an essential part of maintaining the freshness of oils in formulations by preventing oxidation. It also lends some antioxidant effect to the skin and hair when present in a formulation. 

  • Isoamyl Laurate – A plant ester used as an alternative to polymers and silicones in plant-based formulations. Isoamyl Laurate reduces static, smooths the hair shaft, and provides a film-forming, conditioning affect on the hair and skin.

Science

Ingredients which do not have a plant based equivalent or are very far removed from their plant origins. They are used to achieve specific properties in a formula, such as preservatives, provitamins and cosmeceuticals. Every ingredient in every formula has a good reason to be there and we strive to be transparent about what we use and why.

  • Panthenol – Most of our formulas contain Panthenol, or Pro-Vitamin B5, which is a humectant. Humectants attract and maintain hydration levels in the skin. The body readily absorbs Panthenol into the skin and converts it to Vitamin B5, or Pantothenic Acid, which is a natural constituent of healthy hair and skin and a substance present in living cells. The Environmental Working Group, EWG’s Skin Deep® rates Panthenol at a 1, which is their lowest available score in terms of risk.

  • Gluconolactone – Gluconolactone is a poly-hydroxy acid. Toward the end of an ingredient list, Gluconolactone is part of the product’s preservative system for its anti-bacterial properties. At higher concentrations it is an excellent alternative to alpha-hydroxy and beta-hydroxy acids (AHA/BHAs) for those with sensitive skin who find AHA/BHA products to cause irritation.  Gluconolactone in a toner or serum has both exfoliating and hydrating properties. The Environmental Working Group, EWG’s Skin Deep® rates Gluconolactone at a 1, which is their lowest available score in terms of risk.

  • Sodium Benzoate – Sodium Benzoate is a preservative and anti-fungal. It doesn’t contain parabens or petroleum products. The Environmental Working Group, EWG’s Skin Deep® rates Sodium Benzoate at a 1 when used at low concentrations as part of a product’s preservative system. This is the only use of Sodium Benzoate in PlantCraft products.