INCI Decoder
When I was in my twenties, the last thing on my mind was skincare. My older sisters-in-law warned me, “You live in Texas and have no idea what this climate does to your skin!”
Like many young people, I figured, “I’ll be fine.” How wrong I was.
Decades later, I was in for a regular doctor’s appointment when he noticed something disconcerting on my forehead and referred me to a dermatologist. They took a biopsy, and it was skin cancer. I had it removed. I’ve since had another removed in the same area. So the advice about wearing sunscreen and a few other things sank in a bit. He also recommended Retin A, which I used sporadically.
Fast forward more years and I decided maybe it’s time to get serious about skin care, but will it really make any difference when you’re now 67 years old? I don’t know, but let’s try. I start doing some research. One thing I discovered was Mito Red red light therapy. I’ll go into more on that later because it’s an interesting rabbit hole. I got it because I was trying to avoid knee replacement and my back was destroying me, but it’s also good for building collagen in the skin. Mito Red had a sale, and I decided to buy one of the panels.
As I dove into skincare research, I stumbled upon Penn Smith, a master esthetician. Now, there is another gal on Youtube who gleefully declares that she’s been doing this for twenty plus years so that must make her a “master” esthetician also. No, sweet pea, it doesn’t. To get that designation, you have to do the schooling and training.
I don’t agree with everything Penn says; she tends to tout a lot of high end products and who can afford that stuff? On the other hand, she also goes down a LOT of rabbit holes researching stuff and looking for duplicates for expensive products that po’ folk like me can’t or won’t spend that kind of money on.
Here’s a conversation she had about SKII and Secret Key, which is a duplicate product. This doesn’t mean the products are exactly the same, but they are very similar and do the same thing to your skin.
People fell in love with SKII because they felt it made their skin look brighter and more radiant. According to SKII: “A daily essence that hydrates, improves elasticity, reduces fine lines, improves uneven skin tone, and has an anti-aging effect.”
Well, shoot, who doesn’t want that? But doesn’t every beauty serum, lotion, toner, and cream promise that? What makes it special?
According to legend, (Imagine you are Indiana Jones now going through a sake plant only to find workers with mysteriously youthful hands. “These workers’ hands are all young looking. Even the old ones. What’s happening here?”)
Japanese scientists, isn’t it always the Japanese discovering great things? (Unless it’s the Korean skin gurus.) Anyway, Japanese scientists in 1970 were researching natural ingredients for health benefits presumably when they observed elderly sake workers had youthful hands, and the only explanation could be years of submerging them in the fermented yeast concoction.
After sussing out what made this yeast different was an extract, the cosmetic company behind SKII that funded this research called Pietra. This led to SKII which is 90% Pietra or what is more commonly known as galactomyces ferment filtrate.
Proctor and Gamble acquired the brand because you know that’s what these giant corporations do. Envision Pac-Man deftly eating all the dots.
I have to wonder if a person has to keep their face submerged in SKII all day long for years to achieve this fountain of youth, but hey if it helps it helps.
But, holy crow! Two hundred dollars for seven ounces and it’s selling at the rate of a bottle every two seconds.
And this is where we wind back around to Penn Smith and her comparison of SKII to Secret Key.
Here are the ingredients in SKII:
Here are the ingredients for Secret Key:
Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract
Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract
Physalis Alkekengi Fruit Extract (Reduces oxidative stress and inflammation.)
Acanthopanax Senticosus (Eleuthero) Root Extract
Ganoderma Lucidum (Mushroom) Extract (Used in Chinese medicine. Also known as reishi mushrooms. In skin care it is valued for wound treatment, anti-inflammation, and antioxidants.)
Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel) Extract
Zanthoxylum Piperitum Fruit Extract
PEG-12 Dimethicone (Improves lubricity and absorption.)
Penn’s the expert, so I won’t try to out expert her, but I’ll add something else. You can be your very own little mad scientist with the help of a site called INCI. INCI stands for International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients. If you go to INCIdecoder.com, you hit the jackpot. You can load a product name, and they will break it all down for you.
You’ve just cracked the code. Well, they did, but you have the code cracked.
That’s exactly what I did with SKII and Secret Key which sells for $22 for five ounces on Amazon and lasts me about six months even though I layer it and Sukoyaka Suhada Urea Essence in between each serum in a sort of abbreviated Korean Seven Layer method. Basically, you’re super hydrating your skin.
Here is the breakdown of Secret Key on INCI.
Here is the breakdown of SKII on INCI.
I like the ingredient deck more on Secret key. SKII is 90% Galactomyces and Secret Key is reported to be 94%. In that respect, they are very similar.
So, what’s the point of this post, to sell you Secret Key? No, I like it very much but only you can decide if it’s for you. It’s to show you a tool you can use to compare skin care products. You don’t have to take someone’s word for something when the ad says a product will do this or that or it’s just like this. Plug the products into INCI. Compare it yourself and make an informed decision.