You may be familiar with terms such as emollients and humecants by now, but there are a few more terms you might be curious about. You might have heard them at this point, either by reading the labels of your organic and some non-organic products (as even some non-organic products can have some organic ingredients in them) or perhaps from a woman at a skin care sales counter talking about the latest product breakthrough. Either way, knowing more about what they mean can help you when you make your next skin care product purchase.

Detergents The term might make you automatically think of the soap you use to wash your clothes, and though you are not too far off the mark, it is not exactly the same thing that is being put into skin care products. A detergent acts similar to soap in that it can separate out oils and remove dirt. However, it is different by its chemical makeup. While most art synthetically made, there are some plant-based detergents in existence.

Hydrators If this makes you think of shampoo, you are thinking in the right direction. This type of ingredient will supply water to both your skin and your hair. There are many hydrators that can and are being used because liquids derived from plants actually make the best agents for hydration. Look for ingredients such as aloe vera, vegetable glycerin, and orange pith juice.

Saponins These are also known as glycosides and can be found occurring naturally. These ingredients foam easily when in water and are utilized mostly in shampoos. They give the shampoo its extra foam and can also help act as an emulsifying agent as well as supply a small amount of cleansing ability. These can include yucca and soapwort. Some of these ingredients may not be complete saponins, but still have similar actions, such as coconut soap.

Sequestrants This particular ingredient type has a very unique function. It can bind to metal ions like iron as well as non-metal ions like salt and remove them from hard water. This can be very helpful as hard water can leave skin dry and also help soap residue to stick to your skin, further drying it out. Without these extra ions in the water, your soap can lather more efficiently and you can rinse soap away much easier.

Hard water can also discolor your hair (whether it is natural or treated), so by softening the water, your hair can keep its color better and longer. Citric acid and corn syrup are examples of sequestrants.

Surfactants There are three common types of surfactants, soaps, detergents, and glycosides (saponins). Overall, these ingredients help liquids to spread more easily as well as penetrate more efficiently. By doing so, water is able to clean more proficiently. Any of the three main surfactants are often found in shampoos.

Volumizers Again, you are probably reminded of shampoos, but may never have been quite sure of how a shampoo is supposed to give your hair more volume. The shampoo or other volumizing product contains agents such as almond protein, herbal gums, and soy protein that actually bind to your hair in order to make it thicker and fuller. So though you are adding more materials to your hair, if it is natural you may feel more at ease in using that product.

Many of these ingredients have synthetic counterparts, but by doing your own research, you can find more natural alternatives. This way, the next time you search for a good organic skin care or hair product, you can double check the ingredients and compare products in order find the best one for you. This can be especially important since some companies produce products that sport organic or natural labels and yet fail to be organic.

It can be tough because there are few regulations concerning organic cosmetics, skin care, and other personal products. By keeping yourself informed, you can better know who is real and who is faking it.