Guide

How much is in it?

The usage bars answer one question: how much of a formula is this ingredient, in the products industry reports making?

The bars

  • Every bar runs from 0 to 100% of the formula, on every card, so a bar reads the same everywhere. Quarter marks sit at 25, 50 and 75%.
  • Leave-on is products that stay on your skin: moisturisers, serums, makeup. Rinse-off is products you wash away: cleansers, shampoos, bath products. The same ingredient is often used far stronger in rinse-off, because it is on your skin for a minute.
  • The numbers come from CIR's newest use survey, where companies report the highest concentration they use in each type of product. The bar runs from the lowest of those maximums to the highest. The card shows the survey year.

What the card says

What the card saysWhat it means
A bar with a rangeThe spread of maximum concentrations reported across products of that kind
NRNot reported: the survey gave no figure for that kind of product. Not zero.
“Reports no concentration of use”The newest survey gave no concentration for either leave-on or rinse-off products
“Not reported to be in use”No use of the ingredient was reported to the survey
A survey year older than the reportThe newest survey did not cover this ingredient, so the card shows the newest one that did

An example

Bentonite clay, 2022 survey: leave-on 0.00025 to 8%, rinse-off 0.22 to 17.3%. A clay mask you wash off can be up to about a sixth clay; a cream you leave on holds far less.

A regulatory limit, where one exists, is shown with the bars, so you can see how close real use comes to it. More on where the numbers come from in How I read.