Full label decoder
Every ingredient explained — function, rating, and what sits under 1%
- Free, no sign-up
- Runs in your browser
Paste the ingredient list
Find it on the back of the pack or on the brand's own page, under “Ingredients” or “INCI”. Keep the original order — it matters.
Paste an ingredient list to begin.
What people use this for
- You want to know what you are paying for. A serum sold on one hero ingredient often carries it below the 1% line, behind the fragrance.
- A label is mostly unfamiliar words. Each entry gets a plain-language function, so you can see which parts are active and which are the base.
- You are comparing two shortlisted products. Decoding both shows which one actually front-loads the ingredient you are buying it for.
- You are avoiding something specific. Fragrance, drying alcohols, a known trigger — the decoder marks where each sits in the list.
The 1% line, and why it decides most arguments
Ingredient lists are ordered by concentration, but only down to 1%. Below that threshold a brand may list the remainder in any order it likes. That single rule is the most useful thing on any label, because it splits the list into the part that is doing the work and the part that is mostly there to be named on the front of the box.
You cannot see the threshold directly, but you can estimate it. Certain ingredients are almost always used at well under 1% — preservatives such as phenoxyethanol, most gums and carbomers, and fragrance components. The first of those to appear is a reasonable marker for where the 1% line falls, and everything after it is present in small amounts. The decoder draws that line for you and explains which marker it used.
The estimate is a convention, not a measurement. A brand can use an unusual amount of a marker ingredient, and some formulas legitimately need more preservative than others. Treat the line as a strong hint about the shape of a formula rather than a precise cut-off.
What each column tells you
Function comes from our ingredient glossary: whether something is a solvent, a humectant, an emollient, a surfactant, a preservative, an active, or a filter. This is what most labels never tell you, and it is what turns a wall of Latin into a structure you can read.
The comedogenic column shows a published pore-clogging rating where one exists, from the Fulton table we rebuilt from the original paper. Most ingredients have never been rated, and we show that as an absence rather than as a zero — those are different claims and conflating them would make the tool look more certain than it is.
Limits worth knowing
The decoder reads names, not amounts. Two products with identical lists can perform completely differently depending on concentration, pH, and how the formula is put together, and none of that appears on a label.
Recognition depends on the name used. INCI naming is standardised, but brands sometimes print marketing names, trade names, or a botanical without its INCI equivalent. Anything we cannot match is shown as unrecognised rather than quietly dropped, so you always know how much of your list was actually decoded.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is the 1% line?
It is an estimate based on a convention, not a measurement. Certain ingredients — preservatives, gums, fragrance components — are almost never used above 1%, so the first of those to appear marks roughly where the line falls. A brand can always be the exception, so treat it as a strong hint about the shape of a formula.
Why does an ingredient show no rating?
Because it has never been through the comedogenicity assay. Most ingredients have not. We show that as an absence rather than a zero, because 'never tested' and 'tested and scored zero' are different claims.
What does decode coverage mean?
It is the share of the pasted list we could match to a stated function, across our INCI glossary and our ingredient dictionary. A low number says our databases have a gap for this label, not that the product contains anything unusual.
Some ingredients were not recognised.
INCI naming is standardised but brands sometimes print marketing or trade names. Anything we cannot match is listed as unrecognised rather than dropped, so you can see how much of the label was actually decoded.
Does this tell me if a product is good?
No. It tells you what is in it and roughly in what proportion. Concentration, pH and formulation decide how a product performs, and none of those appear on a label.