Use as directed by a dermatologist.
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Ingredients overview
Active Ingredients: Hydroquinone (4%)
Inactive Ingredients: Liquid Paraffin, Methylparaben, Polyoxyl 40 Stearate, Propylene Glycol, Propylparaben, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Metabisulphite, Stearic Acid, Stearyl Alcohol, Purified Water
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Highlights
#alcohol-free #fragrance & essentialoil-free
Alcohol Free
Fragrance and Essential Oil Free
Key Ingredients
Skin brightening: Hydroquinone (4%)
Other Ingredients
Antioxidant: Sodium Metabisulphite
Emollient: Liquid Paraffin, Stearic Acid, Stearyl Alcohol
Emulsifying: Polyoxyl 40 Stearate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Stearyl Alcohol
Moisturizer/humectant: Propylene Glycol
Perfuming: Propylparaben
Preservative: Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Sodium Metabisulphite
Solvent: Liquid Paraffin, Propylene Glycol, Purified Water
Surfactant/cleansing: Polyoxyl 40 Stearate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Stearyl Alcohol
Viscosity controlling: Stearic Acid, Stearyl Alcohol
Skim through
| Ingredient name | what-it-does | irr., com. | ID-Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hydroquinone (4%) | skin brightening | ||
| Liquid Paraffin | emollient, solvent | 0, 0-2 | |
| Methylparaben | preservative | 0, 0 | |
| Polyoxyl 40 Stearate | emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing | ||
| Propylene Glycol | moisturizer/humectant, solvent | 0, 0 | |
| Propylparaben | preservative, perfuming | 0, 0 | |
| Sodium Lauryl Sulfate | surfactant/cleansing, emulsifying | com.:0 | icky |
| Sodium Metabisulphite | antioxidant, preservative | ||
| Stearic Acid | emollient, viscosity controlling | 0, 2-3 | |
| Stearyl Alcohol | emollient, viscosity controlling, emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing | 2, 2 | |
| Purified Water | solvent |
Jamjoom Pharma Hiquin 4% Cream
Ingredients explainedHydroquinone (4%)
What-it-does: skin brightening
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Liquid Paraffin
Also-called: Mineral Oil;Paraffinum Liquidum | What-it-does: emollient, solvent | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0-2
The famous or maybe rather infamous mineral oil. The clear oily liquid that is the "cheap by-product" of refining crude oil and the one that gets a lot of heat for its poor provenance. It is a very controversial ingredient with pros and cons and plenty of mythsaround it. So let us see them:
The pros of mineral oil
Trust us, if something is used for more than 100 years in cosmeticproducts, it hasadvantages. Chemically speaking, cosmetic grade mineral oil is a complex mixture ofhighly refined saturated hydrocarbons with C15-50 chain length.It is not merely a "by-product" but rather a specifically isolated part of petroleum that is very pure and inert.
It is a great emollient and moisturizer working mainly by occlusivity.Occlusivity is one of the basic mechanisms of how moisturizers work and it means that mineral oilsits on top of the skin and hinders so-called trans-epidermal water loss, i.e water evaporating out of your skin. When compared to heavy-duty plant oil, extra virgin coconut oil, the two of them were equally efficient and safe as moisturizers in treating xerosis, a skin condition connected to very dry skin.
The other thing that mineral oil is really good at is being non-irritating to the skin. The chemical composition of plant oils is more complex with many more possible allergens or irritatingcomponents, while mineral oil is simple, pureand sensitivity to it is extremely rare.If you check out the classic French pharmacy brands and their moisturizers for the most sensitive, allergy prone skin, they usually containmineral oil. This is no coincidence.
The cons of mineral oil
The pros of mineral oilcan be interpreted as cons if we look at them from another perspective. Not penetrating the skin but mostly just sitting on top of it and not containing biologically active components, like nice fatty acids and vitamins meanthat mineral oil does not "nourish" the skin in the way plant oils do. Mineral oil doesnot give the skin any extra goodness, it is simply a non-irritating moisturizer working mainly by occlusivity.
The myths around mineral oil
Badmouthing mineral oil is a favorite sport of many, it is a cheap material and being connected to petrolatum makes it fairly easy to demonize.
While it is true that industrial grade mineral oil contains carcinogenic components (so-calledpolycyclic compounds), these are completely removed from cosmetic and food grade mineral oil and there is no scientific data showing that the pure, cosmetic grade version is carcinogenic.
What is more, in terms of the general health effects of mineral oils used in cosmetics, a 2017study reviewed the data on their skin penetration and concluded that "the cosmetic use of mineral oils and waxes does not present a risk to consumers due to a lack of systemic exposure."
Another super common myth surrounding mineral oil is that it is comedogenic. A 2005 study titled"Is mineral oil comedogenic?" examined this very question and guess what happened? The study concluded that "based on the animal and human data reported, along with the AAD recommendation, it would appear reasonable to conclude that mineral oil is noncomedogenic in humans."
Overall, we feel that the scaremongering around mineral oil is not justified. For dry and super-sensitive skin types it is a great option. However, if you do not like its origin or its heavy feeling or anything else about it, avoiding it has never been easier. Mineral oil has such a bad reputation nowadays that cosmetic companies hardly dare to use it anymore.
Methylparaben
What-it-does: preservative | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
The most common type offeared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason parabens. It's a cheap, effective and well-tolerated ingredient to make sure the cosmetic formula does not go wrong too soon.
Apart from the general controversy around parabens (we wrote about it more here), there is a 2006 in-vitro (made in the lab not on real people) research about methylparaben (MP) showing that when exposed to sunlight, MP treated skin cells suffered more harm than non-MPtreated skin cells. The study was not done with real people on real skin but still - using a good sunscreen next to MP containing productsis a good idea. (Well, in fact using a sunscreen is always a good idea. :))
Polyoxyl 40 Stearate
What-it-does: emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing
A commonwater-loving surfactant and emulsifierthat helps to keep water and oil mixed nicelytogether.
Propylene Glycol
What-it-does: moisturizer/humectant, solvent | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
- It's a helper ingredient that improves the freeze-thaw stability of products
- It's also a solvent, humectant and to some extent a penetration enhancer
- It has a bad reputation among natural cosmetics advocates but cosmetic scientists and toxicology experts do not agree (read more in the geeky details section)
Read all the geeky details about Propylene Glycol here >>
Propylparaben
What-it-does: preservative, perfuming | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
A very common type offeared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reasonparabens. It's a cheap, effective and well-tolerated ingredient tomake sure the cosmetic formula does not go wrong too soon.
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate - icky
Also-called: SLS | What-it-does: surfactant/cleansing, emulsifying | Comedogenicity: 0
The famous or rather infamous SLS (not to be confused with SLES). It is a cleansing agent known for being too good at the job and potentiallyirritating the skin. But, on the positive side, it can produce copious, creamy and luxurious foam compared to the more gentle and thus nowadays much more commonly used Sodium Laureth Sulfate.
In fact, SLSis so good at irritating the skin that it is very commonly used in dermatological studies just for that. It is a so-called "primary irritant", a substance that irritates the skin in one go (without prior sensitization) but doesn't do any other big harm (such as being carcinogenic or systematically toxic - those claims are not true). Also, the formula can greatly influence the irritating potential of SLS, and mixing it with other cleaningagents makes it milder.
If it's not in a cleanser, it works as an emulsifier or even as a penetration enhancer for active materials.
Sodium Metabisulphite
What-it-does: antioxidant, preservative
We don't have description for this ingredient yet.
Stearic Acid
What-it-does: emollient, viscosity controlling | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 2-3
A common multi-tasker fatty acid. It makes your skin feel nice and smooth (emollient), gives body to cream type products and helps to stabilize water and oilmixes (aka emulsions).
Stearyl Alcohol
What-it-does: emollient, viscosity controlling, emulsion stabilising, emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing | Irritancy: 2 | Comedogenicity: 2
A handy multi-tasker,white to light yellowish oil-lovingwax that works very well in oil-in-water emulsions. It makes your skin feel nice and smooth (emollient),stabilizes oil-watermixesand gives body to them.
Oh, and one more thing: it's a so-called fatty alcohol - the good, emollient type of alcohol that is non-drying and non-irritating. It is often mixed with fellow fatty alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, and the mixture is called Cetearyl Alcoholin the ingredient list.
Purified Water
Also-called: Aqua;Water | What-it-does: solvent
Good old water, aka H2O. The most common skincare ingredient of all. You can usually find it right in the very first spot of the ingredient list, meaning it’s the biggest thing out of all the stuff that makes up the product.
It’s mainly a solvent for ingredients that do not like to dissolve in oils but rather in water.
Once inside the skin, it hydrates, but not from the outside - putting pure water on the skin (hello long baths!) is drying.
One more thing: the water used in cosmetics is purified and deionized (it means that almost all of the mineral ions inside it is removed). Like this, the products can stay more stable over time.
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A clear, oily liquid that comes from refining crude oil. Even though it is a highly controversial ingredient, the scientific consensus is that it is a safe, non-irritating and effective emollient and moisturizer working mainly by occlusivity. [more] The most common type offeared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason parabens. It's a cheap, effective and well-tolerated ingredient to make sure the cosmetic formula does not go wrong too soon.Apart from the general controversy around parabens (we wrote about it more here), there is a 2006 in-vitro (made in the lab not on real people) research about methylparaben (MP) sho [more] A commonwater-loving surfactant and emulsifierthat helps to keep water and oil mixed nicelytogether. A common glycol that improves the freeze-thaw stability of products. It's also a solvent, humectant and to some extent a penetration enhancer. [more] A very common type offeared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reasonparabens. It's a cheap, effective and well-tolerated ingredient tomake sure the cosmetic formula does not go wrong too soon. [more] The famous or rather infamous SLS (not to be confused with SLES). It is a cleansing agent known for being too good at the job and potentiallyirritating the skin. [more] A common multi-tasker fatty acid that works as an emollient, thickener and emulsion stabilizer. [more] A handy multi-tasker,white to light yellowish oil-lovingwax that works very well in oil-in-water emulsions. It makes your skin feel nice and smooth (emollient),stabilizes oil-watermixesand gives body to them.Oh, and one more thing: [more] Normal (well kind of - it's purified and deionized) water. Usually the main solvent in cosmetic products. [more] what‑it‑does skin brightening what‑it‑does emollient | solvent irritancy,com. 0, 0-2 what‑it‑does preservative irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing what‑it‑does moisturizer/humectant | solvent irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does preservative | perfuming irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does surfactant/cleansing | emulsifying com. 0 what‑it‑does antioxidant | preservative what‑it‑does emollient | viscosity controlling irritancy,com. 0, 2-3 what‑it‑does emollient | viscosity controlling | emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing irritancy,com. 2, 2 what‑it‑does solvent
