Here’s What Skin-Care Buyers Care About Most When it Comes to Ingredients

When it comes to beauty shopping, NewBeauty readers have spoken loud and clear: ingredients aren’t just important, they’re everything. In a recent survey of more than 400 readers,* we asked how much weight ingredients carry when choosing a product, and the results were striking.

Ingredients Are Non-Negotiable

On a scale of 1 to 10, the average importance rating was 9.21, with a median of 10. In fact, 266 respondents gave ingredients the highest possible score of 10, and another 75 rated them a 9. Only a handful of respondents fell below a 5. Translation? For most beauty shoppers, what’s inside the bottle matters more than anything else.

Where Shoppers Get Ingredient Intel

Knowing ingredients is one thing—learning about them is another. When asked where readers turn for ingredient education, here’s how they responded: 

• Social media (Instagram, TikTok): 62 percent
• Online articles: 54 percent
• Product labels and packaging: 50 percent
• Brand websites: 47 percent
• Friends or family recommendations: 46 percent
• Magazines: 21 percent
• Ingredient-specific apps or tools: 24 percent

The bottom line: Social media leads the pack, but traditional sources like product labels and brand websites still play a major role.

The Ingredients Readers Love Most

When asked to pick a favorite ingredient, retinol came out on top with 86 votes, cementing its status as the gold standard for anti-aging. Other heavy hitters include hyaluronic acid with 63 votes, SPF with 54 votes, vitamin C with 52 votes and collagen with 46. Peptides, niacinamide and ceramides also made the list, but in smaller numbers. 

What This Means for Brands

If you’re marketing skin care, ingredient transparency isn’t optional, it’s essential. Consumers are doing their homework, and they’re doing it everywhere from TikTok to product labels. Highlighting clinically proven ingredients like retinol and hyaluronic acid—and explaining why they work—can make or break a purchase decision. 

*Source: BeautyEngine Advanced Research, 2025