I looked at the back of the toner, and the first line says 'purified water.' A foreign student asked, "Water is number 1? Aren't we being tricked?" he asked. ## Why does water come first? Ingredient lists are written in order from the largest amount to the smallest. Toner and lotion are mostly water, so water comes first. They aren't deceiving you; they're just following the rules. It's because the buyer should be able to tell what's in it the most. In Korea, the law requires listing every ingredient used. Even if the packaging puts a "good ingredient" in big letters, you can check where it ranks on the back. ## So why is fragrance always last? Even a tiny amount of fragrance gives off a scent. Also, ingredients that make up 1% or less don't have to be listed in strict order. So the end of an ingredient list is a "gathering of things present in small amounts," not an exact ranking. Fragrance doesn't have to list each scent component one by one; it can be written as a single line, "fragrance." However, scent components that are designated as potential allergens must be listed separately if they exceed the set amount. ## Try It Right Now If your skin is sensitive, read all the way to the end of the list. The order of the ingredients at the back is hard to trust. If you're worried about a particular ingredient, don't just look at the front of the list; search the whole thing.