What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
No concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningPentylene Glycol
Skin Conditioning
Propanediol
Solvent
Glycerin
Humectant
Sodium PCA
Humectant
Sodium Lactate
Buffering
Arginine
Masking
Sodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Sodium Gluconate
ChelatingAspartic Acid
Masking
PCA
Humectant
Caprylhydroxamic Acid
ChelatingHyaluronic Acid
Humectant
Sodium Anisate
AntimicrobialGlycine
Buffering
Alanine
Masking
Serine
Masking
Valine
MaskingProline
Skin Conditioning
Threonine
Isoleucine
Skin ConditioningHistidine
Humectant
Phenylalanine
Masking
Water
Skin ConditioningPEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate
Emulsifying
Colloidal Oatmeal
Absorbent
Glycerin
Humectant
Polyacrylamide
Menthol
Masking
Benzyl Alcohol
Perfuming
Caprylyl Glycol
Emollient
C13-14 Isoparaffin
Emollient
Benzoic Acid
Masking
Sodium Gluconate
ChelatingLaureth-7
EmulsifyingAcrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer
Emulsion StabilisingEpilobium Angustifolium Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract
Skin ConditioningSodium Hydroxide
BufferingPhenoxyethanol
Preservative
Sodium Metabisulfite
Antioxidant
Water, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Colloidal Oatmeal, Glycerin, Polyacrylamide, Menthol, Benzyl Alcohol, Caprylyl Glycol, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Benzoic Acid, Sodium Gluconate, Laureth-7, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Epilobium Angustifolium Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Sodium Hydroxide, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Metabisulfite
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Glycerin (or glycerol) is a compound naturally found in your skin. It's a powerhouse humectant that pulls water into the stratum corneum.
Topically, glycerin does several things at once:
Your skin makes glycerin on its own (mostly from sebaceous oil breakdown) and shuttles it to your outermost layer of skin, or your epidermis, via aquaporin-3.
Aquaporin-3 is a transporter that is essential for normal skin hydration, elasticity, and repair. Interestingly, mice lacking in AQP3 have dry and less elastic skin that can be fully corrected with glycerin.
This ingredient is non-irritating, plays well with almost every ingredient, and works across all skin types. Typical use is anywhere between 3-10% but can go up to 79% in some leave-on products.
Just know very high concentrations (>40%) can feel tacky in low humidity.
Glycerin is the name for this ingredient in American English. British English uses Glycerol/Glycerine.
Learn more about GlycerinSodium Gluconate is the sodium salt of gluconic acid. In skincare, its main job is as a chelator.
Chelators grab onto stray metal ions like iron and copper that sneak in through water, raw materials, or manufacturing equipment. This stops them from triggering reactions that cause oils to go rancid, formulas to change color, and actives like vitamin C to fall apart.
This ingredient is often chosen as a biodegradable, gentler-sounding alternative to EDTA. It also pulls double duty as a mild humectant and pH buffer.
Typical use levels sit around 0.1-1% and supplier documents list up to 10% as an acceptable ceiling. Industry data found this ingredient family is mostly used well below 1% in leave on products.
Allergy risk is very low; animal testing has found it to be non-irritating to skin and eyes, mutagenicity assays came back negative, and there are no published reports of allergic contact dermatitis to it.
Learn more about Sodium GluconateWater. It's the most common cosmetic ingredient of all. You'll usually see it at the top of ingredient lists, meaning that it makes up the largest part of the product.
So why is it so popular? Water most often acts as a solvent - this means that it helps dissolve other ingredients into the formulation.
You'll also recognize water as that liquid we all need to stay alive. If you see this, drink a glass of water. Remember to stay hydrated!
Learn more about Water
