What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningPolyglyceryl-2 Stearate
Emulsifying
Glyceryl Stearate
Emollient
Stearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Octyldodecyl Oleate
Emollient
Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate
Emollient
Polyhydroxystearic Acid
Emulsifying
Octyldodecanol
Emollient
Propanediol
Solvent
Psidium Guajava Leaf Extract
AstringentSaccharomyces Lysate Extract
Humectant
Glycerin
Humectant
Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5
Skin Conditioning
Dipeptide Diaminobutyroyl Benzylamide Diacetate
Skin Conditioning
Gigartina Stellata Extract
Skin ProtectingPhenoxyethanol
Preservative
Water, Polyglyceryl-2 Stearate, Glyceryl Stearate, Stearyl Alcohol, Octyldodecyl Oleate, Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Octyldodecanol, Propanediol, Psidium Guajava Leaf Extract, Saccharomyces Lysate Extract, Glycerin, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5, Dipeptide Diaminobutyroyl Benzylamide Diacetate, Gigartina Stellata Extract, Phenoxyethanol
Reviews
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 GlycerinGlyceryl Stearate is made by reacting glycerin with stearic acid (typically sourced from plant oils like palm or coconut). It's an emulsifier, emollient, and mild occlusive.
Emulsifiers help ingredients like oil and water stay mixed so your formula stays nicely blended and uniform in texture.
This ingredient is typically used in concentrations between 1-10%. Studies have found it to be non-sensitizing, non-phototoxic, and non-photoallergenic.
A close cousin of this ingredient is Glyceryl Stearate SE ("self-emulsifying"). This just has a small amount of sodium or potassium stearate added so it can emulsify without a co-emulsifier.
Since this ingredient is an ester of a C18 fatty acid, it may not be fungal acne safe. The Malassezia yeast can potentially metabolize within the C11-C24 range.
Fun fact: The human body also creates Glyceryl Stearate naturally.
Learn more about Glyceryl StearatePolyglyceryl-2 Stearate isn't fungal acne safe.
Stearyl Alcohol is a type of fatty alcohol from stearic acid. It is a white, waxy compound used to emulsify ingredients used as an emollient or to thicken a product.
Emollients help soothe and hydrate the skin by trapping moisture.
Fatty alcohols are usually derived from natural fats and oils and therefore do not have the same drying or irritating effect as solvent (ethanol) alcohols.
The FDA allows products labeled "alcohol-free" to have fatty alcohols.
Learn more about Stearyl AlcoholWater. 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
