What's inside

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Show highlights for:

Water

Skin Conditioning

Dibutyl Adipate

Emollient

Propanediol

Solvent
Helps hydrate Dry Skin IconGood for Barrier Repair Icon

Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate

UV Filter
Chemical UV Filter Icon

Polymethylsilsesquioxane

Silicon Icon

Reviews

3.00
Overall rating
5
4
3
2
1
What people say
Great Value 100% Heavy 100% Hydrating 100%
3.42
Overall rating
5
4
3
2
1
What people say
Hydrating 41% Works Well 38% Absorbs Well 37%

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.

Cleansing, Emulsion Stabilising

Decyl Glucoside is a plant-derived surfactant and emulsion stabilizer. It is created by reacting glucose with the fatty acids from plants.

Like all surfactants, it works by lowering the surface tension between water and oil. This makes it so that dirt, sebum, and makeup can be lifted off your skin and rinsed away. It also produces a dense and creamy foam.

Because it has a neutral charge, it is compatible with a wide range of ingredients and stays stable across a broad pH range/water hardiness conditions.

Patch testing has shown it to have the lowest irritation potential among common cleansing surfactants (like SLS).

Typical use levels range from 5-20% in rinse-off cleansers.

One thing worth knowing: The American Contact Dermatitis Society named the parent family, alkyl glucosides, "Allergen of the Year" in 2017. The prevalence of allergy is pretty low but be sure to patch test if you've reacted to "gentle" or sulfate-free cleansers before.

This ingredient is fungal acne safe because the fatty alcohol portion of this ingredient is not within the C11-24 chain length that Malassezia can metabolize.

Learn more about Decyl Glucoside
Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting

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 Glycerin

Methylene Bis-Benzotriazolyl Tetramethylbutylphenol (Tinosorb M) is a hybrid and broad-spectrum UV ingredient. It is both a UV absorber and filter.

UV absorbers are an agent that absorbs UV rays. They protect your skin by using chemical reactions to convert UV rays into heat and energy. UV filters physically reduce the amount of UV rays from reaching your skin.

Tinosorb M covers a range of 280-400 nm and is photostable. This ingredient is neither oil or water soluble.

Tinosorb M is not available in the US. However, it is available in the EU and Asia.

It's sister, Tinosorb S, is set to be approved in the US by late 2025 (fingers crossed!).

Learn more about Methylene Bis-Benzotriazolyl Tetramethylbutylphenol
Antioxidant, Masking, Skin Conditioning

Tocopherol is a fat-soluble antioxidant known as Vitamin E.

You'll find this ingredient in the vast majority of skincare (for good reason). It works to neutralize free radicals, or unstable molecules generated by UV exposure, pollution, and other environmental stressors, before they can cause oxidative damage to your skin cells.

Topically applied tocopherol has been shown to protect against UV damage by ramping up the skin's own natural defense enzymes.

It also acts as a skin conditioning agent; some studies show that regular topical use can improve the skin's water-binding capacity over 2-4 weeks.

This ingredient is especially loved for being a team player. When combined with Vitamin C, the photoprotective effect of both ingredients roughly doubles and the combo also helps reduce UV-induced DNA damage.

This ingredient has some brightening potential but it's more of a prevention ingredient than spot-fader. Cell studies show it can slow down melanin production but it's worth noting that it's not the most powerful brightener out there.

In formulations, it also serves as a stabilizer that helps protect other oxidation-prone ingredients from degrading.

Concentrations usually range from 0.1-1% in most leave-on products.

Learn more about Tocopherol
Skin Conditioning, Solvent

Water. 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
Emulsifying, Emulsion Stabilising, Gel Forming

Xanthan gum is used as a stabilizer and thickener within cosmetic products. It helps give products a sticky, thick feeling - preventing them from being too runny.

On the technical side of things, xanthan gum is a polysaccharide - a combination consisting of multiple sugar molecules bonded together.

Xanthan gum is a pretty common and great ingredient. It is a natural, non-toxic, non-irritating ingredient that is also commonly used in food products.

Learn more about Xanthan Gum

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