What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate
CleansingSodium Cocoyl Isethionate
Cleansing
Sodium Chloride
MaskingBetaine
Humectant
Sodium Glycolate
BufferingCoco-Glucoside
Cleansing
Glyceryl Oleate
Emollient
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Phytic Acid
Acacia Senegal Gum
MaskingXanthan Gum
EmulsifyingCitric Acid
Buffering
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningSodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Inositol
Humectant
Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6
Emulsion StabilisingT-Butyl Alcohol
Perfuming
Water, Glycerin, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Sodium Chloride, Betaine, Sodium Glycolate, Coco-Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, Phenoxyethanol, Phytic Acid, Acacia Senegal Gum, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Hyaluronate, Inositol, Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6, T-Butyl Alcohol
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Glyceryl Glucoside
Humectant
Diglycerin
Humectant
Methylpropanediol
SolventSodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate
CleansingSodium Cocoamphoacetate
CleansingDisodium Cocoamphodiacetate
CleansingPentylene Glycol
Skin Conditioning
Methyl Gluceth-20
Humectant
PEG-150 Pentaerythrityl Tetrastearate
Emulsifying
Coco-Glucoside
Cleansing
Glyceryl Oleate
Emollient
Panthenol
Skin Conditioning
Betaine
Humectant
Sodium PCA
Humectant
PEG-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate
Emulsifying
Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein
Skin ConditioningSodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer
Humectant
Avena Sativa Kernel Extract
Abrasive
Allantoin
Skin Conditioning
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningTrisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate
Lactic Acid
Buffering
Water, Glycerin, Glyceryl Glucoside, Diglycerin, Methylpropanediol, Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Pentylene Glycol, Methyl Gluceth-20, PEG-150 Pentaerythrityl Tetrastearate, Coco-Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, Panthenol, Betaine, Sodium PCA, PEG-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Sodium Hyaluronate Crosspolymer, Avena Sativa Kernel Extract, Allantoin, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Lactic Acid
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Betaine is a humectant. Like hyaluronic acid, it helps attract and retain moisture in the skin. Itβs known for being gentle and for helping the skin maintain balanced hydration.
Betaine is mainly used to improve hydration and support calmer skin. It helps skin cells regulate water balance because it functions as an osmolyte.
Some studies suggest betaine may support making skin tone more even.
Fun fact: Betaine naturally exists in the skin and the body. In cosmetic products, it can be either plant-derived (most commonly from sugar beets) or synthetically produced for consistency and stability.
Betaine is also known as trimethylglycine.
Learn more about BetaineCoco-Glucoside is a surfactant, or a cleansing ingredient. It is made from glucose and coconut oil.
Surfactants help gather dirt, oil, and other pollutants from your skin to be rinsed away.
This ingredient is considered gentle and non-comedogenic. However, it may still be irritating for some.
Learn more about Coco-GlucosideDisodium Cocoamphodiacetate is a surfactant and helps cleanse skin. It is created from the fatty acids of coconut oil.
Surfactants help rinse oil, dirt, and other pollutants easily from skin. It has a faint fruit-like scent.
Ethylhexylglycerin is created from glycerin. It is a multitasker ingredient that:
The CIR Expert Panel found minimal skin absorption or sensitization of any kind in a safety assessment. Though this ingredient is considered well-tolerated, a small number of cases of allergic dermatitis have been published since 2002. Just be sure to patch test if you are unsure.
Industry-reported use ranges from 8% in rinse-off products and 2% in leave-on formulations.
Learn more about EthylhexylglycerinGlycerin (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 Oleate is the monoester of glycerin and oleic acid. It is a skin-conditioning emollient that also helps form emulsions.
What makes glyceryl oleate special is its "re-fatting" effect.
When you wash your hair and skin with a surfactant-based cleanser, the surfactants grab onto everything. This includes your skin's natural lipids, or the fats that live in your skin barrier and sebum. Once you rinse these surfactants away, it leaves your skin feeling tight, dry, and clean (in a not-good way).
Re-fatting is essentially putting some of these lipids back. Glyceryl oleate deposits a thin layer of emollient lipids back on the skin or hair surface reduce some of the barrier damage.
Also, glyceryl oleate isn't a foreign molecule to your skin. It's chemically identical to something your skin already produces and manages naturally. This is why it tends to be well-tolerated with low risk of irritation.
Typical use levels range from 0.5-5%.
Glyceryl Oleate has a function of "perfuming" in the CosIng database. This just means that the ingredient has some scent character that can contribute to the product's overall smell.
The scent of this ingredient is described as "waxy".
As an ester of oleic acid, this ingredient may not be fungal acne safe. This is because oleic acid falls into the carbon-chain length that Malassezia can use as a substrate.
Learn more about Glyceryl OleatePhenoxyethanol is a preservative that has germicide, antimicrobial, and aromatic properties. Studies show that phenoxyethanol can prevent microbial growth. By itself, it has a scent that is similar to that of a rose.
It's often used in formulations along with Caprylyl Glycol to preserve the shelf life of products.
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
