Bioeffect EGF Serum Versus Bioeffect EGF Essence
This anti-aging essence is formulated around Sh-Oligopeptide-1 to soften the look of wrinkles and fade the look of dark spots.
What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
No concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
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 GlycerinThis ingredient is also known as barley seed extract. It's a water or glycol-based extract pressed from barley grain and used in skincare for its soothing, moisture-supporting, and antioxidant properties.
Its active parts are beta-glucans (a sugar-like fiber that holds water on the skin and calms visible redness), polyphenols, amino acids, and trace minerals like zinc that help protect skin from free radicals.
Lab tests on human skin cells showed this ingredient helped cells survive and repair after UVB exposure and dialed down the enzymes that break down collagen.
The industry's independent safety panel reviewed barley-derived ingredients in 2026 and found them safe in cosmetics.
Industry reported leave-on concentrations for various extracts generally land at or below 1-2%.
Allergy-wise, the main real-world concern is that barley is a recognized food allergen. People with a diagnosed barley or grain allergy should patch-test or avoid it.
Learn more about Hordeum Vulgare Seed ExtractChances are, you eat sodium chloride every day. Sodium Chloride is also known as table salt. This ingredient has many purposes in skincare: thickener, emulsifier, and exfoliator.
You'll most likely find this ingredient in cleansers where it is used to create a gel-like texture. As an emulsifier, it also prevents ingredients from separating.
You might see people debate whether Sodium Chloride is comedogenic, but there actually haven't been any comedogenic tests done on it. Either way, the overall formulation of a product matters a lot more than any single ingredient.
You might see this ingredient used in scrubs as a primary exfoliating ingredient.
Learn more about Sodium ChlorideWater. 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
