What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Propylene Glycol
Humectant
Propanediol
Solvent
Water
Skin ConditioningSodium Stearate
CleansingGlycerin
Humectant
Saccharomyces Ferment Filtrate
Humectant
Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside
CleansingSorbitan Oleate Decylglucoside Crosspolymer
CleansingDiatomaceous Earth
Abrasive
Tapioca Starch
Hydrolyzed Jojoba Esters
Skin Conditioning
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin Conditioning
Panax Quinquefolius Root Extract
AstringentSodium Cocoyl Glutamate
Cleansing
Glyceryl Caprylate
EmollientSodium Chloride
MaskingCitric Acid
Buffering
Polyglyceryl-6 Oleate
Emulsifying
Sodium Surfactin
CleansingPropylene Glycol, Propanediol, Water, Sodium Stearate, Glycerin, Saccharomyces Ferment Filtrate, Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside, Sorbitan Oleate Decylglucoside Crosspolymer, Diatomaceous Earth, Tapioca Starch, Hydrolyzed Jojoba Esters, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Panax Quinquefolius Root Extract, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Glyceryl Caprylate, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Polyglyceryl-6 Oleate, Sodium Surfactin
Propylene Glycol
Humectant
Water
Skin ConditioningSodium Stearate
CleansingPropanediol
Solvent
Diatomaceous Earth
Abrasive
Silica
Abrasive
Saccharomyces Ferment Filtrate
Humectant
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin Conditioning
Opuntia Ficus-Indica Seed Oil
Emollient
Lactobacillus Ferment
Skin Conditioning
Cocos Nucifera Fruit Extract
Emollient
Cereus Grandiflorus Flower Extract
Skin ConditioningKaolin
Abrasive
Tapioca Starch
Glycerin
Humectant
Sorbitan Stearate
Emulsifying
Stearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningCaprylyl/Capryl Glucoside
CleansingPolyglyceryl-10 Caprylate
EmulsifyingPolyglyceryl-5 Oleate
Emulsifying
Glyceryl Caprylate
EmollientSodium Cocoyl Glutamate
Cleansing
Citric Acid
Buffering
Propylene Glycol, Water, Sodium Stearate, Propanediol, Diatomaceous Earth, Silica, Saccharomyces Ferment Filtrate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Opuntia Ficus-Indica Seed Oil, Lactobacillus Ferment, Cocos Nucifera Fruit Extract, Cereus Grandiflorus Flower Extract, Kaolin, Tapioca Starch, Glycerin, Sorbitan Stearate, Stearyl Alcohol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside, Polyglyceryl-10 Caprylate, Polyglyceryl-5 Oleate, Glyceryl Caprylate, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Citric Acid
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice comes from leaves of the aloe plant. Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice is best known for helping to soothe sunburns. It is also anti-inflammatory, moisturizing, antiseptic, and can help heal wounds.
Aloe is packed with good stuff including Vitamins A, C, and E. These vitamins are antioxidants, which help fight free-radicals and the damage they may cause. Free-radicals are molecules that may damage your skin cells, such as pollution.
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice also contains sugars. These sugars come in the form of monosaccharides and polysaccharides, folic acid, and choline. These sugars are able to help bind moisture to skin.
It also contains minerals such as calcium, 12 anthraquinones, fatty acids, amino acids, and Vitamin B12.
Learn more about Aloe Barbadensis Leaf JuiceThis ingredient is a mild surfactant made by sticking glucose onto a blend of fatty acids.
It does two jobs because it has a sugar head that loves water and a fatty tail that loves oil:
Typical use levels range from 10-20% in cleansers and 15-30% in shower products.
Once on your skin, your skin's glucoside hydrolases breaks it down into glucose and the parent fatty alcohols.
This ingredient is considered fungal acne safe because its fatty alcohol portion sits outside the Malassezia yeast's metabolization range.
Learn more about Caprylyl/Capryl GlucosideCitric Acid is an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) naturally found in citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, and limes.
Like other AHAs, citric acid can exfoliate skin by breaking down the bonds that hold dead skin cells together. This helps reveal smoother and brighter skin underneath.
However, this exfoliating effect only happens at high concentrations (20%) which can be hard to find in cosmetic products.
Due to this, citric acid is usually included in small amounts as a pH adjuster. This helps keep products slightly more acidic and compatible with skin's natural pH.
In skincare formulas, citric acid can:
While it can provide some skin benefits, research shows lactic acid and glycolic acid are generally more effective and less irritating exfoliants.
Most citric acid used in skincare today is made by fermenting sugars (usually from molasses). This synthetic version is identical to the natural citrus form but easier to stabilize and use in formulations.
Read more about some other popular AHA's here:
Learn more about Citric AcidDiatomaceous Earth is an exfoliant. It can be good for oily skin.
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 Caprylate comes from glycerin and caprylic acid. It is an emollient, co-emulsifier, and preservative booster.
Its short C8 fatty acid chain makes it behave differently from its longer-chain emollient cousins like Glyceryl Stearate. It feels more lightweight, fast-absorbing, and silky instead of rich and waxy.
As a co-emulsifier, its "head" and "tail" sit at the oil-water interface. But overall, the short C8 tail and not being water soluble means it doesn't really have the muscle to emulsify a formula on its own. That's why you'll often see it paired with a primary emulsifier like Cetearyl Glucoside.
Interestingly, Glyceryl Caprylate acts as a preservative booster. This is because its fatty-acid backbone disrupts microbial lipid membranes. It shows excellent activity against bacteria and yeast but is weaker against mold.
Typical concentrations range from 0.5-1% and this ingredient is generally non-irritating.
Because this ingredient has a C8 fatty acid chain, it is outside the range that the Malassezia yeast metabolizes (making it fungal acne safe).
Learn more about Glyceryl CaprylatePropanediol is an all-star ingredient. It softens, hydrates, and smooths the skin.Â
It’s often used to:
Propanediol is not likely to cause sensitivity and considered safe to use. It is derived from corn or petroleum with a clear color and no scent.
Learn more about PropanediolPropylene Glycol is a synthetic, colorless, odorless liquid that has been a staple in cosmetics for decades. It is a skin conditioning agent, humectant, and solvent.
As a humectant, it draw water to the skin to reduce flaking and restore suppleness. It's also a solvent that helps dissolve other actives and keeps formulas stable across temperature changes.
The CIR Expert Panel has confirmed this ingredient to be nontoxic and clinical studies show no sensitization at cosmetic use concentrations.
True allergic reactions are quite rare: a 15-year retrospective study of 6,751 patients found only 0.31% had a positive reaction (and less than half were considered clinically relevant).
It seemed that when sensitization does occur, it's most commonly linked to topical medication (like corticosteroids) and not cosmetics. Allergic contact dermatitis also appears largely limited to individuals with underlying skin conditions.
Overall, propylene glycol is a well-studied ingredient that most people can tolerate without issue.
Learn more about Propylene GlycolSaccharomyces Ferment Filtrate is created from fermenting Saccharomyces, a yeast also known as baker's yeast or brewer's yeast.
As a humectant, Saccharomyces Ferment Filtrate helps draw moisture from the air to your skin to keep your skin hydrated. The humectant properties comes from its beta-glucan content.
Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate is a gentle cleanser and surfactant. It is the sodium salt of the Cocoyl Glutamic Acid and comes from coconut oil. As a surfactant, it helps lift dirt and oil to be washed away.
Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate also has an emolliating effect and can help leave the skin feeling soft.
Sodium stearate is the sodium salt of stearic acid.
The structure of sodium stearate makes it both a cleanser and emulsifier. As a cleanser, it helps dissolve dirt, oil, and other pollutants. As an emulsifier, it helps prevent ingredients from separating. This adds stability to the formula.
Tapioca starch is a thickening agent and is made from the cassava root, also known as yucca.
According to a manufacturer, it is an excellent talc replacement.
It is gluten-free.
Learn more about Tapioca StarchWater. 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
