What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Isopropyl Palmitate
Emollient
Behentrimonium Chloride
Preservative
Cetearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Brassica Alcohol
Emollient
Cetyl Esters
Emollient
Cetrimonium Chloride
Antimicrobial
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin Conditioning
Avena Sativa Bran Extract
Abrasive
Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract
Antimicrobial
Limnanthes Alba Seed Oil
Skin Conditioning
Tocopheryl Acetate
Antioxidant
Panthenol
Skin Conditioning
Vitis Vinifera Seed Oil
Emollient
Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil
Emollient
Brassicyl Isoleucinate Esylate
Emulsion StabilisingBehentrimonium Methosulfate
Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate
Antimicrobial
Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride
Skin ConditioningArginine
Masking
Citric Acid
Buffering
Potassium Sorbate
Preservative
Sodium Benzoate
Masking
Dehydroacetic Acid
Preservative
Benzyl Alcohol
Perfuming
Water, Glycerin, Isopropyl Palmitate, Behentrimonium Chloride, Cetearyl Alcohol, Brassica Alcohol, Cetyl Esters, Cetrimonium Chloride, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Avena Sativa Bran Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Limnanthes Alba Seed Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Panthenol, Vitis Vinifera Seed Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Brassicyl Isoleucinate Esylate, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Arginine, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Dehydroacetic Acid, Benzyl Alcohol
Water
Skin ConditioningAloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin Conditioning
Cetearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Glycerin
Humectant
Behentrimonium Methosulfate
Stearalkonium Chloride
Preservative
Butyrospermum Parkii Butter
Skin Conditioning
Honey
Humectant
Citric Acid
Buffering
Sodium Levulinate
Skin ConditioningPotassium Sorbate
Preservative
Cocos Nucifera Oil
Masking
Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil
Masking
Colloidal Oatmeal
Absorbent
Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride
Skin ConditioningSodium Gluconate
Skin ConditioningTocopherol
Antioxidant
Vaccinium Macrocarpon Seed Oil
Skin Conditioning
Swertia Japonica Extract
Skin ConditioningStearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Thiamine Hcl
MaskingLeuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate
Antimicrobial
Water, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Stearalkonium Chloride, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Honey, Citric Acid, Sodium Levulinate, Potassium Sorbate, Cocos Nucifera Oil, Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil, Colloidal Oatmeal, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Sodium Gluconate, Tocopherol, Vaccinium Macrocarpon Seed Oil, Swertia Japonica Extract, Stearyl Alcohol, Thiamine Hcl, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate
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 JuiceBehentrimonium Methosulfate is an ammonium salt. It is mainly used to prevent static in haircare products as a surfactant.
Surfactants have differing ends: one side is hydrophilic while the other end is hydrophobic.
Surfactants also help your cleansers remove pollutants more easily from the skin.
Learn more about Behentrimonium MethosulfateCetearyl alcohol is a waxy mixture of two fatty alcohols: cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol. It is an emollient and emulsifier.
Despite having "alcohol" in its name, it has nothing to do with drying solvent alcohols; the FDA also allows "alcohol-free" products to contain fatty alcohols like this ingredient.
It plays several roles in a formula:
Typical use levels for this ingredient sit around 1-10% and the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel has affirmed safety at concentrations up to 25% in leave-on products.
Multiple assessments have found it to be non-irritating and non-sensitizing to most people.
However, there have been some cases of allergic contact dermatitis in patients with chronically compromised skin barriers.
Cetearyl alcohol has a comedogenic rating of 2 and irritancy rating of 1. Both of these numbers come from the 1989 study that used rabbit ears; a "2" means mildly comedogenic and a "1" means low irritancy.
Here's the catch: rabbit skin is more sensitive than human skin and throws a lot of false positives. A 1996 reappraisal found that ingredients rated 1-2 in the rabbit ear tests are generally safe for humans.
Remember comedogenic ratings are unable to assess the entire formula of a product or how it will react on your skin. Just be sure to patch test if you are unsure about certain ingredients.
This ingredient is not fungal acne safe. Cetearyl alcohol is a fatty alcohol with chain lengths that fall within the range that Malassezia can metabolize.
Learn more about Cetearyl AlcoholCitric 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 AcidGlycerin (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 derived from guar gum. It is a skin conditioning agent that creates a thin, breathable film to reduce water loss during cleansing.
This leaves the skin feeling soft rather than stripped and also contributes to a creamier lather.
Due to the large molecule size, this ingredient is unlikely to penetrate skin.
Learn more about Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium ChlorideLeuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate is a natural preservative. It comes from fermenting radish roots with a bacteria called leuconostoc. The trade name for this ingredient is Leucidal.
Leuconostoc comes from lactic acid.
This ingredient has antimicrobial properties and helps prevent the growth of bacteria in a product.
Leuconostoc is used to make the traditional Korean side-dish, kimchi. It is also used to make sourdough bread (both incredibly yummy foods).
Learn more about Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment FiltratePotassium Sorbate is a preservative used to prevent yeast and mold in products. It is commonly found in both cosmetic and food products.
This ingredient comes from potassium salt derived from sorbic acid. Sorbic acid is a natural antibiotic and effective against fungus.
Both potassium sorbate and sorbic acid can be found in baked goods, cheeses, dried meats, dried fruit, ice cream, pickles, wine, yogurt, and more.
You'll often find this ingredient used with other preservatives.
Learn more about Potassium SorbateWater. 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
