What's inside
What's inside
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
Cleansing
Behentrimonium Methosulfate
Cetearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Carthamus Tinctorius Seed Oil
Masking
Olea Europaea Fruit Oil
Masking
Lanolin Oil
Emollient
Dimethicone
Emollient
Cetyl Alcohol
Emollient
Cholesterol
Emollient
Phenyl Trimethicone
Skin Conditioning
Dimethicone PEG-7 Cocoate
Emollient
Tridecyl Stearate
Emollient
Neopentyl Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate
EmollientTridecyl Trimellitate
EmollientC12-15 Alkyl Benzoate
AntimicrobialTriticum Vulgare Germ Oil
Emollient
Panthenol
Skin Conditioning
Dicetyldimonium Chloride
EmulsifyingWater, Glycerin, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Carthamus Tinctorius Seed Oil, Olea Europaea Fruit Oil, Lanolin Oil, Dimethicone, Cetyl Alcohol, Cholesterol, Phenyl Trimethicone, Dimethicone PEG-7 Cocoate, Tridecyl Stearate, Neopentyl Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, Tridecyl Trimellitate, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Triticum Vulgare Germ Oil, Panthenol, Dicetyldimonium Chloride
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Behentrimonium 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 AlcoholCholesterol is a lipid that is naturally found in human skin and is one of the three key components of your skin barrier. In skincare, it is an emollient and barrier-repairing ingredient.
It works by fitting directly into the lipid layers of skin to help restore structure and reduce transepidermal water loss (TEWL).
This is a great ingredient for dry, compromised, or aging skin; our skin starts to produce less cholesterol with age.
Research shows cholesterol works best in combination with ceramides and fatty acids, the other two major components in your skin barrier.
Cholesterol is also a well-establish penetration enhancer and can help other actives absorb more effectively.
Cosmetic-grade cholesterol is usually derived from lanolin but plant and synthetic options also exist. We recommend reaching out to the brand if you have questions about their source of cholesterol.
Learn more about CholesterolGlycerin (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
