What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningAloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin Conditioning
Cetearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Glycerin
Humectant
Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil
Emollient
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Masking
Behentrimonium Chloride
Preservative
Psidium Guajava Fruit Extract
AstringentTerminalia Ferdinandiana Fruit Extract
Antioxidant
Persea Gratissima Oil
Skin Conditioning
Annona Muricata Fruit Extract
Skin ConditioningDipropylene Glycol
HumectantPhenoxyethanol
Preservative
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningLeuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate
Antimicrobial
Maltodextrin
Absorbent
Parfum
Masking
Benzyl Alcohol
Perfuming
Benzyl Benzoate
Antimicrobial
Benzyl Salicylate
Perfuming
Limonene
Perfuming
Hydroxycitronellal
Perfuming
Water, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Behentrimonium Chloride, Psidium Guajava Fruit Extract, Terminalia Ferdinandiana Fruit Extract, Persea Gratissima Oil, Annona Muricata Fruit Extract, Dipropylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Maltodextrin, Parfum, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Limonene, Hydroxycitronellal
Water
Skin ConditioningAloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin Conditioning
Cocos Nucifera Oil
Masking
Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil
Emollient
Carthamus Tinctorius Seed Oil
Masking
Persea Gratissima Oil
Skin Conditioning
Polyquaternium-37
Tocopheryl Acetate
Antioxidant
Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate
EmollientPEG-50 Shea Butter
Emulsifying
Glycerin
Humectant
Cetrimonium Chloride
Antimicrobial
Hydrolyzed Keratin
Humectant
Panthenyl Hydroxypropyl Steardimonium Chloride
Sodium PCA
Humectant
Polyquaternium-7
Parfum
Masking
PPG-1 Trideceth-6
Skin ConditioningDehydroacetic Acid
Preservative
Benzyl Alcohol
Perfuming
Water, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Cocos Nucifera Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Carthamus Tinctorius Seed Oil, Persea Gratissima Oil, Polyquaternium-37, Tocopheryl Acetate, Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, PEG-50 Shea Butter, Glycerin, Cetrimonium Chloride, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Panthenyl Hydroxypropyl Steardimonium Chloride, Sodium PCA, Polyquaternium-7, Parfum, PPG-1 Trideceth-6, Dehydroacetic Acid, Benzyl Alcohol
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 JuiceBenzyl Alcohol is most commonly used as a preservative. It also has a subtle, sweet smell. Small amounts of Benzyl Alcohol is not irritating and safe to use in skincare products. Most Benzyl Alcohol is derived from fruits such as apricots.
Benzyl Alcohol has both antibacterial and antioxidant properties. These properties help lengthen the shelf life of products. Benzyl Alcohol is a solvent and helps dissolve other ingredients. It can also improve the texture and spreadability.
Alcohol comes in many different forms. Different types of alcohol will have different effects on skin. This ingredient is an astringent alcohol.
Using high concentrations of these alcohols are drying on the skin. They may strip away your skin's natural oils and even damage your skin barrier. Astringent alcohols may also irritate skin.
Other types of astringent alcohols include:
According to the National Rosacea Society based in the US, you should be mindful of products with these alcohols in the top half of ingredients.
Any type of sanitizing product will have high amounts of alcohol to help kill bacteria and viruses.
Learn more about Benzyl AlcoholGlycerin (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 GlycerinParfum is a catch-all term for an ingredient or more that is used to give a scent to products.
Also called "fragrance", this ingredient can be a blend of hundreds of chemicals or plant oils. This means every product with "fragrance" or "parfum" in the ingredients list is a different mixture.
For instance, Habanolide is a proprietary trade name for a specific aroma chemical. When used as a fragrance ingredient in cosmetics, most aroma chemicals fall under the broad labeling category of “FRAGRANCE” or “PARFUM” according to EU and US regulations.
The term 'parfum' or 'fragrance' is not regulated in many countries. In many cases, it is up to the brand to define this term.
For instance, many brands choose to label themselves as "fragrance-free" because they are not using synthetic fragrances. However, their products may still contain ingredients such as essential oils that are considered a fragrance by INCI standards.
One example is Calendula flower extract. Calendula is an essential oil that still imparts a scent or 'fragrance'.
Depending on the blend, the ingredients in the mixture can cause allergies and sensitivities on the skin. Some ingredients that are known EU allergens include linalool and citronellol.
Parfum can also be used to mask or cover an unpleasant scent.
The bottom line is: not all fragrances/parfum/ingredients are created equally. If you are worried about fragrances, we recommend taking a closer look at an ingredient. And of course, we always recommend speaking with a professional.
Learn more about ParfumThis ingredient is also known as Avocado oil. It's the cold-pressed oil from the flesh of the avocado fruit packed with fatty acids (mostly oleic acid).
The rich fatty acid profile allows it to function as a skin conditioning agent and emollient; it helps soften and smooth skin while reducing water loss.
Preclinical research has found that topical avocado oil increased collagen synthesis and reduced inflammation during wound healing, giving it some skin-repairing credibility.
The unsaponifiable fraction of the oil is also interesting: studies on avocado unsaponifiables showed that it helped skin produce more collagen and other structural compounds that support healing.
The CIR Expert Panel has found this ingredient to be non-irritating in formulations.
It's a great ingredient for dry or compromised skin. Just know it may not be fungal acne safe. This is because the oleic acid content falls within the range that Malassezia can use as a food source.
Learn more about Persea Gratissima OilJojoba oil is one of the most well-studied plant-derived ingredients in cosmetics. It is an emollient with a special structure.
Because it is made up of 97-98% wax esters, it closely mirrors the linear monoesters found in human sebum. This makes it skin compatible, non-greasy, and lightweight.
Unlike other plant oils, jojoba wax doesn't easily penetrate skin. It mostly works in the uppermost layers as an emollient. This just means it forms a light barrier on the skin to help retain moisture.
Formulations with jojoba esters up to 90% reduced transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and increased barrier recovery by 81% (outperforming bisabolol at 47%).
Besides barrier support, the science also suggests jojoba to have anti-inflammatory effects and potential applications for skin infections, aging, and wound healing.
Fun fact: Indigenous cultures have used jojoba as a moisturizer and to help treat burns for centuries.
Due to its fatty acid content, Jojoba oil may not be fungal acne safe.
Learn more about Simmondsia Chinensis Seed OilWater. 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
