What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Isopropyl Palmitate
Emollient
Butyrospermum Parkii Butter
Skin Conditioning
Propanediol
Solvent
Cetyl Alcohol
Emollient
Myristyl Myristate
Emollient
Zea Mays Starch
Absorbent
Niacinamide
Smoothing
Ophiopogon Japonicus Root Extract
Skin ConditioningCarbomer
Emulsion StabilisingSodium Hydroxide
BufferingMannose
HumectantHydroxyacetophenone
Antioxidant
Caprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Vitreoscilla Ferment
Skin Conditioning
Citric Acid
Buffering
Maltodextrin
Absorbent
Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate
Emulsifying
Tocopherol
Antioxidant
Water, Glycerin, Isopropyl Palmitate, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Propanediol, Cetyl Alcohol, Myristyl Myristate, Zea Mays Starch, Niacinamide, Ophiopogon Japonicus Root Extract, Carbomer, Sodium Hydroxide, Mannose, Hydroxyacetophenone, Caprylyl Glycol, Vitreoscilla Ferment, Citric Acid, Maltodextrin, Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate, Tocopherol
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 GlycerinIsopropyl Palmitate is a lightweight emollient made by combining isopropyl alcohol and palmitic acid.
It is an emollient that leaves skin feeling smooth and silky without leaving a greasy feel.
Typical usage concentrations range from 1-5%.
Human testing shows it's non-irritating and non-sensitizing, and the EU Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) has cleared it at very high levels (79% in leave-on products).
The one thing worth knowing about its comedogenic score of 3-4 is to keep it in perspective: these ratings come from old rabbit-ear tests using 100% of pure ingredient and doesn't reflect how it behaves at low levels in a finished product.
Because it is an ester of palmitic acid (C16), it falls into the range that the Malassezia yeast can feed on and is considered not fungal acne safe.
Learn more about Isopropyl PalmitateWater. 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
