What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Hydrocortisone 1%
Alcohol Denat.
Antimicrobial
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin Conditioning
Avena Sativa Kernel Extract
Abrasive
Dextrin
AbsorbentDimethicone
Emollient
Disodium EDTA
Glycerin
Humectant
Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer
Emulsion StabilisingIsohexadecane
EmollientMaltodextrin
Absorbent
Menthyl Lactate
Masking
Methyl Gluceth-20
Humectant
Methylparaben
Preservative
Polysorbate 60
Emulsifying
PPG-3 Benzyl Ether Myristate
EmollientPropylparaben
Preservative
Sodium Citrate
BufferingWater
Skin ConditioningHydrocortisone 1%, Alcohol Denat., Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Avena Sativa Kernel Extract, Dextrin, Dimethicone, Disodium EDTA, Glycerin, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Isohexadecane, Maltodextrin, Menthyl Lactate, Methyl Gluceth-20, Methylparaben, Polysorbate 60, PPG-3 Benzyl Ether Myristate, Propylparaben, Sodium Citrate, Water
Hydrocortisone 1%
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin Conditioning
Aluminum Sulfate
Astringent
Calcium Acetate
MaskingCetearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Cetyl Alcohol
Emollient
Cholecalciferol
Dextrin
AbsorbentGlycerin
Humectant
Isopropyl Palmitate
Emollient
Paraffinum Liquidum
Emollient
Maltodextrin
Absorbent
Methylparaben
Preservative
Propylene Glycol
Humectant
Propylparaben
Preservative
Water
Skin ConditioningRetinyl Palmitate
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate
Cleansing
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
Cleansing
Tocopherol
Antioxidant
Petrolatum
Emollient
Palau White Clay
HumectantZea Mays Oil
Emulsifying
Hydrocortisone 1%, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Aluminum Sulfate, Calcium Acetate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Cholecalciferol, Dextrin, Glycerin, Isopropyl Palmitate, Paraffinum Liquidum, Maltodextrin, Methylparaben, Propylene Glycol, Propylparaben, Water, Retinyl Palmitate, Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Tocopherol, Petrolatum, Palau White Clay, Zea Mays Oil
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 JuiceDextrin is used to thicken a product and helps bind ingredients together. It is created from starch and glycogen.
As an emulsifier, dextrin prevents ingredients from separating. This helps elongate a product's shelf life.
Studies show coating UV filters with dextrin prevents these ingredients from being absorbed. This helps UV ingredients last longer on the skin.
Learn more about DextrinGlycerin (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 GlycerinMaltodextrin is a polysaccharide. It is derived from starch such as rice, corn, wheat, or potato starch.
In food, Maltodextrin is used to improve the texture and thicken a product. Due to its structure, it can help create a gel texture. As an emulsion stabilizer, it helps keep the ingredients in a product together.
As a polysaccharide, Maltodextrin has moisturizing properties. Polysaccharides are a type of carbohydrate. The top layer of skin uses polysaccharides to retain water, keeping the skin hydrated.
Maltodextrin is water soluble and has a sweet taste.
Learn more about MaltodextrinMethylparaben is a synthetic preservative and one of the most widely used in the world. It has a simple, but important job: prevent your products from going bad by stopping bacteria, yeast, and mold from growing.
Typical use levels are low, often 0.1-0.3%.
This is also one of the most heavily studied preservatives out there and major regulatory bodies have repeatedly given it the green light.
In 2023, the EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) confirmed that this ingredient is safe up to 0.4% on its own, of up to 0.8% when mixed with other paraben esters.
Here's the science behind the noise behind parabens/hormones as well:
Methylparaben shows very weak estrogen-like activity in vitro tests (more than 1,000x weaker than your body's own estradiol). In vivo (live-organism) studies don't support a meaningful endocrine-disrupting effect either.
You get a stronger estrogenic effect from eating tofu, actually.
It's also a low sensitizer and allergic reactions are uncommon; they usually happen on damage or broken skin.
There is a caveat: France has proposed to formally re-examine its endocrine classification in 2025 so the regulatory conversation isn't fully closed as of yet.
But as it stands today, this ingredient is considered safe at permitted levels.
Learn more about MethylparabenPropylparaben is a preservative and one of the most widely used members of the paraben family (it's been used in cosmetics for over a century now).
It works by disrupting microbial cell membranes and enzymes, and is a broad-spectrum protector that works exceptionally well against molds, yeasts, and gram-positive bacteria.
You'll likely see it paired with methylparaben to cover the full range (including gram-negative bacteria).
This ingredient is effective at low concentrations (~0.2-0.5%) and stable across a wide pH range (4.5-7.5 pH). It's effectiveness drops off above pH 8 and it can lose potency when combined with non-ionic surfactants like polysorbate 80 due to micellization.
The regulatory bodies have concluded this ingredient to be safe as used in cosmetics. The EU has capped it at 0.14% and combined parabens are not to exceed 0.8%.
While parabens do cross the stratum corneum, only about 1% remains for absorption into the body. This is because most of it is metabolized within living skin.
Learn more about PropylparabenWater. 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 WaterHydrocortisone is the name for the hormone cortisol when used in medication.
It is medication and not technically a cosmetic ingredient. Most countries allow topical creams to contain up between 0.05 - 2.5% (depending on the country) of hydrocortisone without a prescription. Higher amounts usually require a prescription from a professional.
Hydrocortisone can help relieve rashes, eczema, itching, and other inflammation induced skin conditions.
We recommend speaking with a professional about using this ingredient.
Learn more about Hydrocortisone
