What's inside

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

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Water

Skin Conditioning

Polysorbate 60

Emulsifying
Not safe for Fungal Acne Icon

Lactic Acid

Buffering
AHA IconHelps with Anti-Aging IconHelps brighten skin IconGood for Oily Skin IconGood for Minimizing Pores IconGood for Scar Healing IconGood for Dark Spots IconGood for Skin Texture IconMay worsen Eczema IconMay worsen Rosacea Icon

Isopropyl Myristate

Emollient
3-5 / 3 Bad for Acne Prone Skin IconMay worsen Oily Skin IconNot safe for Fungal Acne Icon

Glyceryl Stearate

Emollient
1 / 0 Not safe for Fungal Acne Icon

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Absorbs Well 33% Drying 33% Expensive 33%

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.

BHT
Masking, Antioxidant

BHT is a synthetic antioxidant and preservative.

As an antioxidant, it helps your body fight off free-radicals. Free-radicals are molecules that may damage your skin cells.

As a preservative, it is used to stabilize products and prevent them from degrading. Specifically, BHT prevents degradation from oxidation.

The concerns related to BHT come from oral studies; this ingredient is currently allowed for use by both the FDA and EU.

However, it was recently restricted for use in the UK as of April 2024.

Learn more about BHT
Skin Conditioning

Retinol is a gold-standard ingredient for anti-aging. It is a form of Vitamin A and belongs to the class of retinoids that also includes tretinoin.

Why is retinol famous?

It has the most scientific studies backing up its skin benefits out of all the non-prescription ingredients.

Retinol is proven to:

This is why retinol is effective at removing wrinkles, fading dark spots, treating acne, and reducing the appearance of pores.

Studies show retinol is less effective when exposed to UV. Be sure to look for appropriate packaging to keep your retinol potent (similar to Vitamin C).

Using retinol or any retinoids will increase sun-sensitivity in the first few months. Though studies show retinoids increase your skin's natural SPF with continuous use, it is best to always wear sunscreen and sun-protection.

We recommend speaking with a medical professional about using this ingredient during pregnancy.

Retinol may cause irritation in some people, so be sure to patch test. Experts recommend 'ramping up' retinol use: start using this ingredient once a week and work up to using it daily.

Read about Tretinoin

Learn more about Retinol
Masking, Skin Conditioning, Antioxidant

Tocopherol (also known as Vitamin E) is a common antioxidant used to help protect the skin from free-radicals and strengthen the skin barrier. It's also fat soluble - this means our skin is great at absorbing it.

Vitamin E also helps keep your natural skin lipids healthy. Your lipid skin barrier naturally consists of lipids, ceramides, and fatty acids. Vitamin E offers extra protection for your skin’s lipid barrier, keeping your skin healthy and nourished.

Another benefit is a bit of UV protection. Vitamin E helps reduce the damage caused by UVB rays. (It should not replace your sunscreen). Combining it with Vitamin C can decrease sunburned cells and hyperpigmentation after UV exposure.

You might have noticed Vitamin E + C often paired together. This is because it is great at stabilizing Vitamin C. Using the two together helps increase the effectiveness of both ingredients.

There are often claims that Vitamin E can reduce/prevent scarring, but these claims haven't been confirmed by scientific research.

Learn more about Tocopherol

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