What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Persea Gratissima Oil
Skin Conditioning
Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil
Emollient
Rosa Rubiginosa Seed Oil
Emollient
Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil
Emollient
Aniba Rosaeodora Wood Oil
Astringent
Persea Gratissima Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Rosa Rubiginosa Seed Oil, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Aniba Rosaeodora Wood Oil, Pelargonium Graveolens Leaf Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Oil, Santalum Album Oil, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia Fruit Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia Oil, Cananga Odorata Flower Oil, Tocopherol
Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil
Emollient
Sesamum Indicum Seed Oil
Emollient
Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil
Emollient
Citrus Aurantium Bergamia Fruit Oil
Masking
Thuja Occidentalis Leaf Oil
Masking
Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Sesamum Indicum Seed Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia Fruit Oil, Thuja Occidentalis Leaf Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia Oil, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil, Citrus Medica Peel Oil, Salvia Sclarea Oil, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil, Aniba Rosaeodora Wood Oil, Tocopherol
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Rosewood essential oil is used as a fragrance or perfuming ingredient. It also has antibacterial and antioxidant properties.
This ingredient contains linalool, a known skin irritant.
Citrus Aurantium Bergamia Fruit Oil is the oil from the bergamot orange and is primarily used as a fragrance. It has a "fresh" and "bright orange" scent.
The main aroma compounds found in this ingredient are limonene (~27-52%), linalool (~2-22%), and linalyl acetate (~27-40%). These are known EU fragrance allergens.
The term '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.
When used topically, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia Fruit Oil is a photosensitizer due to the furanocoumarin content. Furanocoumarins absorb UV-A and cause phytophotodermatitis; this can look like redness, blistering, and lasting brown pigmentation on sun-exposed skin.
Due to this, this ingredient is capped at 0.4% in leave-on products applied to sun exposed skin.
Many modern formulas used a "furanocoumarin-free" version that sidesteps the phototoxicity issue, but still contains the fragrance allergens.
Learn more about Citrus Aurantium Bergamia Fruit OilLavandula Angustifolia Oil is more commonly known as lavender essential oil. It is considered a fragrancing ingredient.
Lavender imparts a famous scent. While the smell is lovely, this ingredient and may sensitize skin in topical products. This is because about 85% of the oil is made up of linalool and linalyl acetate.
When exposed to air, these two compounds become strong allergens. This ingredient exhibits cytotoxicity at low concentrations; amounts of 0.25% have been shown to damage skin cells.
A study from Japan found this ingredient caused lavender sensitivity after widespread exposure.
Lavender essential oil has some antimicrobial, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties. However, the cons of this ingredient may outweight the pros.
More research is needed to confirm lavender essential oil's effects when used in aromatherapy.
Lavandula Angustifolia is known as the English Lavender and famous for creating purple fields in Provence, France.
Learn more about Lavandula Angustifolia 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.
Fungal acne: The Malassezia yeast is known to metabolize fatty acids in the C11-24 range and jojoba's dominant fatty acid components fall into this range. This ingredient may not be fungal acne safe.
Learn more about Simmondsia Chinensis Seed OilTocopherol is a fat-soluble antioxidant known as Vitamin E.
You'll find this ingredient in the vast majority of skincare (for good reason). It works to neutralize free radicals, or unstable molecules generated by UV exposure, pollution, and other environmental stressors, before they can cause oxidative damage to your skin cells.
Topically applied tocopherol has been shown to protect against UV damage by ramping up the skin's own natural defense enzymes.
It also acts as a skin conditioning agent; some studies show that regular topical use can improve the skin's water-binding capacity over 2-4 weeks.
This ingredient is especially loved for being a team player. When combined with Vitamin C, the photoprotective effect of both ingredients roughly doubles and the combo also helps reduce UV-induced DNA damage.
This ingredient has some brightening potential but it's more of a prevention ingredient than spot-fader. Cell studies show it can slow down melanin production but it's worth noting that it's not the most powerful brightener out there.
In formulations, it also serves as a stabilizer that helps protect other oxidation-prone ingredients from degrading.
Concentrations usually range from 0.1-1% in most leave-on products.
Learn more about Tocopherol
