What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Sodium Sweetalmondamphoacetate
CleansingCoco-Betaine
Cleansing
Glutamic Acid
Humectant
Bifida Ferment Lysate
Skin Conditioning
Allantoin
Skin Conditioning
Lactobacillus Ferment
Skin Conditioning
Lactobacillus Ferment Lysate
Skin Conditioning
Xylitylglucoside
Humectant
Anhydroxylitol
Humectant
Xylitol
Humectant
Glucose
Humectant
Butyrospermum Parkii Butter
Skin Conditioning
Vitis Vinifera Seed Oil
Emollient
Panthenol
Skin Conditioning
Caprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Sodium Phytate
Hydroxyacetophenone
Antioxidant
1,2-Hexanediol
Skin Conditioning
Water, Glycerin, Sodium Sweetalmondamphoacetate, Coco-Betaine, Glutamic Acid, Bifida Ferment Lysate, Allantoin, Lactobacillus Ferment, Lactobacillus Ferment Lysate, Xylitylglucoside, Anhydroxylitol, Xylitol, Glucose, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Vitis Vinifera Seed Oil, Panthenol, Caprylyl Glycol, Sodium Phytate, Hydroxyacetophenone, 1,2-Hexanediol
Water
Skin ConditioningSodium Methyl Oleoyl Taurate
CleansingLauryl Glucoside
CleansingGlycerin
Humectant
Sodium Chloride
MaskingDipropylene Glycol
Humectant
Hydroxyacetophenone
Antioxidant
Bifida Ferment Lysate
Skin Conditioning
Lactobacillus Ferment Lysate
Skin Conditioning
Caprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Lonicera Japonica Flower Extract
Skin ConditioningTaraxacum Officinale Rhizome/Root Extract
Skin ConditioningAloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract
Emollient
Lactic Acid
Buffering
Sodium Sweetalmondamphoacetate
CleansingDisodium EDTA
Inulin
Skin Conditioning
1,2-Hexanediol
Skin Conditioning
Alpha-Glucan Oligosaccharide
Cleansing
Maltodextrin
Absorbent
Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate
Humectant
Water, Sodium Methyl Oleoyl Taurate, Lauryl Glucoside, Glycerin, Sodium Chloride, Dipropylene Glycol, Hydroxyacetophenone, Bifida Ferment Lysate, Lactobacillus Ferment Lysate, Caprylyl Glycol, Lonicera Japonica Flower Extract, Taraxacum Officinale Rhizome/Root Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Lactic Acid, Sodium Sweetalmondamphoacetate, Disodium EDTA, Inulin, 1,2-Hexanediol, Alpha-Glucan Oligosaccharide, Maltodextrin, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
1,2-Hexanediol is a synthetic liquid and another multi-functional powerhouse.
It is a:
- Humectant, drawing moisture into the skin
- Emollient, helping to soften skin
- Solvent, dispersing and stabilizing formulas
- Preservative booster, enhancing the antimicrobial activity of other preservatives
Bifida Ferment Lysate is a postbiotic ingredient made by fermenting Bifidobacterium to extract a nutrient-rich mix of peptides, amino acids, vitamins, organic acids, and polysaccharides.
These components are basically the building blocks that your skin already uses to stay hydrated, repair itself, and maintain its barrier. That's why this ingredient helps your skin hold onto moisture and stay resilient against irritation.
One in-vitro study found that this ingredient tells your skin cells to produce more of the proteins (filaggrin, loricrin, and involucrin) for building a strong and healthy barrier. This study also found this ingredient to be a solid antioxidant that helped neutralize damage against UV and pollution.
A study with people from 2010 found that sensitive, reactive skin using a cream with 10% of this ingredient for a month became noticeably less dry, less reactive, and harder to irritate compared to the group using a plain cream.
In short, this ingredient is a well-tolerated ingredient that can help with barrier repair, antioxidant protection, and calming reactive skin.
This ingredient is generally considered fungal acne (Malassezia) safe; Bifidobacterium is a bacterium, not a yeast or fungus.
The fungal acne concern with fermented ingredients mainly applies to yeast-derived ferments like Saccharomyces and Galactomyces, because those are in the same kingdom as Malassezia and could theoretically contain residual compounds that feed it.
Bifida is a completely different organism, so on its own it doesn't provide a food source for the Malassezia yeast that causes fungal acne.
Learn more about Bifida Ferment LysateCaprylyl Glycol is a humectant, skin conditioner, emollient, and preservative booster derived from either caprylic acid or synthetically created.
Typical use levels vary from 0.3-1% as a preservative booster and go up to 2% to condition skin.
Because it is not a free-fatty acid, this ingredient is fungal acne safe (there's nothing for Malassezia to feed on).
Learn more about Caprylyl GlycolGlycerin (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 GlycerinHydroxyacetophenone is a small phenolic molecule that earns its place in a formulas as an antioxidant and preservative booster.
As a phenol, it is able to neutralize free radicals to protect both the product and the skin from oxidative stress.
Though it can't kill microbes on its own, it works as a good supporting agent when combined with other preservatives like Phenoxyethanol or 1,2-Hexanediol.
This ingredient naturally occurs as piceol in Norwegian spruce needles (~0.4-1.1% dry weight and in cloudberries). Though the cosmetic-grade material is synthesized for purity and consistency.
You'll usually see it used at low levels and suppliers recommend up to 1% added to a water phase.
Safety testing was done at concentrations like 0.05% in SPF products and 0.5% in a Human Repeated Insult Patch Test. The safety evidence is assuring; this ingredient is safe for cosmetics in current use and also holds safety status as a food flavoring as well.
An honest caveat: the "soothing" and "anti-inflammatory" claims come mostly from supplier marketing rather than published clinical trials. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review's own literature search found no useful efficacy studies on this ingredient.
So the antioxidant and preservative-boosting roles are the well supported ones while the calming benefit is plausible but thinly evidenced.
Overall, this is a well-tolerated, low-irritation multitasker that quietly helps a formula stay fresh and stable.
Learn more about HydroxyacetophenoneLactobacillus Ferment Lysate is a postbiotic with skin soothing properties. Postbiotics are inactive molecules produced by probiotic bacteria that provide skin benefits.
This ingredient comes from the secretion of the bacteria, Lactobacillus.
Studies show this ingredient can help calm redness and may help treat the signs of photoaging; however, the evidence is inconclusive and further studies are needed.
Lactobacillus Ferment is generally considered safe for fungal-acne prone skin. The key thing to understand is that it comes from bacteria, not yeast or fungus.
Yeast-derived ferments (like galactomyces) have been shown to activate a protein that's linked to Malassezia-related skin issues whereas lactobacillus doesn't have that problem.
Its byproducts also don't contain the types of fatty acids (C11-24 chain lengths) that Malassezia feeds on.
Learn more about Lactobacillus Ferment LysateWe don't have a description for Sodium Sweetalmondamphoacetate yet.
Water. 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
