What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningButylene Glycol
Humectant
Glycerin
Humectant
PEG-150 Distearate
Emulsifying
Polysorbate 80
Emulsifying
Niacinamide
Smoothing
Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Water
MaskingMelissa Officinalis Flower/Leaf/Stem Water
Skin ConditioningMentha Piperita Leaf Water
Skin ConditioningSodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate
Antioxidant
Menthol
Masking
Pentylene Glycol
Skin Conditioning
Propylene Glycol
Humectant
PEG-240/Hdi Copolymer Bis-Decyltetradeceth-20 Ether
StabilisingPEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil
Emulsifying
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningCaprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Disodium EDTA
Trideceth-9
Emulsifying1,2-Hexanediol
Skin Conditioning
CI 42090
Cosmetic ColorantCI 19140
Cosmetic ColorantWater, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, PEG-150 Distearate, Polysorbate 80, Niacinamide, Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Water, Melissa Officinalis Flower/Leaf/Stem Water, Mentha Piperita Leaf Water, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Menthol, Pentylene Glycol, Propylene Glycol, PEG-240/Hdi Copolymer Bis-Decyltetradeceth-20 Ether, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Caprylyl Glycol, Disodium EDTA, Trideceth-9, 1,2-Hexanediol, CI 42090, CI 19140
Reviews
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
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 GlycerinPEG-150 Distearate is a hardworking ingredient that is usually found at the end of a lot of cleansers whose main job is to act as a micellar thickening agent for surfactant-based cleansers.
It works by physically linking up surfactant micelles already in a formula to bump up viscosity and gives products a pourable-but-not-runny body.
Safety-wise, it's been found safe in cosmetics with minimal skin irritation and no evidence of toxicity.
This ingredient may not be fungal acne safe; it's a diester of stearic acid (C18) that falls into the C11-24 range that the Malassezia yeast feeds on. In vitro studies have also shown the Malassezia can metabolize PEG stearates by cleaving the ester bond to release the fatty acid.
Learn more about PEG-150 DistearatePolysorbate 80 is a synthetic surfactant and emulsifier derived from sorbitol and oleic acid.
It reduces the surface tension between oil and water phases to help them stay mixed and stable in a formulation. In other words, it prevents your formulas from separating into an oily mess.
The CIR Expert Panel has evaluated the scientific data and found this ingredient to be safe, non-irritating, and non-sensitizing at concentrations up to 5% (it's even approved by the FDA as an OTC eye drop ingredient).
Learn more about Polysorbate 80Water. 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
