What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
No key ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningCaprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Masking
Glycerin
Humectant
Lactamide Mea
HumectantCetearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Glyceryl Stearate
Emollient
Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate
Cleansing1,2-Hexanediol
Skin Conditioning
Caprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Cetearyl Glucoside
Emulsifying
Ciclopirox Olamine
AntimicrobialCitric Acid
Buffering
Disodium Phosphate
BufferingGlycyrrhetinic Acid
Skin Conditioning
Hydroxyethylcellulose
Emulsion StabilisingPiroctone Olamine
Preservative
Serenoa Serrulata Fruit Extract
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Phosphate
BufferingSodium Phytate
Xanthan Gum
EmulsifyingWater, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glycerin, Lactamide Mea, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Cetearyl Glucoside, Ciclopirox Olamine, Citric Acid, Disodium Phosphate, Glycyrrhetinic Acid, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Piroctone Olamine, Serenoa Serrulata Fruit Extract, Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Phytate, Xanthan Gum
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Acetamide Mea
HumectantIsodecyl Neopentanoate
EmollientCyclopentasiloxane
Emollient
Pentylene Glycol
Skin Conditioning
Cetyl Alcohol
Emollient
Cyclohexasiloxane
Emollient
Sclerotium Gum
Emulsion StabilisingZinc PCA
Humectant
Piroctone Olamine
Preservative
Polyacrylamide
Polymethyl Methacrylate
Butylene Glycol
Humectant
Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate
Skin ConditioningC13-14 Isoparaffin
Emollient
Glyceryl Stearate
Emollient
PEG-100 Stearate
Surfactant
Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer
Emulsion StabilisingDimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Hydroxide
BufferingLaureth-7
EmulsifyingBiosaccharide Gum-2
Skin ConditioningDisodium EDTA
Hydroxyphenyl Propamidobenzoic Acid
Skin ConditioningAscorbyl Palmitate
Antioxidant
Water, Glycerin, Acetamide Mea, Isodecyl Neopentanoate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Pentylene Glycol, Cetyl Alcohol, Cyclohexasiloxane, Sclerotium Gum, Zinc PCA, Piroctone Olamine, Polyacrylamide, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Butylene Glycol, Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Sodium Hydroxide, Laureth-7, Biosaccharide Gum-2, Disodium EDTA, Hydroxyphenyl Propamidobenzoic Acid, Ascorbyl Palmitate
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
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 GlycerinGlyceryl Stearate is made by reacting glycerin with stearic acid (typically sourced from plant oils like palm or coconut). It's an emulsifier, emollient, and mild occlusive.
Emulsifiers help ingredients like oil and water stay mixed so your formula stays nicely blended and uniform in texture.
This ingredient is typically used in concentrations between 1-10%. Studies have found it to be non-sensitizing, non-phototoxic, and non-photoallergenic.
A close cousin of this ingredient is Glyceryl Stearate SE ("self-emulsifying"). This just has a small amount of sodium or potassium stearate added so it can emulsify without a co-emulsifier.
Since this ingredient is an ester of a C18 fatty acid, it may not be fungal acne safe. The Malassezia yeast can potentially metabolize within the C11-C24 range.
Fun fact: The human body also creates Glyceryl Stearate naturally.
Learn more about Glyceryl StearatePiroctone Olamine is a synthetic antifungal and preservative ingredient.
Its main job is to keep the yeast, Malassezia, in check; this yeast is linked to dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis, and fungal acne (a.k.a. Malassezia folliculitis).
The way it works is pretty neat:
It slips into the fungal cell and grabs onto iron ions that the yeast needs for its energy metabolism; this basically starves it out. But the full mechanism isn't 100% pinned down and some research also points it to interfering with ergosterol (a building block of the fungal cell membrane).
Besides antifungal action, it also has mild anti-inflammatory and soothing effects to help calm itchiness in the scalp.
Typical usage concentrations are low. The EU permits it to be a preservative up to 1% in rinse-off products and 0.5% in leave-on products.
Though it's generally well-tolerated, a small number of people may notice itching or irritation (as with any active).
Learn more about Piroctone OlamineWater. 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
