What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningPoloxamer 184
EmulsifyingPEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate
Emulsifying
Propanediol
Solvent
Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid
Humectant
Alpha-Arbutin
Antioxidant
Niacinamide
Smoothing
Lactic Acid
Buffering
Panthenol
Skin Conditioning
Butylene Glycol
Humectant
Hexylene Glycol
EmulsifyingSodium Benzoate
Masking
Sodium Cocoamphoacetate
CleansingDecyl Glucoside
Cleansing
Sodium Chloride
MaskingCitric Acid
Buffering
Centella Asiatica Extract
Cleansing
Tetrasodium EDTA
Water, Poloxamer 184, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Propanediol, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Alpha-Arbutin, Niacinamide, Lactic Acid, Panthenol, Butylene Glycol, Hexylene Glycol, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Decyl Glucoside, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Centella Asiatica Extract, Tetrasodium EDTA
Water
Skin ConditioningHexylene Glycol
EmulsifyingPoloxamer 184
EmulsifyingDecyl Glucoside
Cleansing
Glycerin
Humectant
Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate
CleansingAllantoin
Skin Conditioning
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil
Emulsifying
Caprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Sodium Chloride
MaskingCitric Acid
Buffering
Hyaluronic Acid
Humectant
Sodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid
Humectant
Disodium EDTA
Sodium Citrate
BufferingParfum
Masking
Butylene Glycol
Humectant
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningRosa Damascena Flower Water
Masking
Pentylene Glycol
Skin Conditioning
1,2-Hexanediol
Skin Conditioning
Octanediol
Water, Hexylene Glycol, Poloxamer 184, Decyl Glucoside, Glycerin, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Allantoin, Phenoxyethanol, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Hyaluronic Acid, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Citrate, Parfum, Butylene Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Rosa Damascena Flower Water, Pentylene Glycol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Octanediol
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Butylene Glycol (or BG) is used within cosmetic products for a few different reasons:
Overall, Butylene Glycol is a safe and well-rounded ingredient that works well with other ingredients.
Though this ingredient works well with most skin types, some people with sensitive skin may experience a reaction such as allergic rashes, closed comedones, or itchiness.
Learn more about Butylene GlycolCitric Acid is an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) naturally found in citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, and limes.
Like other AHAs, citric acid can exfoliate skin by breaking down the bonds that hold dead skin cells together. This helps reveal smoother and brighter skin underneath.
However, this exfoliating effect only happens at high concentrations (20%) which can be hard to find in cosmetic products.
Due to this, citric acid is usually included in small amounts as a pH adjuster. This helps keep products slightly more acidic and compatible with skin's natural pH.
In skincare formulas, citric acid can:
While it can provide some skin benefits, research shows lactic acid and glycolic acid are generally more effective and less irritating exfoliants.
Most citric acid used in skincare today is made by fermenting sugars (usually from molasses). This synthetic version is identical to the natural citrus form but easier to stabilize and use in formulations.
Read more about some other popular AHA's here:
Learn more about Citric AcidDecyl Glucoside is a plant-derived surfactant and emulsion stabilizer. It is created by reacting glucose with the fatty acids from plants.
Like all surfactants, it works by lowering the surface tension between water and oil. This makes it so that dirt, sebum, and makeup can be lifted off your skin and rinsed away. It also produces a dense and creamy foam.
Because it has a neutral charge, it is compatible with a wide range of ingredients and stays stable across a broad pH range/water hardiness conditions.
Patch testing has shown it to have the lowest irritation potential among common cleansing surfactants (like SLS).
Typical use levels range from 5-20% in rinse-off cleansers.
One thing worth knowing: The American Contact Dermatitis Society named the parent family, alkyl glucosides, "Allergen of the Year" in 2017. The prevalence of allergy is pretty low but be sure to patch test if you've reacted to "gentle" or sulfate-free cleansers before.
This ingredient is fungal acne safe because the fatty alcohol portion of this ingredient is not within the C11-24 chain length that Malassezia can metabolize.
Learn more about Decyl GlucosideHexylene Glycol is a multitasker ingredient that works as a solvent, humectant, emulsifier, viscosity reducer, and preservative booster.
It is able to dissolve both water and oil-soluble ingredients to stabilize tricky actives and make products spread more easily.
As a humectant, it pulls water into the skin. But it's a pretty minor moisturizing ingredient compared to other humectants, like glycerin.
Interestingly, it can act as a mild penetration enhancer. One in vitro study on human skin found a 12% concentration upped the absorption of mometasone furoate (a medicinal ingredient used to treat inflammatory skin conditions) up to 7%.
This ingredient is typically used at levels of 0.1-10% depending on the role it's playing.
A patch test study on eczema patients didn't find a significant increase in irritation versus the control group, but the potential for irritation rises at higher concentrations.
Learn more about Hexylene GlycolHydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid is hyaluronic acid (HA) that is broken down into lower molecular weight fragments.
It's a humectant that pulls and holds water in the skin to help with hydration, plumpness, and reduce transepidermal water loss.
Because hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid is smaller in size, it can slip past your outermost layer of skin more easily than full-sized HA.
Most formulations will combine all sizes to get the best of both worlds.
Typical usage levels range from 0.01-1%. Any percentage higher than 2% might become goopy and tacky.
Learn more about Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic AcidPoloxamer 184 is a surfactant and emulsifier made from polyoxyethylene and polyoxypropylene units.
It allows ingredients that don't normally mix (like water and oil) to blend together and stay stable; this makes it easier for cleansers and makeup removers to grab onto dirt, oil, and makeup to be rinsed away more easily.
Chances are, you eat sodium chloride every day. Sodium Chloride is also known as table salt. This ingredient has many purposes in skincare: thickener, emulsifier, and exfoliator.
You'll most likely find this ingredient in cleansers where it is used to create a gel-like texture. As an emulsifier, it also prevents ingredients from separating.
You might see people debate whether Sodium Chloride is comedogenic, but there actually haven't been any comedogenic tests done on it. Either way, the overall formulation of a product matters a lot more than any single ingredient.
You might see this ingredient used in scrubs as a primary exfoliating ingredient.
Learn more about Sodium ChlorideWater. 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
