This barrier-repair treatment is formulated around Oenothera Biennis Oil and Glycyrrhiza Inflata Root Extract to strengthen the skin barrier and calm redness.
What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Glycerin
Humectant
Urea
Buffering
Glyceryl Stearate
Emollient
Dibutyl Adipate
EmollientStearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Dicaprylyl Ether
Emollient
Cetearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Sodium Lactate
Buffering
Tapioca Starch
Glyceryl Stearate Se
Emulsifying
Lactic Acid
Buffering
Sodium PCA
Humectant
Arginine Hcl
Skin ConditioningGlycine
Buffering
Alanine
Masking
Carnitine
Cleansing
Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil
Emollient
Dimethicone
Emollient
Xanthan Gum
EmulsifyingPentylene Glycol
Skin Conditioning
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate
Cleansing
Glycerin, Urea, Glyceryl Stearate, Dibutyl Adipate, Stearyl Alcohol, Dicaprylyl Ether, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Lactate, Tapioca Starch, Glyceryl Stearate Se, Lactic Acid, Sodium PCA, Arginine Hcl, Glycine, Alanine, Carnitine, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, Dimethicone, Xanthan Gum, Pentylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Butyrospermum Parkii Butter
Skin Conditioning
Octyldodecanol
Emollient
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Masking
Vitis Vinifera Seed Oil
Emollient
Behenyl Alcohol
Emollient
Distarch Phosphate
AbsorbentGlyceryl Stearate Se
Emulsifying
Oenothera Biennis Oil
Emollient
Glycyrrhiza Inflata Root Extract
Skin Conditioning
Ceramide NP
Skin Conditioning
Tocopherol
Antioxidant
Sodium PCA
Humectant
Glycine
Buffering
Arginine Hcl
Skin ConditioningDecylene Glycol
Skin ConditioningPolyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate
Emulsifying
Carbomer
Emulsion StabilisingCitric Acid
Buffering
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningSodium Cetearyl Sulfate
Cleansing
Caprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Sodium Hydroxide
BufferingAscorbyl Palmitate
Antioxidant
Trisodium EDTA
ChelatingPhenoxyethanol
Preservative
Sodium Benzoate
Masking
Water, Glycerin, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Octyldodecanol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Vitis Vinifera Seed Oil, Behenyl Alcohol, Distarch Phosphate, Glyceryl Stearate Se, Oenothera Biennis Oil, Glycyrrhiza Inflata Root Extract, Ceramide NP, Tocopherol, Sodium PCA, Glycine, Arginine Hcl, Decylene Glycol, Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate, Carbomer, Citric Acid, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate, Caprylyl Glycol, Sodium Hydroxide, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Trisodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
We don't have a description for Arginine Hcl yet.
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 SE is a self-emulsifying (SE) form of Glyceryl Stearate. It comes with a small amount of soap (usually potassium or sodium stearate) that gives it the "SE" part.
That soap lets it pull oil and water together on its own which is why it shows up as an emulsifier, thickener, and emollient.
Industry survey data shows this ingredient is used around 1-5% but Glyceryl Stearate goes as high at 17% in a leave-on deodorant.
Safety-wise, it's pretty boring: it's been deemed safe for topical use in 1982 and again most recently in 2021 by the CIR. Human repeat insult patch tests come back non-irritating, non-sensitizing, non-phototoxic, and non-photoallergenic.
This ingredient does carry a comedogenic rating of 3 from the old rabbit-ear assay. Just remember testing finished products in humans showed that formulas built with "comedogenic" ingredients are not necessarily comedogenic themselves. It's worth patch testing if you're breakout prone, and always listen to your skin.
The Malassezia yeast can potentially metabolize the stearic acid in this ingredient, so it may not be fungal acne safe.
Allergy is rare: a 310-patient patch test study of common emulsifiers found this ingredient was not a meaningful reactor. Isolated case reports do exist so a true contact allergy is possible but uncommon.
Learn more about Glyceryl Stearate SeGlycine is the smallest amino acid and a key building block of collagen. It's part if your skin's Natural Moisturizing Factor (NMF), or the water-loving molecules in your outermost layer of skin (stratum corneum) that keeps everything hydrated and happy.
A study from 2022 found that an amino acid complex featuring taurine, arginine, and glycine significantly reduced skin irritation, improved redness, and accelerated the skin repair process.
Phenoxyethanol is one of the most widely used preservatives in skincare (and for good reason!).
It has a large spectrum of antimicrobial activity and especially effective bacteria, yeast, and mold while only having a weak effect on your skin's natural microbiome.
On a cellular level, it disrupts the cell membranes of microbes by poking holes that make the cell leak. This shuts down the chemical reactions the microbe needs to make energy so it can no longer survive.
Another perk of this ingredient is that it stays functional across a wide pH range (3-10).
You'll often see it paired with boosters like Ethylhexylglycerin; one study showed that a 1:9 ratio of Ethylhexylglycerin to Phenoxyethanol damages bacterial membranes as effectively as doubling the Phenoxyethanol concentration on its own.
Typical use concentrations range from 0.3-1% depending on the formula, and this ingredient is capped at 1% int the EU.
Safety-wise, the fear mongering does not hold up to the evidence. The EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety and FDA consider it safe as a preservative at up to 1%, including for children of all ages.
Adverse systemic effects only showed up in animal studies at exposures roughly 200x higher than what people get from cosmetics. And despite its very widespread use, this ingredient is a rare sensitizer and allergic reactions are uncommon.
Learn more about PhenoxyethanolSodium Cetearyl Sulfate is a type of sulfate.
Sodium PCA (the salt of PCA) is one of the most well-established humectants in skincare.
Why is it so special? Your skin already makes it naturally; it's a natural component of your skin's Natural Moisturizing Factor (NMF), or the mix of water-binding compounds inside your skin cells that keeps things soft and hydrated.
As a cosmetic ingredient, it grabs water and holds it in the upper layers of skin to smooth roughness and ease dehydration.
There's some clinical support for the NMF approach with a study showing that a cream built to mimic the skin's NMF significantly boosted hydration.
Safety-wise, this ingredient non-irritating, non-comedogenic, and non-phototoxic in testing, with minimal skin absorption.
It also works really well with other hydrators like glycerin or hyaluronic acid, and typical usage is somewhere between 0.2-4%.
Learn more about Sodium PCA
