What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Urea
Buffering
Cetyl Alcohol
Emollient
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Masking
Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate
Emollient
Triisostearin
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Lactate
Buffering
Glyceryl Stearate
Emollient
Arginine Hcl
Skin ConditioningDimethicone
Emollient
Potassium Cetyl Phosphate
EmulsifyingXanthan Gum
EmulsifyingBiosaccharide Gum-1
Humectant
Lactic Acid
Buffering
1,2-Hexanediol
Skin Conditioning
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Water
Skin ConditioningAloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin Conditioning
Vitis Vinifera Seed Oil
Emollient
Rosa Canina Fruit Oil
Emollient
Cetyl Alcohol
Emollient
Ceteareth-20
CleansingOpuntia Ficus-Indica Seed Oil
Emollient
Glyceryl Stearate
Emollient
Sodium Lactate
Buffering
Benzyl Alcohol
Perfuming
Salicylic Acid
Masking
Glycerin
Humectant
Sorbic Acid
Preservative
Cocos Nucifera Fruit Extract
Emollient
Vanilla Planifolia Fruit Extract
Skin Conditioning
Coffee Seed Oil PEG-8 Esters
Emollient
Sodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Sus Extract
Skin ConditioningGlycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract
Bleaching
Water, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Vitis Vinifera Seed Oil, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Cetyl Alcohol, Ceteareth-20, Opuntia Ficus-Indica Seed Oil, Glyceryl Stearate, Sodium Lactate, Benzyl Alcohol, Salicylic Acid, Glycerin, Sorbic Acid, Cocos Nucifera Fruit Extract, Vanilla Planifolia Fruit Extract, Coffee Seed Oil PEG-8 Esters, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sus Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Cetyl Alcohol is a fatty alcohol. Fatty Alcohols are most often used as an emollient or to thicken a product.
Its main roles are:
Though it has "alcohol" in the name, it is not related to denatured alcohol or ethyl alcohol.
The FDA allows products labeled "alcohol-free" to have fatty alcohols.
Learn more about Cetyl AlcoholGlycerin (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 StearateSodium Lactate is the sodium salt of lactic acid, an AHA. It is a humectant and sometimes used to adjust the pH of a product.
This ingredient is part of our skin's NMF, or natural moisturizing factor. Our NMF is essential for the hydration of our top skin layers and plasticity of skin. NMF also influences our skin's natural acid mantle and pH, which protects our skin from harmful bacteria.
High percentages of Sodium Lactate can have an exfoliating effect.
Fun fact: Sodium Lactate is produced from fermented sugar.
Learn more about Sodium LactateWater. 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
