What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate
CleansingDisodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate
CleansingNiacinamide
Smoothing
Coco-Betaine
Cleansing
Coco-Glucoside
Cleansing
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract
Emollient
Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract
Masking
Arctium Lappa Root Extract
Skin Conditioning
Polysorbate 80
Emulsifying
Allantoin
Skin Conditioning
Lactic Acid
Buffering
Glycolic Acid
Buffering
Bisabolol
Antioxidant
Triethanolamine
BufferingDisodium EDTA
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningOctenidine Hcl
AntimicrobialSodium Benzoate
Masking
Potassium Sorbate
Preservative
Water, Glycerin, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Niacinamide, Coco-Betaine, Coco-Glucoside, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Arctium Lappa Root Extract, Polysorbate 80, Allantoin, Lactic Acid, Glycolic Acid, Bisabolol, Triethanolamine, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Octenidine Hcl, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Bisabolol is a gentle skin conditioner, antioxidant, and soothing ingredient.
It's primary claim to fame is soothing and research shows topically applied bisabolol can quiet the chemical messengers that cause your skin to become inflamed, helping to sooth any irritation.
A clinical study found that applying 0.5% bisabolol daily for 8 weeks produced an average 9% decrease in skin pigmentation. Researchers found it can also suppress the process that leads to excess melanin production in skin.
In vitro studies found that bisabolol combined with propylene glycol significantly increased skin permeability by increasing lipid fluidity in the stratum corneum.
You'll likely see use concentrations quite low, usually 0.1-0.2%.
Overall, this is a well-tolerated ingredient that works well in formulas designed for sensitive, reactive, or post-procedure skin.
Learn more about BisabololDisodium EDTA is a chelating agent. It grabs onto and deactivates metal ions that sneak into your products from water, packaging, or air.
This ingredient mainly works behind the scenes and helps with:
On top of that, this ingredient can counteract the effects of hard water by binding to the minerals in it.
One thing worth knowing is that Disodium EDTA has been shown to be a mild penetration enhancer. It can help other ingredients absorb into skin more effectively which can be a double-edged sword (great for actives, but can also make the active too strong if you have sensitive skin).
Clinical patch testing showed no significant skin irritation at typical use concentrations and minimal dermal absorption.
You'll most likely see this ingredient near the end of an ingredient list. It's typically found in concentrations less than 1%.
Learn more about Disodium EDTAGlycerin (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 GlycerinWater. 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
