What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningSodium Lauryl Sulfate
Cleansing
Sodium Chloride
MaskingCocamide DEA
Emulsifying
Glycerin
Humectant
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Sodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Tocopherol
Antioxidant
Ceramide AP
Skin Conditioning
Ceramide As
Skin Conditioning
Ceramide NP
Skin Conditioning
Ceramide EOP
Skin Conditioning
Ceramide Ns
Skin Conditioning
Citric Acid
Buffering
Avena Sativa Meal Extract
SoothingPhenoxyethanol
Preservative
Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer
Tetrasodium EDTA
Caprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Chlorphenesin
Antimicrobial
Water, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Chloride, Cocamide DEA, Glycerin, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tocopherol, Ceramide AP, Ceramide As, Ceramide NP, Ceramide EOP, Ceramide Ns, Citric Acid, Avena Sativa Meal Extract, Phenoxyethanol, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Tetrasodium EDTA, Caprylyl Glycol, Chlorphenesin
Water
Skin ConditioningCocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Glycerin
Humectant
Hydrated Silica
Abrasive
Acrylates Copolymer
Sodium Benzoate
Masking
Sodium Methyl Lauroyl Taurate
CleansingSodium Lauroyl Isethionate
CleansingLauric Acid
Cleansing
Sodium Chloride
MaskingParfum
Masking
Cocamide Mea
Emulsifying
Stearic Acid
Cleansing
Hydroxystearic Acid
Cleansing
Jojoba Esters
Emollient
Sodium Hydroxide
BufferingUndecylenoyl Glycine
CleansingCapryloyl Glycine
CleansingSodium Isethionate
CleansingTetrasodium EDTA
Glyceryl Stearate
Emollient
Sodium Methyltaurate
Skin ConditioningSodium Sulfate
Caprylic Acid
CleansingLactic Acid
Buffering
Undecylenic Acid
Cleansing
Capric Acid
Cleansing
Zinc Oxide
Cosmetic Colorant
Palmitic Acid
Emollient
Arachidic Acid
Cleansing
Citric Acid
Buffering
Glycine
Buffering
Limonene
Perfuming
Linalool
Perfuming
CI 77007
Cosmetic ColorantWater, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycerin, Hydrated Silica, Acrylates Copolymer, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Methyl Lauroyl Taurate, Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Lauric Acid, Sodium Chloride, Parfum, Cocamide Mea, Stearic Acid, Hydroxystearic Acid, Jojoba Esters, Sodium Hydroxide, Undecylenoyl Glycine, Capryloyl Glycine, Sodium Isethionate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Glyceryl Stearate, Sodium Methyltaurate, Sodium Sulfate, Caprylic Acid, Lactic Acid, Undecylenic Acid, Capric Acid, Zinc Oxide, Palmitic Acid, Arachidic Acid, Citric Acid, Glycine, Limonene, Linalool, CI 77007
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Citric 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 AcidCocamidopropyl Betaine is a fatty acid created by mixing similar compounds in coconut oil and dimethylaminopropylamine, a compound with two amino groups.
This ingredient is a surfactant and cleanser. It helps gather the dirt, pollutants, and other impurities in your skin to be washed away. It also helps thicken a product and make the texture more creamy.
Being created from coconut oil means Cocamidopropyl Betaine is hydrating for the skin.
While Cocamidopropyl Betaine was believed to be an allergen, a study from 2012 disproved this. It found two compounds in unpure Cocamidopropyl Betaine to be the irritants: aminoamide and 3-dimethylaminopropylamine. High-grade and pure Cocamidopropyl Betaine did not induce allergic reactions during this study.
Learn more about Cocamidopropyl BetaineGlycerin (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 GlycerinChances 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 ChlorideTetrasodium EDTA is the salt formed from neutralizing ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid with sodium hydroxide. It is a chelating agent and used to prevent metal ions from binding to other ingredients. This helps keep the product and ingredients stable.
Tetrasodium EDTA comes as a white solid and is soluble in water.
Water. 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
