What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningSodium Laureth Sulfate
Cleansing
Cocamide Mea
Emulsifying
Sodium Chloride
MaskingCeramide NP
Skin Conditioning
Ceramide As
Skin Conditioning
Ceramide Ng
Skin Conditioning
Ceramide AP
Skin Conditioning
Ceramide EOP
Skin Conditioning
Niacinamide
Smoothing
Sodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Squalane
Emollient
Glycerin
Humectant
Hydrogenated Lecithin
Emulsifying
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Sodium Lauroamphoacetate
CleansingDecyl Glucoside
Cleansing
Sodium Sulfate
Propylene Glycol Laurate
Skin ConditioningPhenoxyethanol
Preservative
Hydroxyacetophenone
Antioxidant
Citric Acid
Buffering
Chlorphenesin
Antimicrobial
Methyl Cocoate
Emollient
Disodium EDTA
Sodium Benzoate
Masking
Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamide Mea, Sodium Chloride, Ceramide NP, Ceramide As, Ceramide Ng, Ceramide AP, Ceramide EOP, Niacinamide, Sodium Hyaluronate, Squalane, Glycerin, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Lauroamphoacetate, Decyl Glucoside, Sodium Sulfate, Propylene Glycol Laurate, Phenoxyethanol, Hydroxyacetophenone, Citric Acid, Chlorphenesin, Methyl Cocoate, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Benzoate
Water
Skin ConditioningSodium Laureth Sulfate
Cleansing
Decyl Glucoside
Cleansing
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Glycerin
Humectant
PEG-55 Propylene Glycol Oleate
Propylene Glycol
Humectant
Sodium Chloride
MaskingPanthenol
Skin Conditioning
PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate
Emulsifying
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Glycol Distearate
Emollient
Tocopheryl Acetate
Antioxidant
Polyquaternium-39
Cocamide Mea
Emulsifying
Laureth-10
EmulsifyingDisodium EDTA
Sodium Benzoate
Masking
Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin
MaskingPantolactone
Humectant
Benzoic Acid
Masking
Bisabolol
Antioxidant
Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate
Preservative
Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Decyl Glucoside, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycerin, PEG-55 Propylene Glycol Oleate, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Chloride, Panthenol, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Phenoxyethanol, Glycol Distearate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Polyquaternium-39, Cocamide Mea, Laureth-10, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Benzoate, Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin, Pantolactone, Benzoic Acid, Bisabolol, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
This ingredient is made by combining the fatty acids from coconut oil with monoethanolamine. It is an emulsifier that helps boost foam, thicken texture, and help keep ingredients together in a formula.
Cocamidopropyl 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 BetaineDecyl 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 GlucosideDisodium 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 GlycerinPhenoxyethanol is a preservative that has germicide, antimicrobial, and aromatic properties. Studies show that phenoxyethanol can prevent microbial growth. By itself, it has a scent that is similar to that of a rose.
It's often used in formulations along with Caprylyl Glycol to preserve the shelf life of products.
Sodium Benzoate is a preservative. It's used in both cosmetic and food products to inhibit the growth of mold and bacteria. It is typically produced synthetically.
Both the US FDA and EU Health Committee have approved the use of sodium benzoate. In the US, levels of 0.1% (of the total product) are allowed.
Sodium benzoate works as a preservative by inhibiting the growth of bacteria inside of cells. It prevents the cell from fermenting a type of sugar using an enzyme called phosphofructokinase.
It is the salt of benzoic acid. Foods containing sodium benzoate include soda, salad dressings, condiments, fruit juices, wines, and snack foods.
Studies for using ascorbic acid and sodium benzoate in cosmetics are lacking, especially in skincare routines with multiple steps.
We always recommend speaking with a professional, such as a dermatologist, if you have any concerns.
Learn more about Sodium BenzoateChances 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 ChlorideSodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) is a foaming, cleansing, and emulsifying ingredient. It is created from palm kernel oil or coconut oil. SLES is not the same as sodium lauryl sulfate. It is much milder and less likely to irritate.
SLES helps create foam in personal products. It also prevents ingredients from separating, helping to elongate the shelf life.
Sodium Laureth Sulfate is a type of sulfate. It can be drying. We recommend speaking with a professional about using this ingredient if you have concerns.
Learn more about Sodium Laureth SulfateWater. 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
