Here's our complete breakdown comparing the ingredients, attributes, and more of FaceTheory BHA Exfoliating Serum S3 versus Vichy Normaderm Anti-Acne Double-Action Moisturizer .
Published on May 17, 2022
Overview
Cool Features
They both contain BHA and hyaluronic acid
Suited For
They're both likely to be good for fighting acne, anti aging, dry skin, brightening skin, oily skin, reducing pores and scar healing
Free From
They both do not contain any harsh alcohols, common allergens, oils, parabens or silicones
We independently verify ingredients, and our claims are backed by peer-reviewed research. Spot a product that need an update? Let us know.
Exfoliator
Exfoliators are used to exfoliate the skin, or remove dead skin cells from the skin. Exfoliators may be chemical or physical.
General Moisturizer
All-purpose moisturizers hydrate the top layer of skin cells.
Price
Ingredient Info
FaceTheory BHA Exfoliating Serum S3 19 ingredients
Vichy Normaderm Anti-Acne Double-Action Moisturizer 19 ingredients
Alcohol Free
This product is free of harsh alcohols 🎉
Silicon Free
This product is free of silicons 🎉
Fragrance Free
This product is free of fragrances 🎉
Sulfate Free
This product is free of sulfates 🎉
Paraben Free
This product is free of parabens 🎉
Oil Free
This product is free of oils 🎉
Not Malassezia Safe
Ingredients in this product that are not malassezia safe:
Not Reef Safe
Ingredients in this product that are not reef safe:
EU Allergen Free
This product is free of EU allergens 🎉
Vegan
This product is vegan 🎉
Cruelty Free
This product is cruelty-free 🎉
Alcohol Free
This product is free of harsh alcohols 🎉
Silicon Free
This product is free of silicons 🎉
Contains Fragrance
Ingredients in this product that are forms of fragrance:
Contains Sulfate
Ingredients in this product that are types of sulfate:
Paraben Free
This product is free of parabens 🎉
Oil Free
This product is free of oils 🎉
Malassezia Safe
This product is free of malassezia feeding ingredients 🎉
Reef Safe
This product is free of ingredients that damage reefs 🎉
EU Allergen Free
This product is free of EU allergens 🎉
Non Vegan
This product is not vegan 😥
Not Cruelty Free
This product is not cruelty-free 😥
At a glance
Click on any of the items below to learn more
FaceTheory BHA Exfoliating Serum S3 19 ingredients
Vichy Normaderm Anti-Acne Double-Action Moisturizer 19 ingredients
Notable Ingredients
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
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Benefits
This product contains 2 ingredients that may have this attribute:
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This product contains 2 ingredients that may have this attribute:
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This product contains 2 ingredients that may have this attribute:
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Concerns
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 2 ingredients that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
Notable Ingredients
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
Benefits
This product contains 2 ingredients that may have this attribute:
This product contains 2 ingredients that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 2 ingredients that may have this attribute:
This product contains 2 ingredients that may have this attribute:
This product contains 3 ingredients that may have this attribute:
Concerns
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 2 ingredients that may have this attribute:
This product contains 2 ingredients that may have this attribute:
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Join SkinSortIngredients Compared
Ingredients that are highlighted in purple are present in both products.
FaceTheory BHA Exfoliating Serum S3 19 ingredients
Vichy Normaderm Anti-Acne Double-Action Moisturizer 19 ingredients
Water • Propanediol • Butyloctyl Salicylate • Carnitine • Polyglyceryl-6 Stearate • Salicylic Acid • Glycerin • Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract • Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract • Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice • Polyglyceryl-4 Oleate • Tocopherol • Cetyl Hydroxyethylcellulose • Glyceryl Caprylate • Sodium Anisate • Sodium Levulinate • Polyglyceryl-6 Behenate • Xanthan Gum • Sodium Hyaluronate
Salicylic Acid 2% • Water • Glycerin • Isononyl Isononanoate • Butylene Glycol • Kaolin • Zinc Sulfate • Bifida Ferment Lysate • Sodium Hydroxide • Sodium Polyacrylate • Sodium Hyaluronate • Sodium Benzoate • Phenoxyethanol • Ascorbyl Glucoside • Hydrolyzed Algin • Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate • Biosaccharide Gum-1 • Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer • Parfum
Ingredients Side-by-side
Ingredients that are highlighted in purple are present in both products.
Learn more about what what Com. / Irr. ratings are
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
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. Talk about multi-purpose! If you see this, drink a glass of water. Stay hydrated!
Learn more about WaterFaceTheory BHA Exfoliating Serum S3 contains this as ingredient number 1.
Vichy Normaderm Anti-Acne Double-Action Moisturizer contains this as ingredient number 2.
Salicylic Acid (also known as beta hydroxy acid or BHA) is one of the most well-known ingredients for treating skin that struggles with blackheads and acne. It helps to exfoliate both the skin's surface and pores, and also acts as an anti-inflammatory agent.
This multitasking property makes it a great ingredient for cleaning out pores, controlling oil production, and reducing inflammation.
Unlike AHAs which are water soluble, Salicylic Acid is oil soluble. This means that it's able to exfoliate the inside of pores and reduce blackheads.
Concentrations of 0.5-2% are recognized by the U.S. FDA as an over-the-counter topical acne product.
It can cause irritation and/or dryness if one's skin already has a compromised moisture barrier, so it's best to focus on repairing that before introducing a Salicylic Acid into your routine.
In general, Salicylic Acid is a great ingredient for oily acne-prone skin.
While salicylic acid does not increase sun-sensitivity, we still recommend wearing SPF.
If you are looking for the ingredient called BHA or Butylated Hydroxyanisole, click here.
Learn more about Salicylic AcidFaceTheory BHA Exfoliating Serum S3 contains this as ingredient number 6.
Vichy Normaderm Anti-Acne Double-Action Moisturizer contains this as ingredient number 1.
Glycerin is already naturally found in your skin. It helps moisturize and protect your skin.
A study from 2016 found glycerin to be more effective as a humectant than AHAs and hyaluronic acid.
As a humectant, it helps the skin stay hydrated by pulling moisture to your skin. The low molecular weight of glycerin allows it to pull moisture into the deeper layers of your skin.
Hydrated skin improves your skin barrier; Your skin barrier helps protect against irritants and bacteria.
Glycerin has also been found to have antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Due to these properties, glycerin is often used in wound and burn treatments.
In cosmetics, glycerin is usually derived from plants such as soybean or palm. However, it can also be sourced from animals, such as tallow or animal fat.
This ingredient is organic, colorless, odorless, and non-toxic.
Glycerin is the name for this ingredient in American English. British English uses Glycerol/Glycerine.
Learn more about GlycerinFaceTheory BHA Exfoliating Serum S3 contains this as ingredient number 7.
Vichy Normaderm Anti-Acne Double-Action Moisturizer contains this as ingredient number 3.
Sodium Hyaluronate is hyaluronic acid's salt form. It is commonly derived from the sodium salt of hyaluronic acid.
Like hyaluronic acid, it is great at holding water and acts as a humectant. This makes it a great skin hydrating ingredient.
Sodium Hyaluronate is naturally occurring in our bodies and is mostly found in eye fluid and joints.
These are some other common types of Hyaluronic Acid:
Learn more about Sodium HyaluronateFaceTheory BHA Exfoliating Serum S3 contains this as ingredient number 19.
Vichy Normaderm Anti-Acne Double-Action Moisturizer contains this as ingredient number 11.
Here's what our community thinks of the ingredients in these two products.
FaceTheory BHA Exfoliating Serum S3 19 ingredients
Vichy Normaderm Anti-Acne Double-Action Moisturizer 19 ingredients
Usage
Here's some more info on how this product is used by our community.
When to use
FaceTheory BHA Exfoliating Serum S3 19 ingredients
Vichy Normaderm Anti-Acne Double-Action Moisturizer 19 ingredients
Reviews
Here's what our community thinks
FaceTheory BHA Exfoliating Serum S3 19 ingredients
Vichy Normaderm Anti-Acne Double-Action Moisturizer 19 ingredients
SanaAttar_461
One of the best
This moisturizer is really good, but if you apply little excess you will feel sticky and need sometime to be absorbed.. it’s not...
One of the best
This moisturizer is really good, but if you apply little excess you will feel sticky and need sometime to be absorbed.. it’s not treating acnes but it can try to maintain their level without excess of acne .. over all it’s one of the best not the best and i cant use it alone for perfect skin day
Ibuddy66
Awful compared to Beautifying Acne Cream from Vichy
Vichy for some reason discontinued their best selling beautifying Anti Acne moisturizing...
Awful compared to Beautifying Acne Cream from Vichy
Vichy for some reason discontinued their best selling beautifying Anti Acne moisturizing lotion. They reccomended this for me instead, and it is the worst moisturizer on the market in my opinion. It leaves me oily, doesn't mattify at all, refuses to absorb no matter how long or how much product is used, and worsened acne to a horrific degree. Made my eczema become the worst it has ever been to the point I woke up crying it was burning so bad. The product burned my face ontop of it. It's sad because I really wanted to like this. It smells great. But, it's just a total failure. Lots of others who used the original Normaderm feel this way too and can't find ANYTHING to replace it with. :(
Alternatives
Our Dupe Finder has found 11 potential alternatives that have similar ingredients to FaceTheory BHA Exfoliating Serum S3.
See 11 alternativesOur Dupe Finder has found 19 potential alternatives that have similar ingredients to Vichy Normaderm Anti-Acne Double-Action Moisturizer.
See 19 alternatives
