What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Zinc Pyrithione 2%
Antiseborrhoeic
Water
Skin ConditioningSodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate
Cleansing
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Aminoethylethanolamine
Parfum
Masking
Glycerin
Humectant
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Mentha Piperita Oil
Masking
Hydroxypropyl Guar
Emulsion StabilisingHydroxypropyl Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride
Caprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6
Emulsion StabilisingMethyl Diisopropyl Propionamide
MaskingMelaleuca Alternifolia Leaf Oil
Antioxidant
Citric Acid
Buffering
Zinc Pyrithione 2%, Water, Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Aminoethylethanolamine, Parfum, Glycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Mentha Piperita Oil, Hydroxypropyl Guar, Hydroxypropyl Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Caprylyl Glycol, Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6, Methyl Diisopropyl Propionamide, Melaleuca Alternifolia Leaf Oil, Citric Acid
Water
Skin ConditioningCocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate
Cleansing
Glycerin
Humectant
Hydrolyzed Oats
Skin ConditioningSea Salt
Abrasive
Mentha Piperita Oil
Masking
Caprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Lavandula Angustifolia Oil
Masking
Sodium Chloride
MaskingRosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Oil
Masking
Sorbic Acid
Preservative
Aloe Barbadensis Extract
Skin Conditioning
Urtica Dioica Leaf Extract
Skin ConditioningEquisetum Arvense Leaf Extract
AstringentLinalool
Perfuming
Limonene
Perfuming
Water, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Glycerin, Hydrolyzed Oats, Sea Salt, Mentha Piperita Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Lavandula Angustifolia Oil, Sodium Chloride, Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Oil, Sorbic Acid, Aloe Barbadensis Extract, Urtica Dioica Leaf Extract, Equisetum Arvense Leaf Extract, Linalool, Limonene
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Caprylyl Glycol is a humectant, skin conditioner, emollient, and preservative booster derived from either caprylic acid or synthetically created.
Typical use levels vary from 0.3-1% as a preservative booster and go up to 2% to condition skin.
Because it is not a free-fatty acid, this ingredient is fungal acne safe (there's nothing for Malassezia to feed on).
Learn more about Caprylyl GlycolCocamidopropyl 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 GlycerinThis essential oil is steam-distilled from peppermint leaves, also known as peppermint oil. It's mainly used for scent in skincare but also provides that signature "cooling" sensation.
Peppermint oil is a "feels amazing" ingredient until it doesn't.
At higher doses or for those with sensitive skin, methol-type cooling can quickly turn into burning/irritation. It can also trigger irritant dermatitis or even allergic contact dermatitis. In a large patch-test dataset, peppermint oil had a low but positive rate for this.
In cosmetics, Cosmetic Safety Reviews (CIR) concludes that peppermint oil is safe to use when formulated to be non-sensitizing with some restrictions; for instance, pulegone, a naturally occurring component of peppermint oil, should not exceed 1%.
Since peppermint oil contains fragrance allergens such as limonene, linalool, and menthol, it can be sensitizing for those with rosacea, eczema, a broken skin barrier, or just sensitive skin in general.
In Japan, this ingredient is known as Hakka Yu.
Learn more about Mentha Piperita OilPhenoxyethanol is one of the most widely used preservatives in skincare (and for good reason!).
It has a large spectrum of antimicrobial activity and especially effective bacteria, yeast, and mold while only having a weak effect on your skin's natural microbiome.
On a cellular level, it disrupts the cell membranes of microbes by poking holes that make the cell leak. This shuts down the chemical reactions the microbe needs to make energy so it can no longer survive.
Another perk of this ingredient is that it stays functional across a wide pH range (3-10).
You'll often see it paired with boosters like Ethylhexylglycerin; one study showed that a 1:9 ratio of Ethylhexylglycerin to Phenoxyethanol damages bacterial membranes as effectively as doubling the Phenoxyethanol concentration on its own.
Typical use concentrations range from 0.3-1% depending on the formula, and this ingredient is capped at 1% int the EU.
Safety-wise, the fear mongering does not hold up to the evidence. The EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety and FDA consider it safe as a preservative at up to 1%, including for children of all ages.
Adverse systemic effects only showed up in animal studies at exposures roughly 200x higher than what people get from cosmetics. And despite its very widespread use, this ingredient is a rare sensitizer and allergic reactions are uncommon.
Learn more about PhenoxyethanolSodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate is a surfactant that helps water and oil mix so that dirt, sweat, sebum, and sunscreen can rinse away easily. It's not technically a sulfate, but behaves similarly in formulas.
What it does:
Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate is a strong cleansing surfactant and is much stronger than many mild cleansers. Because it works deeply, it can disrupt the skin's barrier. This can lead to dryness or irritation for those with sensitive skin.
Compared to gentler surfactants, it's effective but more likely to dry or irritate if not balanced with soothing ingredients.
CIR considers sodium α-olefin sulfonates (including C14-16) to be safe for use in rinse-off products when properly formulated. It is poorly absorbed through normal skin but absorption increases if the skin barrier is already damaged.
Learn more about Sodium C14-16 Olefin SulfonateWater. 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
