What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningSodium C16 Olefin Sulfonate
EmulsifyingCocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine
Cleansing
Glycol Stearate
Emollient
Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride
Skin Conditioning
Water, Sodium C16 Olefin Sulfonate, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Glycol Stearate, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Glycerin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Linum Usitatissimum Seed Extract, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol
Water
Skin ConditioningCocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine
Cleansing
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Methyl 2-Sulfolaurate
CleansingDisodium 2-Sulfolaurate
CleansingCoco-Glucoside
Cleansing
Glycerin
Humectant
Glyceryl Oleate
Emollient
Sodium Chloride
MaskingMandelic Acid
Antimicrobial
Cucumis Sativus Fruit Extract
Emollient
Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract
Masking
Bambusa Vulgaris Stem Extract
Palmaria Palmata Extract
Skin ProtectingCitric Acid
Buffering
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningCaprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Phenethyl Alcohol
MaskingWater, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Sodium Methyl 2-Sulfolaurate, Disodium 2-Sulfolaurate, Coco-Glucoside, Glycerin, Glyceryl Oleate, Sodium Chloride, Mandelic Acid, Cucumis Sativus Fruit Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Bambusa Vulgaris Stem Extract, Palmaria Palmata Extract, Citric Acid, Ethylhexylglycerin, Caprylyl Glycol, Phenethyl Alcohol
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice comes from leaves of the aloe plant. Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice is best known for helping to soothe sunburns. It is also anti-inflammatory, moisturizing, antiseptic, and can help heal wounds.
Aloe is packed with good stuff including Vitamins A, C, and E. These vitamins are antioxidants, which help fight free-radicals and the damage they may cause. Free-radicals are molecules that may damage your skin cells, such as pollution.
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice also contains sugars. These sugars come in the form of monosaccharides and polysaccharides, folic acid, and choline. These sugars are able to help bind moisture to skin.
It also contains minerals such as calcium, 12 anthraquinones, fatty acids, amino acids, and Vitamin B12.
Learn more about Aloe Barbadensis Leaf JuiceCaprylyl 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 or alcohol, this ingredient is fungal acne safe (there's nothing for Malassezia to feed on).
Learn more about Caprylyl GlycolCitric 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 Hydroxysultaine is a synthetic cleansing agent, though it is derived from coconut oil.
It is used to enhance the texture of products by boosting lather and thickening the texture. As a cleanser, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine is mild.
Glycerin (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 ChlorideWater. 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
