What's inside
What's inside
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningCetearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Cetyl Alcohol
Emollient
Stearyl Alcohol
Emollient
PEG-40 Castor Oil
Emulsifying
Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate
Cleansing
Octyldodecanol
Emollient
Propylene Glycol
Humectant
Glycerin
Humectant
Laureth-4
Emulsifying
Laureth-23
Cleansing
Polyquaternium-6
Citrus Aurantium Bergamia Fruit Oil
Masking
Methylchloroisothiazolinone
Preservative
Methylisothiazolinone
Preservative
Helianthus Annuus Extract
Emollient
Hc Blue No. 15
Basic Blue 99
Basic Orange 31
Basic Red 51
Basic Violet 16
Basic Violet 2
Basic Yellow 87
Hc Blue No. 2
CI 26100
Cosmetic ColorantHc Yellow No. 4
Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, PEG-40 Castor Oil, Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate, Octyldodecanol, Propylene Glycol, Glycerin, Laureth-4, Laureth-23, Polyquaternium-6, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia Fruit Oil, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Helianthus Annuus Extract, Hc Blue No. 15, Basic Blue 99, Basic Orange 31, Basic Red 51, Basic Violet 16, Basic Violet 2, Basic Yellow 87, Hc Blue No. 2, CI 26100, Hc Yellow No. 4
Water
Skin ConditioningCetyl Alcohol
Emollient
Glycerin
Humectant
Stearalkonium Chloride
Preservative
Glyceryl Stearate
Emollient
PEG-100 Stearate
Propylene Glycol
Humectant
Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride
Skin ConditioningHydrolyzed Adansonia Digitata Seed Extract
Quaternium-75
Cetearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Ceteareth-20
CleansingTetrasodium EDTA
Citric Acid
Buffering
Parfum
Masking
Methylchloroisothiazolinone
Preservative
Methylisothiazolinone
Preservative
Basic Blue 3
Basic Blue 7
Basic Violet 14
Water, Cetyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Stearalkonium Chloride, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Propylene Glycol, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Hydrolyzed Adansonia Digitata Seed Extract, Quaternium-75, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth-20, Tetrasodium EDTA, Citric Acid, Parfum, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Basic Blue 3, Basic Blue 7, Basic Violet 14
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Cetearyl alcohol is a waxy mixture of two fatty alcohols: cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol. It is an emollient and emulsifier.
Despite having "alcohol" in its name, it has nothing to do with drying solvent alcohols; the FDA also allows "alcohol-free" products to contain fatty alcohols like this ingredient.
It plays several roles in a formula:
Typical use levels for this ingredient sit around 1-10% and the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel has affirmed safety at concentrations up to 25% in leave-on products.
Multiple assessments have found it to be non-irritating and non-sensitizing to most people.
However, there have been some cases of allergic contact dermatitis in patients with chronically compromised skin barriers.
Cetearyl alcohol has a comedogenic rating of 2 and irritancy rating of 1. Both of these numbers come from the 1989 study that used rabbit ears; a "2" means mildly comedogenic and a "1" means low irritancy.
Here's the catch: rabbit skin is more sensitive than human skin and throws a lot of false positives. A 1996 reappraisal found that ingredients rated 1-2 in the rabbit ear tests are generally safe for humans.
Remember comedogenic ratings are unable to assess the entire formula of a product or how it will react on your skin. Just be sure to patch test if you are unsure about certain ingredients.
This ingredient is not fungal acne safe. Cetearyl alcohol is a fatty alcohol with chain lengths that fall within the range that Malassezia can metabolize.
Learn more about Cetearyl AlcoholCetyl Alcohol is a fatty alcohol. Fatty Alcohols are most often used as an emollient or to thicken a product.
Its main roles are:
Though it has "alcohol" in the name, it is not related to denatured alcohol or ethyl alcohol.
The FDA allows products labeled "alcohol-free" to have fatty alcohols.
Learn more about Cetyl AlcoholGlycerin (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 GlycerinMethylchloroisothiazolinone, or MCI, is a synthetic preservative used to protect against the growth of bacteria, yeasts, and fungi in water-based products.
MCI is commonly combined with methylisothiazolinone (MI) in a 3:1 ratio.
This ingredient is safe in cosmetics when formulated to be non-sensitizing and concentrations must not exceed 7.5 ppm in leave-on products / 15 ppm in rinse-off products.
Unfortunately, this ingredient has a well-documented sensitization story. Studies spanning several decades have shown this ingredient + MI to cause skin irritation and allergies.
The use of this ingredient varies around the world:
This just means this ingredient is most likely non-sensitizing in rinse-off products unless you've been diagnosed with a contact allergy to isothiazolinones.
Learn more about MethylchloroisothiazolinoneMI is a preservative and known skin irritant. In the past, MI was used for its ability to prevent bacteria, yeast, and fungi growth in low doses.
Nowadays, you'll most likely see MI combined with Methylchloroisothiazolinone (MCI).
Since then, numerous studies have shown this ingredient to cause contact dermatitis, or skin irritation.
The use of this ingredient varies around the world:
Learn more about MethylisothiazolinonePropylene Glycol is a synthetic, colorless, odorless liquid that has been a staple in cosmetics for decades. It is a skin conditioning agent, humectant, and solvent.
As a humectant, it draw water to the skin to reduce flaking and restore suppleness. It's also a solvent that helps dissolve other actives and keeps formulas stable across temperature changes.
The CIR Expert Panel has confirmed this ingredient to be nontoxic and clinical studies show no sensitization at cosmetic use concentrations.
True allergic reactions are quite rare: a 15-year retrospective study of 6,751 patients found only 0.31% had a positive reaction (and less than half were considered clinically relevant).
It seemed that when sensitization does occur, it's most commonly linked to topical medication (like corticosteroids) and not cosmetics. Allergic contact dermatitis also appears largely limited to individuals with underlying skin conditions.
Overall, propylene glycol is a well-studied ingredient that most people can tolerate without issue.
Learn more about Propylene GlycolWater. 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
