What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
No concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Tranexamic Acid
Astringent
Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid
Humectant
Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate
Humectant
Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate
Antioxidant
Tocopherol
Antioxidant
Coix Lacryma-Jobi Ma-Yuen Seed Extract
Skin ConditioningButylene Glycol
Humectant
Dipropylene Glycol
HumectantHydrogenated Polydecene
EmollientPentylene Glycol
Skin Conditioning
Glycerin
Humectant
Diglycerin
Humectant
Limnanthes Alba Seed Oil
Skin Conditioning
Sorbitan Stearate
Emulsifying
Polysorbate 80
Emulsifying
Carbomer
Emulsion StabilisingDisodium EDTA
Hydroxyethylcellulose
Emulsion StabilisingGlyceryl Caprylate/Caprate
EmollientXanthan Gum
EmulsifyingBehenyl Alcohol
Emollient
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Tranexamic Acid, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Tocopherol, Coix Lacryma-Jobi Ma-Yuen Seed Extract, Butylene Glycol, Dipropylene Glycol, Hydrogenated Polydecene, Pentylene Glycol, Glycerin, Diglycerin, Limnanthes Alba Seed Oil, Sorbitan Stearate, Polysorbate 80, Carbomer, Disodium EDTA, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Glyceryl Caprylate/Caprate, Xanthan Gum, Behenyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol
Tranexamic Acid
Astringent
Cetyl Phosphate
EmulsifyingTocopherol
Antioxidant
Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid
Humectant
Sodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Dipropylene Glycol
HumectantButylene Glycol
Humectant
Glycerin
Humectant
Hydrolyzed Phospholipids
Skin ConditioningPEG-8
HumectantPei-30
PEG-20 Laurate
Emulsifying
Sorbitan Oleate
Emulsifying
Styrene/Ma Copolymer
Emulsion StabilisingCitric Acid
Buffering
Sodium Paraben
Preservative
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Butylene Glycol (or BG) is used within cosmetic products for a few different reasons:
Overall, Butylene Glycol is a safe and well-rounded ingredient that works well with other ingredients.
Though this ingredient works well with most skin types, some people with sensitive skin may experience a reaction such as allergic rashes, closed comedones, or itchiness.
Learn more about Butylene GlycolDipropylene Glycol is a synthetically created humectant, stabilizer, and solvent.
This ingredient helps:
Dipropylene glycol is technically an alcohol, but it belongs to the glycol family (often considered part of the ‘good’ alcohols). This means it is hydrating and gentle on skin unlike drying solvent alcohols like denatured alcohol.
As a masking agent, Dipropylene Glycol can be used to cover the smell of other ingredients. However, it does not have a scent.
Studies show Dipropylene Glycol is considered safe to use in skincare.
Learn more about Dipropylene GlycolGlycerin (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 GlycerinHydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid is hyaluronic acid (HA) that is broken down into lower molecular weight fragments.
It's a humectant that pulls and holds water in the skin to help with hydration, plumpness, and reduce transepidermal water loss.
Because hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid is smaller in size, it can slip past your outermost layer of skin more easily than full-sized HA.
Most formulations will combine all sizes to get the best of both worlds.
Typical usage levels range from 0.01-1%. Any percentage higher than 2% might become goopy and tacky.
Learn more about Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic AcidTocopherol is a fat-soluble antioxidant known as Vitamin E.
You'll find this ingredient in the vast majority of skincare (for good reason). It works to neutralize free radicals, or unstable molecules generated by UV exposure, pollution, and other environmental stressors, before they can cause oxidative damage to your skin cells.
Topically applied tocopherol has been shown to protect against UV damage by ramping up the skin's own natural defense enzymes.
It also acts as a skin conditioning agent; some studies show that regular topical use can improve the skin's water-binding capacity over 2-4 weeks.
This ingredient is especially loved for being a team player. When combined with Vitamin C, the photoprotective effect of both ingredients roughly doubles and the combo also helps reduce UV-induced DNA damage.
This ingredient has some brightening potential but it's more of a prevention ingredient than spot-fader. Cell studies show it can slow down melanin production but it's worth noting that it's not the most powerful brightener out there.
In formulations, it also serves as a stabilizer that helps protect other oxidation-prone ingredients from degrading.
Concentrations usually range from 0.1-1% in most leave-on products.
Learn more about TocopherolTranexamic Acid (TXA) is a synthetic lysine derivative that is becoming one of the most exciting brightening ingredients in skincare.
Originally used in medicine as an anti-hemorrhagic agent, its skin brightening potential was discovered by accident; patients taking it orally started noticing their melasma was fading.
Unlike most brighteners that target tyrosinase (the enzyme that synthesizes melanin), TXA works further upstream. It basically blocks your cells from receiving the signal to produce pigment.
This makes it one of the rare actives that works on three pathways at once:
This makes it effective for treating melasma, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH), and sun-induced dark spots.
The most effective cosmetic concentration sits between 2-5% and going higher doesn't boost results.
Side effects are generally mild; occasional irritation, flaking, or dryness have been reported at the start of use. Overall, this ingredient is pretty well tolerated, even by sensitive skin types.
Another perk of this ingredient is that it does not cause photosensitivity, so it's safe to use in the AM and PM.
Learn more about Tranexamic Acid
