What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
No concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Glycerin
Humectant
Triethylhexanoin
MaskingMethyl Trimethicone
Skin Conditioning
Diglycerin
Humectant
Polyglyceryl-6 Polyricinoleate
Emulsifying
Dimethicone
Emollient
Disteardimonium Hectorite
StabilisingPentylene Glycol
Skin Conditioning
Ethylhexyl Palmitate
Emollient
Glyceryl Behenate
Emollient
PEG-9 Polydimethylsiloxyethyl Dimethicone
Emulsifying
Polymethylsilsesquioxane
Water
Skin ConditioningAscorbic Acid
Antioxidant
Butylene Glycol
Humectant
Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer
Skin Conditioning
Dipalmitoyl Hydroxyproline
Skin Conditioning
Glyceryl Glucoside
Humectant
Lecithin
Emollient
Phoenix Dactylifera Seed
Skin ConditioningPhospholipids
Skin Conditioning
Phytosteryl/Octyldodecyl Lauroyl Glutamate
Skin ConditioningTheobroma Cacao Seed Extract
Antioxidant
Tocopherol
Antioxidant
Glycerin, Triethylhexanoin, Methyl Trimethicone, Diglycerin, Polyglyceryl-6 Polyricinoleate, Dimethicone, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Pentylene Glycol, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Glyceryl Behenate, PEG-9 Polydimethylsiloxyethyl Dimethicone, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Water, Ascorbic Acid, Butylene Glycol, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Dipalmitoyl Hydroxyproline, Glyceryl Glucoside, Lecithin, Phoenix Dactylifera Seed, Phospholipids, Phytosteryl/Octyldodecyl Lauroyl Glutamate, Theobroma Cacao Seed Extract, Tocopherol
Alternatives
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
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 GlycerinLecithin is a term for a group of substances found in the cell membranes of plants, animals, and humans. They are made up of phospholipids.
Thanks to its amphiphilic structure (water-loving head and oil-loving tail), it is a true multitasker:
It plays well with most ingredients and is typically used at 0.1-1%. However, concentrations up to 50% have been reported in moisturizers.
Depending on the source of this ingredient, lecithin may not be fungal acne safe. This is because some sources of lecithin come from soybean oil, which may feed the malassezia yeast that causes fungal acne.
We recommend reaching out to the brand you are purchasing from to inquire about the source of their lecithin.
Learn more about LecithinPentylene glycol is typically used within a product to thicken it. It also adds a smooth, soft, and moisturizing feel to the product. It is naturally found in plants such as sugar beets.
The hydrophilic trait of Pentylene Glycol makes it a humectant. As a humectant, Pentylene Glycol helps draw moisture from the air to your skin. This can help keep your skin hydrated.
This property also makes Pentylene Glycol a great texture enhancer. It can also help thicken or stabilize a product.
Pentylene Glycol also acts as a mild preservative and helps to keep a product microbe-free.
Some people may experience mild eye and skin irritation from Pentylene Glycol. We always recommend speaking with a professional about using this ingredient in your routine.
Pentylene Glycol has a low molecular weight and is part of the 1,2-glycol family.
Learn more about Pentylene GlycolPhospholipids are a family of skin-identical lipids that makeup the structural backbone of every cell membrane in your body.
In cosmetics, they function as skin conditioning agents with emulsifier and surfactant properties. They're typically sourced from soybean or sunflower lecithin (or sometimes egg yolk or marine sources).
Because they mirror the lipids naturally found in the deeper layers of your skin, topical phospholipids help reinforce the lipid matrix, reduce transepidermal water loss, and leave skin feeling conditioned.
They're also used to form liposomes, or tiny self-assembling vesible used to stabilize actives like vitamin c or retinol. This helps these ingredients integrate into the upper layers of skin more easily.
Phospholipids are compatible with everything and the CIR Expert Panel has concluded them to be safe at current use levels.
This ingredient may not be fungal acne safe since phospholipids contain fatty acid chains in the C11-24 range that the malassezia yeast likes to feed on.
Some types of phospholipids include:
Learn more about PhospholipidsTocopherol 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 TocopherolWater. 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
