What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
No key ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
No concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Decyl Glucoside
Cleansing
C13-16 Isoparaffin
Solvent
Hexylene Glycol
EmulsifyingPropanediol
Solvent
Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer
Emulsion StabilisingLactobacillus
Skin ConditioningAlpha-Glucan Oligosaccharide
Cleansing
Polymnia Sonchifolia Root Juice
Skin ConditioningXylitol
Humectant
Xylitylglucoside
Humectant
Anhydroxylitol
Humectant
Sodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Sodium Surfactin
CleansingSqualane
Emollient
Urea
Buffering
Yeast Amino Acids
HumectantTrehalose
Humectant
Inositol
Humectant
Taurine
BufferingBetaine
Humectant
Isohexadecane
EmollientCaprylhydroxamic Acid
Maltodextrin
Absorbent
1,2-Hexanediol
Skin Conditioning
Polysorbate 80
Emulsifying
Acrylamide/Sodium Acryloyldimethyltaurate Copolymer
Emulsion StabilisingCitric Acid
Buffering
Disodium EDTA
Water, Glycerin, Decyl Glucoside, C13-16 Isoparaffin, Hexylene Glycol, Propanediol, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Lactobacillus, Alpha-Glucan Oligosaccharide, Polymnia Sonchifolia Root Juice, Xylitol, Xylitylglucoside, Anhydroxylitol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium Surfactin, Squalane, Urea, Yeast Amino Acids, Trehalose, Inositol, Taurine, Betaine, Isohexadecane, Caprylhydroxamic Acid, Maltodextrin, 1,2-Hexanediol, Polysorbate 80, Acrylamide/Sodium Acryloyldimethyltaurate Copolymer, Citric Acid, Disodium EDTA
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Betaine is a humectant. Like hyaluronic acid, it helps attract and retain moisture in the skin. Itβs known for being gentle and for helping the skin maintain balanced hydration.
Betaine is mainly used to improve hydration and support calmer skin. It helps skin cells regulate water balance because it functions as an osmolyte.
Some studies suggest betaine may support making skin tone more even.
Fun fact: Betaine naturally exists in the skin and the body. In cosmetic products, it can be either plant-derived (most commonly from sugar beets) or synthetically produced for consistency and stability.
Betaine is also known as trimethylglycine.
Learn more about BetaineDisodium EDTA is a chelating agent. It grabs onto and deactivates metal ions that sneak into your products from water, packaging, or air.
This ingredient mainly works behind the scenes and helps with:
On top of that, this ingredient can counteract the effects of hard water by binding to the minerals in it.
One thing worth knowing is that Disodium EDTA has been shown to be a mild penetration enhancer. It can help other ingredients absorb into skin more effectively which can be a double-edged sword (great for actives, but can also make the active too strong if you have sensitive skin).
Clinical patch testing showed no significant skin irritation at typical use concentrations and minimal dermal absorption.
You'll most likely see this ingredient near the end of an ingredient list. It's typically found in concentrations less than 1%.
Learn more about Disodium EDTAGlycerin (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 GlycerinHexylene Glycol is a multitasker ingredient that works as a solvent, humectant, emulsifier, viscosity reducer, and preservative booster.
It is able to dissolve both water and oil-soluble ingredients to stabilize tricky actives and make products spread more easily.
As a humectant, it pulls water into the skin. But it's a pretty minor moisturizing ingredient compared to other humectants, like glycerin.
Interestingly, it can act as a mild penetration enhancer. One in vitro study on human skin found a 12% concentration upped the absorption of mometasone furoate (a medicinal ingredient used to treat inflammatory skin conditions) up to 7%.
This ingredient is typically used at levels of 0.1-10% depending on the role it's playing.
A patch test study on eczema patients didn't find a significant increase in irritation versus the control group, but the potential for irritation rises at higher concentrations.
Learn more about Hexylene 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
