What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningMyristic Acid
Cleansing
Potassium Hydroxide
BufferingPalmitic Acid
Emollient
Glycerin
Humectant
Lauramidopropyl Hydroxysultaine
CleansingSodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate
Cleansing
Glycol Distearate
Emollient
Parfum
Masking
Cocoyl Methyl Glucamide
Skin Conditioning
Benzyl Alcohol
Perfuming
Olive Oil Polyglyceryl-6 Esters
Emollient
Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate
Cleansing
Sodium Gluconate
ChelatingEthylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningLauryl Glucoside
CleansingSorbic Acid
Preservative
Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract
Masking
Sodium Chloride
MaskingSodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Benzoic Acid
Masking
Water, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Palmitic Acid, Glycerin, Lauramidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Glycol Distearate, Parfum, Cocoyl Methyl Glucamide, Benzyl Alcohol, Olive Oil Polyglyceryl-6 Esters, Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate, Sodium Gluconate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Lauryl Glucoside, Sorbic Acid, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Hyaluronate, Benzoic Acid
Water
Skin ConditioningSodium Cocoyl Glycinate
Cleansing
Glycerin
Humectant
Sodium Lauroamphoacetate
CleansingAcrylates Copolymer
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Inulin
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Chloride
MaskingBenzyl Alcohol
Perfuming
Myristic Acid
Cleansing
Cocos Nucifera Fruit Extract
Emollient
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningMelaleuca Alternifolia Leaf Oil
Antioxidant
Sodium Gluconate
ChelatingGlycol Stearate
Emollient
Lauric Acid
Cleansing
Caprylhydroxamic Acid
ChelatingLactobacillus Ferment
Skin Conditioning
Avena Sativa Bran Extract
Abrasive
Fructose
Humectant
Cocamidopropyl Dimethylamine
Emulsifying
Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate
Antimicrobial
Euterpe Oleracea Fruit Extract
Dimethylaminopropylamine
Linoleic Acid
Cleansing
Oleic Acid
Emollient
Linolenic Acid
Cleansing
Water, Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate, Glycerin, Sodium Lauroamphoacetate, Acrylates Copolymer, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Inulin, Sodium Chloride, Benzyl Alcohol, Myristic Acid, Cocos Nucifera Fruit Extract, Ethylhexylglycerin, Melaleuca Alternifolia Leaf Oil, Sodium Gluconate, Glycol Stearate, Lauric Acid, Caprylhydroxamic Acid, Lactobacillus Ferment, Avena Sativa Bran Extract, Fructose, Cocamidopropyl Dimethylamine, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Euterpe Oleracea Fruit Extract, Dimethylaminopropylamine, Linoleic Acid, Oleic Acid, Linolenic Acid
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Benzyl Alcohol is an aromatic alcohol with several roles: it's a preservative, solvent, and mild fragrance component with a floral scent.
This ingredient has been deemed safe for use in cosmetic formulations at concentrations up to 5%, and up to 10% in hair dyes. You'll typically see 0.5-2% in most rinse-off or leave-on products.
As a preservative, it works by disrupting the membrane of microbial proteins. This helps keep bacteria and fungi from growing in your products.
The sensitization picture is actually quite assuring as well:of nearly 71,000 patients patch tested with benzyl alcohol, only 0.21% showed a positive reaction with most of them being weakly positive.
This led researchers to conclude that benzyl alcohol cannot be regarded as a significant contact allergen.
It is worth noting this ingredient is classified as one of the EU's regulated fragrance allergens and restricted to 1% in finished products.
Labels must also declare it in concentrations above 0.001% in leave-on products and 0.01% in rinse-off products.
At concentrations around 5%, localized redness and itching can appear as a direct irritant response and not as a true allergic reaction.
Learn more about Benzyl AlcoholEthylhexylglycerin is created from glycerin. It is a multitasker ingredient that:
The CIR Expert Panel found minimal skin absorption or sensitization of any kind in a safety assessment. Though this ingredient is considered well-tolerated, a small number of cases of allergic dermatitis have been published since 2002. Just be sure to patch test if you are unsure.
Industry-reported use ranges from 8% in rinse-off products and 2% in leave-on formulations.
Learn more about EthylhexylglycerinGlycerin (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 GlycerinMyristic Acid, aka tetradecanoic acid, is a naturally occurring fatty acid found in coconut oil, milk fat, and palm oil.
In skincare, it is an:
Research indicates that this ingredient posts a low risk of irritation and sensitization.
Industry survey data collected for this ingredient puts real-world usage concentrations anywhere from 0.00002% to 20% (most of the high end sits in rinse-off products).
Myristic Acid is not a recognized contact allergen and there are no published case reports of allergic contact dermatitis to it. Human testing found it to be non-irritating at 100% and at 40-50% in mineral oil. There are complaints about high-Myristic-acid cleansers leaving a tight feeling behind, but that has more to do with soap chemistry and pH than an allergy.
This ingredient does have a comedogenic rating of 3, but this doesn't mean a formula with this ingredient will clog pores.
Human testing has proved that any finished product with this ingredient won't automatically make you break out; it really comes down to concentration, formula, and your skin. Some people still find it breaks them out. So if that's you, definitely trust your skin.
Since myristic acid is a C14 fatty acid, it falls within the range that Malassezia can metabolize (C11-24), and therefore may not be fungal acne safe.
Learn more about Myristic AcidChances 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 ChlorideSodium Cocoyl Glycinate is a cleansing agent. It can be naturally derived or synthetically-created.
As a surfactant, it helps clean your skin by gathering dirt, oil, and other pollutants to be rinsed away more easily.
Sodium Gluconate is the sodium salt of gluconic acid. In skincare, its main job is as a chelator.
Chelators grab onto stray metal ions like iron and copper that sneak in through water, raw materials, or manufacturing equipment. This stops them from triggering reactions that cause oils to go rancid, formulas to change color, and actives like vitamin C to fall apart.
This ingredient is often chosen as a biodegradable, gentler-sounding alternative to EDTA. It also pulls double duty as a mild humectant and pH buffer.
Typical use levels sit around 0.1-1% and supplier documents list up to 10% as an acceptable ceiling. Industry data found this ingredient family is mostly used well below 1% in leave on products.
Allergy risk is very low; animal testing has found it to be non-irritating to skin and eyes, mutagenicity assays came back negative, and there are no published reports of allergic contact dermatitis to it.
Learn more about Sodium GluconateWater. 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
