What's inside
What's inside
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Ingredients Side-by-side
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 GlycerinThis ingredient is derived from guar gum. It is a skin conditioning agent that creates a thin, breathable film to reduce water loss during cleansing.
This leaves the skin feeling soft rather than stripped and also contributes to a creamier lather.
Due to the large molecule size, this ingredient is unlikely to penetrate skin.
Learn more about Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium ChlorideHydrogenated Castor Oil (aka "castor wax") is what you get when castor oil is turned into a wax.
Its dominant fatty acid is ricinoleic acid, giving it both emollient and mild humectant properties.
According to EU CosIng, this ingredient helps soften skin, keep oil and water stay mixed, and thickens products.
Hydrogenated castor oil at 30% did not trigger a positive patch-test reaction and is well-tolerated.
Since this ingredient is based on an 18-carbon fatty acid, it falls into the chain-length range that Malassezia can feed on and may not be fungal acne safe.
Learn more about Hydrogenated Castor OilParfum is a catch-all term for an ingredient or more that is used to give a scent to products.
Also called "fragrance", this ingredient can be a blend of hundreds of chemicals or plant oils. This means every product with "fragrance" or "parfum" in the ingredients list is a different mixture.
For instance, Habanolide is a proprietary trade name for a specific aroma chemical. When used as a fragrance ingredient in cosmetics, most aroma chemicals fall under the broad labeling category of “FRAGRANCE” or “PARFUM” according to EU and US regulations.
The term 'parfum' or 'fragrance' is not regulated in many countries. In many cases, it is up to the brand to define this term.
For instance, many brands choose to label themselves as "fragrance-free" because they are not using synthetic fragrances. However, their products may still contain ingredients such as essential oils that are considered a fragrance by INCI standards.
One example is Calendula flower extract. Calendula is an essential oil that still imparts a scent or 'fragrance'.
Depending on the blend, the ingredients in the mixture can cause allergies and sensitivities on the skin. Some ingredients that are known EU allergens include linalool and citronellol.
Parfum can also be used to mask or cover an unpleasant scent.
The bottom line is: not all fragrances/parfum/ingredients are created equally. If you are worried about fragrances, we recommend taking a closer look at an ingredient. And of course, we always recommend speaking with a professional.
Learn more about ParfumSodium cocoyl isethionate is a natural ingredient from coconut oil. It is an ultra gentle cleanser that gives a nice foam without drying the skin or impacting the skin barrier.
The amount of foam created depends on the amount of sodium cocoyl isethionate used in the product.
This ingredient also helps improve the spreadability of a product.
This ingredient hasn’t been shown in studies to feed fungal acne yeast.
Learn more about Sodium Cocoyl IsethionateSodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate is a gentle, coconut-derived cleansing surfactant. It's most commonly found in "sulfate-free" cleansers.
As a taurate, it belongs to a class of anionic surfactants prized for being efficient at cleansing without harshness, good performance in hard water, stability across a wide pH range, and easily biodegradable.
It is able to lift away oil and grime and make a nice lather without stripping your skin, so it's a good pick for sensitive skin.
Safety-wise, it has a good record. The CIR Expert Panel has concluded this ingredient to be safe in cosmetics and concentrations go up to 11% in leave-on products or 13% in rinse-off products.
Despite being derived from coconut oil, this ingredient is fungal acne safe. It's a water-soluble surfactant with no fatty oils or esters left intact on skin for the Malassezia yeast to feed.
Learn more about Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate
