What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningSodium Laureth Sulfate
CleansingGlycerin
HumectantParfum
MaskingPEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate
EmulsifyingDisodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate
CleansingCocamidopropyl Betaine
CleansingLaureth-2
CleansingPanthenol
Skin ConditioningPrunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil
Skin ConditioningPropylene Glycol
HumectantTocopherol
AntioxidantOlea Europaea Leaf Extract
PerfumingHydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate
EmollientCoco-Glucoside
CleansingGlyceryl Oleate
EmollientPEG-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate
EmulsifyingPEG-6
HumectantSodium Chloride
MaskingTetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate
Citric Acid
BufferingSodium Benzoate
MaskingPotassium Sorbate
PreservativeCaramel
Cosmetic ColorantWater, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Glycerin, Parfum, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Laureth-2, Panthenol, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil, Propylene Glycol, Tocopherol, Olea Europaea Leaf Extract, Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate, Coco-Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, PEG-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate, PEG-6, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Caramel
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
HumectantSodium Laureth Sulfate
CleansingBetaine
HumectantCoco-Glucoside
CleansingGlyceryl Oleate
EmollientPEG-200 Hydrogenated Glyceryl Palmate
CleansingSodium Cocoamphoacetate
Cleansing1,2-Hexanediol
Skin ConditioningPEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate
EmulsifyingLinum Usitatissimum Seed Oil
PerfumingCitric Acid
BufferingAllantoin
Skin ConditioningSodium Chloride
MaskingAscorbyl Palmitate
AntioxidantHydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate
EmollientSodium Sulfate
Lecithin
EmollientTocopherol
AntioxidantWater, Glycerin, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Betaine, Coco-Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, PEG-200 Hydrogenated Glyceryl Palmate, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, 1,2-Hexanediol, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Linum Usitatissimum Seed Oil, Citric Acid, Allantoin, Sodium Chloride, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate, Sodium Sulfate, Lecithin, Tocopherol
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Citric Acid is an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) naturally found in citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, and limes.
Like other AHAs, citric acid can exfoliate skin by breaking down the bonds that hold dead skin cells together. This helps reveal smoother and brighter skin underneath.
However, this exfoliating effect only happens at high concentrations (20%) which can be hard to find in cosmetic products.
Due to this, citric acid is usually included in small amounts as a pH adjuster. This helps keep products slightly more acidic and compatible with skin's natural pH.
In skincare formulas, citric acid can:
While it can provide some skin benefits, research shows lactic acid and glycolic acid are generally more effective and less irritating exfoliants.
Most citric acid used in skincare today is made by fermenting sugars (usually from molasses). This synthetic version is identical to the natural citrus form but easier to stabilize and use in formulations.
Read more about some other popular AHA's here:
Learn more about Citric AcidCoco-Glucoside is a surfactant, or a cleansing ingredient. It is made from glucose and coconut oil.
Surfactants help gather dirt, oil, and other pollutants from your skin to be rinsed away.
This ingredient is considered gentle and non-comedogenic. However, it may still be irritating for some.
Learn more about Coco-GlucosideGlycerin (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 GlycerinGlyceryl Oleate is the monoester of glycerin and oleic acid. It is a skin-conditioning emollient that also helps form emulsions.
What makes glyceryl oleate special is its "re-fatting" effect.
When you wash your hair and skin with a surfactant-based cleanser, the surfactants grab onto everything. This includes your skin's natural lipids, or the fats that live in your skin barrier and sebum. Once you rinse these surfactants away, it leaves your skin feeling tight, dry, and clean (in a not-good way).
Re-fatting is essentially putting some of these lipids back. Glyceryl oleate deposits a thin layer of emollient lipids back on the skin or hair surface reduce some of the barrier damage.
Also, glyceryl oleate isn't a foreign molecule to your skin. It's chemically identical to something your skin already produces and manages naturally. This is why it tends to be well-tolerated with low risk of irritation.
Typical use levels range from 0.5-5%.
Glyceryl Oleate has a function of "perfuming" in the CosIng database. This just means that the ingredient has some scent character that can contribute to the product's overall smell.
The scent of this ingredient is described as "waxy".
As an ester of oleic acid, this ingredient may not be fungal acne safe. This is because oleic acid falls into the carbon-chain length that Malassezia can use as a substrate.
Learn more about Glyceryl OleateHydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate isn't fungal acne safe.
PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate is a synthetic, water-soluble surfactant and emulsifier.
It's a "superfatting" agent that helps replenish some of your skin's oils after they're stripped away by other surfactants.
This is why "gentle" and "moisturizing" cleansers feel less stripping than basic ones.
Typical concentrations range from 1-10% and it has a solid safety record. The CIR Expert Panel has concluded this ingredient to be safe at concentrations up to 10% in leave-on products.
Dermal application tests at 50% also did not produce irritation in two studies.
This ingredient may not be fungal acne safe and in vitro studies have shown Malassezia can metabolize it.
Learn more about PEG-7 Glyceryl CocoateChances 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 Laureth Sulfate (SLES) is a foaming, cleansing, and emulsifying ingredient. It is created from palm kernel oil or coconut oil. SLES is not the same as sodium lauryl sulfate. It is much milder and less likely to irritate.
SLES helps create foam in personal products. It also prevents ingredients from separating, helping to elongate the shelf life.
Sodium Laureth Sulfate is a type of sulfate. It can be drying. We recommend speaking with a professional about using this ingredient if you have concerns.
Learn more about Sodium Laureth SulfateTocopherol 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