Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser Versus Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser

See how these products line up with your preferences

Here's our complete breakdown comparing the ingredients, attributes, and more of Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser versus Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser .

Published on August 08, 2022

Overview

What they are

These products are both reef safe face cleansers. They have a total of 12 ingredients in common

Suited For

They're both likely to be good for dry skin, brightening skin, sensitive skin and scar healing

Free From

They both do not contain any harsh alcohols, common allergens, parabens, silicones or sulfates

What's Inside

They both contain fragrances

We independently verify ingredients, and our claims are backed by peer-reviewed research. Spot a product that need an update? Let us know.

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Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser

Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser

Face Cleanser South Korean Brand

Face Cleanser American Brand United States

Face Cleanser

Face cleansers are used to remove makeup, dead skin cells, pollutants, oil, dirt, and/or clean out pores on the skin. Face cleansers may specialize in having one function (exa. just removing makeup) or may have multiple functions (exa. Removing makeup and cleaning pores).

Face Cleanser

Price

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Buy Homme Active Water Cleanser

Starts at $19.40

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Buy Brilliant-C Cleanser

Ingredient Info

Click any item below to learn more and view relevant ingredients.

Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser 26 ingredients

Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser 34 ingredients

alcohol-free

silicon-free

fragrance-free

sulfate-free

paraben-free

oil-free

fungal-acne safe

reef-safe

eu-allergen-free

vegan

cruelty-free

alcohol-free

silicon-free

fragrance-free

sulfate-free

paraben-free

oil-free

fungal-acne safe

reef-safe

eu-allergen-free

vegan

cruelty-free

At a glance

Click on any of the items below to learn more

Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser 26 ingredients

Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser 34 ingredients

Benefits

Hydrating (2)

Redness Reducing

Reduces Irritation

Scar Healing

Brightening

Concerns

May Worsen Oily Skin (3)

Acne Trigger (2)

Rosacea

Eczema

Notable Ingredients

Vitamin C

Vitamin E

Hyaluronic Acid

Benefits

Hydrating (2)

Redness Reducing (2)

Reduces Irritation

Skin Texture

Reduces Large Pores

Anti-Aging (2)

Dark Spots (2)

Scar Healing (2)

Acne Fighting

Brightening (3)

Concerns

May Worsen Oily Skin (2)

Acne Trigger (2)

Irritating

Rosacea

Eczema (3)

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Ingredients Compared

Ingredients that are highlighted in purple are present in both products.

Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser 26 ingredients

Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser 34 ingredients

Water • Glycerin • Stearic Acid • Myristic Acid • Butylene Glycol • Peg-32 • Potassium Hydroxide • Lauric Acid • Lauryl Glucoside • Glyceryl Stearate • Peg-100 Stearate • Parfum • Mangifera Indica Seed Butter • Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil • Peg-14m • Olive Oil Peg-8 Esters • Sea Water • Disodium EDTA • Allantoin • Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate • Potassium Cocoyl Glycinate • Magnesium Aspartate • Zinc Gluconate • Biosaccharide Gum-1 • Calcium Gluconate • Copper Gluconate

Water • Myristic Acid • Glycerin • Stearic Acid • Potassium Hydroxide • Lauric Acid • Dipropylene Glycol • Sorbitol • Glycol Distearate • Peg-32 • Peg-6 • Peg-60 Glyceryl Isostearate • Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate • Glyceryl Stearate • Ascorbyl Glucoside • Tocopheryl Acetate • Hydrolyzed Soy Protein • Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract • Palmitoyl Hydroxypropyltrimonium Amylopectin/Glycerin Crosspolymer • Saxifraga Sarmentosa Extract • Vitis Vinifera Fruit Extract • Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract • Morus Bombycis Root Extract • Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract • Lecithin • Sodium Hyaluronate • Cucumis Sativus Fruit Extract • Butylene Glycol • Methylisothiazolinone • Caprylyl Glycol • Propylene Glycol • Disodium EDTA • Trisodium EDTA • Parfum

Ingredients Side-by-side

Ingredients that are highlighted in purple are present in both products.

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Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.

Water

What it does: Skin Conditioning, Solvent

Community Rating: Loved

Water. 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. Talk about multi-purpose! If you see this, drink a glass of water. Stay hydrated!

Learn more about Water

Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 1.

Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 1.

Glycerin

What it does: Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting, Solvent

Community Rating: Loved

Glycerin is already naturally found in your skin. It helps moisturize and protect your skin.

A study from 2016 found glycerin to be more effective as a humectant than AHAs and hyaluronic acid.

As a humectant, it helps the skin stay hydrated by pulling moisture to your skin. The low molecular weight of glycerin allows it to pull moisture into the deeper layers of your skin.

Hydrated skin improves your skin barrier; Your skin barrier helps protect against irritants and bacteria.

Glycerin has also been found to have antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Due to these properties, glycerin is often used in wound and burn treatments.

In cosmetics, glycerin is usually derived from plants such as soybean or palm. However, it can also be sourced from animals, such as tallow or animal fat.

This ingredient is organic, colorless, odorless, and non-toxic.

Glycerin is the name for this ingredient in American English. British English uses Glycerol/Glycerine.

Learn more about Glycerin

Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 2.

Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 3.

Stearic Acid

What it does: Cleansing, Emulsifying, Emulsion Stabilising, Masking

Community Rating: Very Disliked

Stearic Acid is a fatty acid. It is an emollient, emulsifier, and texture enhancer.

As an emollient, stearic acid helps soften skin. It aids the skin's protective barrier by preventing water loss. It also provides a gentle cleansing effect without stripping away natural oils.

Stearic acid may also be used to enhance the texture of products. It can add volume and stabilize ingredients such as water and oil. This can help water and oil ingredients from separating.

Sources of stearic acid include animal or vegetable fats/oils such as coconut or shea. It can be naturally found in butter, cocoa butter, shea butter, vegetable fats, and animal tallow.

This ingredient may not be Malassezia folliculitis, or fungal-acne safe.

Learn more about Stearic Acid

Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 3.

Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 4.

Myristic Acid

What it does: Cleansing, Emulsifying

Community Rating: Very Disliked

Myristic Acid is a saturated fatty acid. It is naturally found in milk fat. Other sources include palm oil, coconut oil, and butter fat.

Myristic Acid is an emulsifer and cleanser. As an emulsifer, it stabilizes a product by preventing ingredients from separating. Myristic Acid helps clean your skin by acting as a surfactant. It tends to gather oil and dirt on your skin to be easily rinsed away.

One study from 2021 found Myristic Acid to have anti-inflammatory properties.

Learn more about Myristic Acid

Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 4.

Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 2.

Butylene Glycol

What it does: Humectant, Masking, Skin Conditioning, Solvent

Community Rating: Mixed

Butylene Glycol (or BG) is used within cosmetic products for a few different reasons:

It is a solvent, meaning that it helps to dissolve other ingredients. This also enhances the absorption of the product into one's skin.
It is a humectant, which means that it helps attract moisture into the skin.
It helps improve product application.

Overall, Butylene Glycol is a safe and well-rounded ingredient. It is unlikely to irritate skin, and works well with pretty much all other ingredients.

Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 5.

Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 28.

Peg-32

What it does: Humectant, Solvent

We don't have a description for Peg-32.

Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 6.

Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 10.

Potassium Hydroxide

What it does: Buffering

Community Rating: Very Disliked

Potassium hydroxide is commonly known as caustic potash. It is used to fix the pH of a product or as a cleaning agent in soap. In cleansers, it is used for the saponification of oils.

Sapnification is the process of creating fatty acid metal salts from triglycerides and a strong base. During this process, Potassium Hydroxide is used up and is not present in the final product.

Using high concentrations of Potassium Hydroxide have shown to irritate the skin.

Learn more about Potassium Hydroxide

Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 7.

Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 5.

Lauric Acid

What it does: Cleansing, Emulsifying

Community Rating: Very Disliked

Lauric Acid is a fatty acid or lipid. About half of fatty acids in coconut oil is lauric acid.

This ingredient helps hydrate and sooth skin. As a humectant, it helps trap moisture. It also aids in cleaning and enhancing the texture of products.

Emerging studies show Lauric Acid to have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. The antimicrobial property helps strengthen the skin barrier by fighting off bad bacteria.

Lauric acid may not be Malassezia folliculitis, or fungal acne, safe.

Learn more about Lauric Acid

Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 8.

Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 6.

Glyceryl Stearate

What it does: Emollient, Emulsifying

Community Rating: Disliked

Glyceryl Stearate is a mix of glycerin and stearic acid.

Glyceryl Stearate is used to stabilize the mixing of water and oil ingredients. By preventing these ingredients from separating, it can help elongate shelf life. It can also help thicken the product's texture.

As an emollient, it helps soften skin and supports barrier-replenishing ingredients.

In cosmetics, Glyceryl Stearate is often made from vegetable oils or synthetically produced. The human body also creates Glyceryl Stearate naturally.

Learn more about Glyceryl Stearate

Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 10.

Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 14.

Parfum

What it does: Masking, Perfuming

Community Rating: Very Disliked

Parfum is a catch-all term for an ingredient or more that is used to give aroma to products. Parfum, or fragrance, 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.

In the US, the alternative name for parfum is 'fragrance'. The term '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. One example is Calendula flower extract. Essential oil ingredients still impart a scent or 'fragrance'.

Depending on the blend, it can cause allergies and sensitivities on the skin. Some ingredients that are known EU allergens include linalool and citronellol.

Products use parfum often to give products a scent or cover up smells of different ingredients.

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 Parfum

Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 12.

Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 34.

Disodium EDTA

What it does:

Community Rating: Disliked

Disodium EDTA plays a role in making products more stable by aiding other preservatives.

It is a chelating agent, meaning it neutralizes metal ions that may be found in a product.

Disodium EDTA is a salt of edetic acid and is found to be safe in cosmetic ingredients.

Learn more about Disodium EDTA

Laneige Homme Active Water Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 18.

Merle Norman Brilliant-C Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 32.