What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningCaprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Masking
Ethylhexyl Palmitate
Emollient
Polysorbate 60
Emulsifying
Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter
Emollient
Cetearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Polyacrylamide
Cera Alba
Emollient
Glycerin
Humectant
C13-14 Isoparaffin
Emollient
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder
Skin Conditioning
Benzyl Alcohol
Perfuming
Lanolin
Emollient
Ricinus Communis Seed Oil
Masking
Sorbitan Stearate
Emulsifying
Sodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Laureth-7
EmulsifyingTocopherol
Antioxidant
Parfum
Masking
Actinidia Chinensis Fruit Extract
EmollientHelianthus Annuus Seed Oil
Emollient
Salicylic Acid
Masking
Tetrasodium EDTA
Sodium Hydroxide
BufferingSorbic Acid
Preservative
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Citronellol
Perfuming
Geraniol
Perfuming
Linalool
Perfuming
Water, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Polysorbate 60, Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter, Cetearyl Alcohol, Polyacrylamide, Cera Alba, Glycerin, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder, Benzyl Alcohol, Lanolin, Ricinus Communis Seed Oil, Sorbitan Stearate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Laureth-7, Tocopherol, Parfum, Actinidia Chinensis Fruit Extract, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, Salicylic Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide, Sorbic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Citronellol, Geraniol, Linalool
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Cetearyl alcohol is a waxy mixture of two fatty alcohols: cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol. It is an emollient and emulsifier.
Despite having "alcohol" in its name, it has nothing to do with drying solvent alcohols; the FDA also allows "alcohol-free" products to contain fatty alcohols like this ingredient.
It plays several roles in a formula:
Typical use levels for this ingredient sit around 1-10% and the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel has affirmed safety at concentrations up to 25% in leave-on products.
Multiple assessments have found it to be non-irritating and non-sensitizing to most people.
However, there have been some cases of allergic contact dermatitis in patients with chronically compromised skin barriers.
Cetearyl alcohol has a comedogenic rating of 2 and irritancy rating of 1. Both of these numbers come from the 1989 study that used rabbit ears; a "2" means mildly comedogenic and a "1" means low irritancy.
Here's the catch: rabbit skin is more sensitive than human skin and throws a lot of false positives. A 1996 reappraisal found that ingredients rated 1-2 in the rabbit ear tests are generally safe for humans.
Remember comedogenic ratings are unable to assess the entire formula of a product or how it will react on your skin. Just be sure to patch test if you are unsure about certain ingredients.
This ingredient is not fungal acne safe. Cetearyl alcohol is a fatty alcohol with chain lengths that fall within the range that Malassezia can metabolize.
A 2019 study has also observed Malassezia growth in the presence of this ingredient, confirming it to be not-fungal acne safe.
Learn more about Cetearyl AlcoholSorbic Acid is a preservative that stops your product from spoiling by stopping microbes from growing.
As a preservative, it's kind of a specialist: it has a broad spectrum of activity against yeast and molds but is weaker against bacteria. That's why it's often paired with another preservative to cover that gap.
This ingredient is also pretty picky about pH; it performs best at pH 6.5 or below.
At the right pH level, sorbic acid is "active" and can slip through the outer wall of a microbe. Once inside, it turns the cell's interior more acidic to shut down the microbe from the inside.
The EU caps this ingredient at 0.6% while the CIR has concluded it's safe at concentrations up to 1%. It's most often used around 0.05-0.2% in cosmetics.
Though this ingredient is considered low-sensitizing and well-tolerated, a very small number of people may have a contact allergy to it. Be sure to patch test if you have a history of allergies towards preservatives.
Learn more about Sorbic AcidWater. 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
