What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningCocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Glycerin
Humectant
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Masking
Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate
Cleansing
Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate
CleansingSodium Cocoyl Isethionate
Cleansing
Decyl Glucoside
Cleansing
Olea Europaea Fruit Oil
Masking
Sodium Metabisulfite
Antioxidant
Cucumis Sativus Fruit Extract
Emollient
Curcuma Longa Root Extract
Masking
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract
Emollient
Citric Acid
Buffering
Citrus Limon Peel Oil
Masking
Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate
Antioxidant
Water, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Decyl Glucoside, Olea Europaea Fruit Oil, Sodium Metabisulfite, Cucumis Sativus Fruit Extract, Curcuma Longa Root Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Citric Acid, Citrus Limon Peel Oil, Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate
Water
Skin ConditioningSodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate
CleansingPolyacrylate-33
Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate
CleansingCocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Glycerin
Humectant
Sodium PCA
Humectant
Betaine
Humectant
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Coffea Arabica Seed Extract
Masking
Sodium Hydroxide
BufferingParfum
Masking
Sodium Benzoate
Masking
Charcoal Powder
Abrasive
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract
Emollient
Niacinamide
Smoothing
Panthenol
Skin Conditioning
Kaolin
Abrasive
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningMelaleuca Alternifolia Leaf Oil
Antioxidant
Water, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate, Polyacrylate-33, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycerin, Sodium PCA, Betaine, Phenoxyethanol, Coffea Arabica Seed Extract, Sodium Hydroxide, Parfum, Sodium Benzoate, Charcoal Powder, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Niacinamide, Panthenol, Kaolin, Ethylhexylglycerin, Melaleuca Alternifolia Leaf Oil
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract is a botanical extract pulled from the leaves of aloe vera and one of the most studied plant ingredients in cosmetics.
The inner leaf gel it comes from is mostly water (~99-99.5%) and the remaining fraction is made up of pretty good stuff: polysaccharides, vitamins, phenolics, and enzymes.
Its headline job is hydration.
The star polysaccharide in aloe, acemannan, is a humectant that retains moisture and helps reduce trans-epidermal water loss.
Aloe also has real soothing credentials; it contains anti-inflammatory compounds like bradykinase and C-glucosyl chromone that help calm irritation and redness.
On the repair side, lab work shows that acemannan wakes up your skin's repair cells (fibroblasts), prompting them to multiply and speed up healing.
There's some human data for cosmetic benefit too: a cream containing 10% Aloe Barbadensis leaf extract improved skin hydration and elasticity in a real-use study.
Safety-wise, this ingredient is well-regarded with just one rare downside; there have been some case reports of acute eczema, contact urticaria, and dermatitis in people who applied aloe-derived ingredients topically. Those with a known aloe or Liliaceae sensitivity should patch test.
Typical use levels range widely, from under 1% up to 90%+ depending on the format and the effect you are after.
Learn more about Aloe Barbadensis Leaf ExtractCocamidopropyl Betaine is a fatty acid created by mixing similar compounds in coconut oil and dimethylaminopropylamine, a compound with two amino groups.
This ingredient is a surfactant and cleanser. It helps gather the dirt, pollutants, and other impurities in your skin to be washed away. It also helps thicken a product and make the texture more creamy.
Being created from coconut oil means Cocamidopropyl Betaine is hydrating for the skin.
While Cocamidopropyl Betaine was believed to be an allergen, a study from 2012 disproved this. It found two compounds in unpure Cocamidopropyl Betaine to be the irritants: aminoamide and 3-dimethylaminopropylamine. High-grade and pure Cocamidopropyl Betaine did not induce allergic reactions during this study.
Learn more about Cocamidopropyl BetaineDisodium Cocoamphodiacetate is a surfactant and helps cleanse skin. It is created from the fatty acids of coconut oil.
Surfactants help rinse oil, dirt, and other pollutants easily from skin. It has a faint fruit-like scent.
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 GlycerinWater. 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
