Mamonde Lipid Balance Amino Foam Versus Laneige Phyto-Alexin Hydrating & Calming Cleanser

Coco-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.

Ethylhexylglycerin is created from glycerin. It is a multitasker ingredient that:

The CIR Expert Panel found minimal skin absorption or sensitization of any kind in a safety assessment. Though this ingredient is considered well-tolerated, a small number of cases of allergic dermatitis have been published since 2002. Just be sure to patch test if you are unsure.

Glutamic Acid is an amino acid that is found in all living organisms. Our bodies use this to help nerve cells in the brain communicate with other cells.

In cosmetics, glutamic acid is a famous humectant. It draws water from the air to your skin, keeping your skin hydrated (like hyaluronic acid).

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:

Glyceryl Stearate is made by reacting glycerin with stearic acid (typically sourced from plant oils like palm or coconut). It's an emulsifier, emollient, and mild occlusive.

Emulsifiers help ingredients like oil and water stay mixed so your formula stays nicely blended and uniform in texture.

Glycol Distearate serves as a pearlizing or opacifying agent in cosmetic products.

It's often included in cleansers and haircare products to give them a lustrous or shimmering appearance.

Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate is a modified starch used to help thicken a product.

It is also used in foods.

Lauryl Hydroxysultaine is a mild surfactant or cleansing ingredient that helps lift away dirt/oil, boost foam, and thicken the formula. It plays nicely with other surfactants and stays stable across a wide pH range.

Polyglyceryl-10 Laurate is a cleansing agent and emulsifier.

It rounds up dirt, oil, and grime, so they can be rinsed off easily as a cleanser. On the emulsifier side, it keeps your formula smooth and well-mixed by playing peacekeeper for ingredients that don't naturally get along (like oil and water).

Polyquaternium-10 is an ammonium salt of hydroxyethylcellulose. It is a white and granular powder used as a film-former and anti-static agent.

This ingredient is commonly found in hair conditioning products. According to a manufacturer, its positive charge makes it great for absorbing hair proteins. The manufacturer also states this ingredient helps with curl retention.

Potassium Cocoyl Glycinate is an amino acid-based surfactant and cleaning agent. This ingredient can be derived from animals or plants. It may also be synthetically created from fatty acids of the coconut and glycine.

Potassium Cocoyl Glycinate is a gentle surfactant. Surfactants help gather the dirt, oil, and other pollutants from your skin to be rinsed away. It is a mild cleanser and naturally produces foam.

Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate is a cleansing agent. It can be naturally derived or synthetically-created.

As a surfactant, it helps clean your skin by gathering dirt, oil, and other pollutants to be rinsed away more easily.

Sodium Lauroyl Glutamate is the sodium salt from the lauric acid of glutamic acid.

It is a surfactant and helps cleanse the skin. Surfactants gather oil, dirt, and other pollutants from your skin so they may be washed away easily.

Tetrasodium EDTA is the salt formed from neutralizing ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid with sodium hydroxide. It is a chelating agent and used to prevent metal ions from binding to other ingredients. This helps keep the product and ingredients stable.

Tetrasodium EDTA comes as a white solid and is soluble in water.

Tocopherol 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.

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.