What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningSodium Lauryl Sulfate
Cleansing
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Parfum
Masking
Coco-Glucoside
Cleansing
Glyceryl Oleate
Emollient
Glyceryl Stearate
Emollient
Glycol Distearate
Emollient
Ammonium Chloride
BufferingCitric Acid
Buffering
Glycerin
Humectant
Lauryl Lactate
EmollientMethyl Glucose Caprate/Caprylate/Oleate
EmollientPolyglyceryl-3 Laurate
EmulsifyingPropanediol
Solvent
Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract
Antimicrobial
Cucumis Sativus Fruit Extract
Emollient
Fucus Vesiculosus Extract
Emollient
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningMethylchloroisothiazolinone
Preservative
Methylisothiazolinone
Preservative
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Water, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Parfum, Coco-Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, Glyceryl Stearate, Glycol Distearate, Ammonium Chloride, Citric Acid, Glycerin, Lauryl Lactate, Methyl Glucose Caprate/Caprylate/Oleate, Polyglyceryl-3 Laurate, Propanediol, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Cucumis Sativus Fruit Extract, Fucus Vesiculosus Extract, Ethylhexylglycerin, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Phenoxyethanol
Water
Skin ConditioningCoco-Glucoside
Cleansing
Sodium Coco-Sulfate
Cleansing
Glycerin
Humectant
Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate
Cleansing
Glyceryl Oleate
Emollient
Lauryl Glucoside
CleansingStearyl Citrate
EmollientCitric Acid
Buffering
Sodium Benzoate
Masking
Potassium Sorbate
Preservative
Nasturtium Officinale Extract
Perfuming
Tropaeolum Majus Extract
AntimicrobialMaltodextrin
Absorbent
Moringa Oleifera Seed Extract
Skin Conditioning
Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract
Antimicrobial
Methyldihydrojasmonate
MaskingPentadecalactone
Masking
Water, Coco-Glucoside, Sodium Coco-Sulfate, Glycerin, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Glyceryl Oleate, Lauryl Glucoside, Stearyl Citrate, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Nasturtium Officinale Extract, Tropaeolum Majus Extract, Maltodextrin, Moringa Oleifera Seed Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Methyldihydrojasmonate, Pentadecalactone
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract (tea extract) is one of the most well-researched plant extracts in skincare with an impressive resume.
Black tea, green tea, and oolong tea are all harvested from the Camellia Sinensis plant.
Studies show green tea extract and its catechins (like epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)) help your skin cells product energy more efficiently and reducing the number of free-radicals that can damage your skin from the inside.
In lab-grown skin models, this translated to younger, healthier, and stronger skin.
There's also good sun protection data; researchers saw less DNA damage and redness on human skin when green tea was applied before UVB exposure. And the more they applied, the better the protection.
Needless to say, this ingredient shouldn't replace your sunscreen. But it is a great supportive ingredient that you can already find in many sunscreens and antioxidant serums.
A 2009 study found a 2% green tea lotion was effective for mild-to-moderate acne thanks to its anti-inflammatory and mild antimicrobial activity.
The quality of the extract matters a lot here:
Good extracts contain 50-90% catechins while lower quality ones are mostly there for marketing. We recommend reaching out to the brand if you have questions about the quality or source of their ingredients.
Human Repeated Insult Patch Testing showed no irritation or sensitization at use concentrations (0.86% in leave-on products and up to 30% as leaf water).
Learn more about Camellia Sinensis Leaf ExtractCitric 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 OleateWater. 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
