What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Pentylene Glycol
Skin Conditioning
Chondrus Crispus
Masking
Collagen Amino Acids
Moisturising
Methylpropanediol
SolventRhamnose
HumectantMethylsilanol PCA
HumectantPalmitoyl Tripeptide-5
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Hydroxyacetophenone
Antioxidant
Chlorphenesin
Antimicrobial
Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate
Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate
Antimicrobial
Citric Acid
Buffering
Water
Skin ConditioningPentylene Glycol
Skin Conditioning
Glycerin
Humectant
Collagen
Moisturising
Veronica Officinalis Extract
Skin ConditioningPalmitoyl Tripeptide-37
Skin Conditioning
Tripeptide-29
Skin Conditioning
Fucus Vesiculosus Extract
Emollient
Pichia Ferment Lysate Filtrate
HumectantVitis Vinifera Seed Extract
Antimicrobial
Actinidia Chinensis Fruit Water
MaskingCoffea Arabica Seed Oil
Masking
Sodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Extract
Abrasive
Epilobium Angustifolium Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract
Skin ConditioningLeuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate
Antimicrobial
Hydroxyacetophenone
Antioxidant
Hydroxyethylcellulose
Emulsion StabilisingButylene Glycol
Humectant
Water, Pentylene Glycol, Glycerin, Collagen, Veronica Officinalis Extract, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-37, Tripeptide-29, Fucus Vesiculosus Extract, Pichia Ferment Lysate Filtrate, Vitis Vinifera Seed Extract, Actinidia Chinensis Fruit Water, Coffea Arabica Seed Oil, Sodium Hyaluronate, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Extract, Epilobium Angustifolium Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Hydroxyacetophenone, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Butylene Glycol
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
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 GlycerinHydroxyacetophenone is a small phenolic molecule that earns its place in a formulas as an antioxidant and preservative booster.
As a phenol, it is able to neutralize free radicals to protect both the product and the skin from oxidative stress.
Though it can't kill microbes on its own, it works as a good supporting agent when combined with other preservatives like Phenoxyethanol or 1,2-Hexanediol.
This ingredient naturally occurs as piceol in Norwegian spruce needles (~0.4-1.1% dry weight and in cloudberries). Though the cosmetic-grade material is synthesized for purity and consistency.
You'll usually see it used at low levels and suppliers recommend up to 1% added to a water phase.
Safety testing was done at concentrations like 0.05% in SPF products and 0.5% in a Human Repeated Insult Patch Test. The safety evidence is assuring; this ingredient is safe for cosmetics in current use and also holds safety status as a food flavoring as well.
An honest caveat: the "soothing" and "anti-inflammatory" claims come mostly from supplier marketing rather than published clinical trials. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review's own literature search found no useful efficacy studies on this ingredient.
So the antioxidant and preservative-boosting roles are the well supported ones while the calming benefit is plausible but thinly evidenced.
Overall, this is a well-tolerated, low-irritation multitasker that quietly helps a formula stay fresh and stable.
Learn more about HydroxyacetophenoneLeuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate is a natural preservative. It comes from fermenting radish roots with a bacteria called leuconostoc. The trade name for this ingredient is Leucidal.
Leuconostoc comes from lactic acid.
This ingredient has antimicrobial properties and helps prevent the growth of bacteria in a product.
Leuconostoc is used to make the traditional Korean side-dish, kimchi. It is also used to make sourdough bread (both incredibly yummy foods).
Learn more about Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment FiltratePentylene Glycol (1,2-pentanediol) is a multitasking little diol with three main roles in a formula:
Research on alkanediols (the family pentylene glycol belongs to) show they work by disrupting microbial cell membranes. This disruption helps the primary preservative system in a product work more effectively at lower doses.
On the safety side, the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel has concluded this ingredient to be safe as used in current cosmetic practices + concentrations.
Typical use levels in a formula run about 1-5%.
Learn more about Pentylene GlycolSodium Hyaluronate is the salt form of hyaluronic acid. It is a long sugar chain that is naturally found in your skin, joints, and connective tissue that maintains hydration and elasticity.
In skincare, it works as a humectant. It pulls water from the environment and deeper layers of skin and binds it to the surface.
Interestingly, the size of the molecule affects its behavior:
Some clinical evidence links low molecular weight versions to improved wrinkle depth, elasticity, anti-inflammatory effects, and barrier repair.
Many serums use a blend of both weights so you can get surface hydration plus longer-lasting and deeper effects.
You'll typically see concentrations between 0.1-2% for this ingredient.
Learn more about Sodium HyaluronateWater. 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
