What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Homosalate is an oil-soluble organic UVB filter that has been a sunscreen staple for decades. Its job is to absorb UVB rays (280-315 nm) and protect your skin against sunburn,
This is one of the more photostable organic UV filters; it holds up pretty well under UV and a 2022 quantum-chemistry study found it stays stable in sunlight.
It's actually so reliable that formulators often pair it with shakier ingredients like oxybenzone and avobenzone. Formulators also use it to help dissolve the other UV filters into the oil phase.
One thing to keep in mind: "stable" isn't the same as "strong". On its own, homosalate is actually a pretty weak UV filter so it's better off as a helpful team player that helps boost overall SPF protection.
The safety picture is a bit nuanced but not scary.
This ingredient has a long track record of being gentle and regulators agree it isn't an irritant; EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety found that homosalate is not considered a skin irritant and doesn't raise eye-irritation flags either.
There's talk about homosalate because your skin absorbs a little bit of it into your bloodstream. A 2020 FDA-backed study found homosalate showed up in people's blood levels at the level where the FDA decides to double check.
The EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) also found small amounts in blood and breast milk. They estimated that about 5% of what you apply gets absorbed through the skin.
Due to the debate about whether it might mess with hormones, the SCCS recommended a maximum limit of 0.5% in most products of 7.3% in face creams/pump sprays.
One important thing to keep in mind: in the US, Homosalate is currently labeled "non-GRASE" by the FDA. This sounds alarming but really just means the FDA wants more data to confirm it's safe. It's not confidently saying this ingredient is harmful.
As of now, homosalate is still completely legal and widely used while that research gets done.
The current maximum limits are:
Learn more about HomosalateOctocrylene is an oil-soluble organic UV filter that mainly absorbs UVB and short wave UVA II light.
Its real superpower is teamwork: octocrylene is remarkably photostable and is most famous for stabilizing avobenzone (the workhorse UVA filter).
This ingredient is commonly used to enhance both UVB and UVA protection due to its unique property in stabilizing avobenzone. It also pulls double duty by boosting water resistance and giving formulas a smooth, spreadable feel.
The EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) has deemed octocrylene to be safe as a UV-filter at concentrations up to 10% (capped at 9% in propellant sprays). The US also permits it up to 10%.
Two things worth knowing:
You'll usually see this ingredient used in concentrations between 2-10% (higher amounts when used as a stabilizer for avobenzone).
Learn more about OctocrylenePhenoxyethanol is a preservative that has germicide, antimicrobial, and aromatic properties. Studies show that phenoxyethanol can prevent microbial growth. By itself, it has a scent that is similar to that of a rose.
It's often used in formulations along with Caprylyl Glycol to preserve the shelf life of products.
Pyridoxine Hydroxybenzoate is an antioxidant.
