What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
No key ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
HumectantCoco-Betaine
CleansingCoco-Glucoside
CleansingGlyceryl Glucoside
HumectantAcrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer
Emulsion StabilisingSodium Chloride
MaskingPEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil
EmulsifyingSodium Benzoate
MaskingTrisodium EDTA
Rosa Damascena Flower Water
MaskingPotassium Sorbate
PreservativeSorbic Acid
PreservativeLinalool
PerfumingCitronellol
PerfumingGeraniol
PerfumingLimonene
PerfumingMethyl Benzoate
PerfumingParfum
MaskingWater, Glycerin, Coco-Betaine, Coco-Glucoside, Glyceryl Glucoside, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Sodium Chloride, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Sodium Benzoate, Trisodium EDTA, Rosa Damascena Flower Water, Potassium Sorbate, Sorbic Acid, Linalool, Citronellol, Geraniol, Limonene, Methyl Benzoate, Parfum
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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 GlycerinSodium Benzoate is a preservative. It's used in both cosmetic and food products to inhibit the growth of mold and bacteria. It is typically produced synthetically.
Both the US FDA and EU Health Committee have approved the use of sodium benzoate. In the US, levels of 0.1% (of the total product) are allowed.
Sodium benzoate works as a preservative by inhibiting the growth of bacteria inside of cells. It prevents the cell from fermenting a type of sugar using an enzyme called phosphofructokinase.
It is the salt of benzoic acid. Foods containing sodium benzoate include soda, salad dressings, condiments, fruit juices, wines, and snack foods.
Studies for using ascorbic acid and sodium benzoate in cosmetics are lacking, especially in skincare routines with multiple steps.
We always recommend speaking with a professional, such as a dermatologist, if you have any concerns.
Learn more about Sodium BenzoateChances are, you eat sodium chloride every day. Sodium Chloride is also known as table salt. This ingredient has many purposes in skincare: thickener, emulsifier, and exfoliator.
You'll most likely find this ingredient in cleansers where it is used to create a gel-like texture. As an emulsifier, it also prevents ingredients from separating.
You might see people debate whether Sodium Chloride is comedogenic, but there actually haven't been any comedogenic tests done on it. Either way, the overall formulation of a product matters a lot more than any single ingredient.
You might see this ingredient used in scrubs as a primary exfoliating ingredient.
Learn more about Sodium ChlorideWater. 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