What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningPropanediol
Solvent
Sodium Stearate
CleansingBis-PEG-18 Methyl Ether Dimethyl Silane
EmollientGlycerin
Humectant
Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate
CleansingSilica
Abrasive
Quaternium-90 Sepiolite
Emulsion StabilisingCharcoal Powder
Abrasive
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Sodium Methyl Oleoyl Taurate
CleansingSodium Cocoyl Isethionate
Cleansing
Parfum
Masking
Quaternium-90 Montmorillonite
EmulsifyingCladonia Rangiferina Extract
Skin ConditioningSodium Benzoate
Masking
Water, Propanediol, Sodium Stearate, Bis-PEG-18 Methyl Ether Dimethyl Silane, Glycerin, Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate, Silica, Quaternium-90 Sepiolite, Charcoal Powder, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Methyl Oleoyl Taurate, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Parfum, Quaternium-90 Montmorillonite, Cladonia Rangiferina Extract, Sodium Benzoate
Water
Skin ConditioningButylene Glycol
Humectant
Sodium Stearate
CleansingBis-PEG-18 Methyl Ether Dimethyl Silane
EmollientGlycerin
Humectant
Lavandula Angustifolia Flower Water
Skin Conditioning
Diatomaceous Earth
Abrasive
Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate
CleansingCocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Quaternium-90 Sepiolite
Emulsion StabilisingMica
Cosmetic ColorantSodium Methyl Oleoyl Taurate
CleansingPhenoxyethanol
Preservative
Charcoal Powder
Abrasive
Moroccan Lava Clay
Abrasive
Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Extract
Abrasive
Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate
Cleansing
Quaternium-90 Montmorillonite
EmulsifyingChlorphenesin
Antimicrobial
Synthetic Fluorphlogopite
Tin Oxide
Abrasive
Titanium Dioxide
Cosmetic Colorant
CI 77491
Cosmetic ColorantWater, Butylene Glycol, Sodium Stearate, Bis-PEG-18 Methyl Ether Dimethyl Silane, Glycerin, Lavandula Angustifolia Flower Water, Diatomaceous Earth, Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Quaternium-90 Sepiolite, Mica, Sodium Methyl Oleoyl Taurate, Phenoxyethanol, Charcoal Powder, Moroccan Lava Clay, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Extract, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Quaternium-90 Montmorillonite, Chlorphenesin, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Tin Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, CI 77491
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Bis-Peg-18 Methyl Ether Dimethyl Silane belongs to the siloxanes and silicones classes. It is synthetically created and has a waxy composition.
This ingredient is a humectant and emollient, meaning it helps hydrate the skin. Humectants draw moisture to your skin, while emollients prevent moisture from escaping.
Charcoal powder comes from grounded charcoal. Charcoal can originate from peat, bamboo, coal, wood, coconut shell, or petroleum.
This ingredient has absorbent properties, making it great at absorbing oil.
Cocamidopropyl Betaine is a fatty acid created by mixing similar compounds in coconut oil and dimethylaminopropylamine, a compound with two amino groups.
This ingredient is a surfactant and cleanser. It helps gather the dirt, pollutants, and other impurities in your skin to be washed away. It also helps thicken a product and make the texture more creamy.
Being created from coconut oil means Cocamidopropyl Betaine is hydrating for the skin.
While Cocamidopropyl Betaine was believed to be an allergen, a study from 2012 disproved this. It found two compounds in unpure Cocamidopropyl Betaine to be the irritants: aminoamide and 3-dimethylaminopropylamine. High-grade and pure Cocamidopropyl Betaine did not induce allergic reactions during this study.
Learn more about Cocamidopropyl BetaineGlycerin (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 GlycerinPhenoxyethanol is one of the most widely used preservatives in skincare (and for good reason!).
It has a large spectrum of antimicrobial activity and especially effective bacteria, yeast, and mold while only having a weak effect on your skin's natural microbiome.
On a cellular level, it disrupts the cell membranes of microbes by poking holes that make the cell leak. This shuts down the chemical reactions the microbe needs to make energy so it can no longer survive.
Another perk of this ingredient is that it stays functional across a wide pH range (3-10).
You'll often see it paired with boosters like Ethylhexylglycerin; one study showed that a 1:9 ratio of Ethylhexylglycerin to Phenoxyethanol damages bacterial membranes as effectively as doubling the Phenoxyethanol concentration on its own.
Typical use concentrations range from 0.3-1% depending on the formula, and this ingredient is capped at 1% int the EU.
Safety-wise, the fear mongering does not hold up to the evidence. The EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety and FDA consider it safe as a preservative at up to 1%, including for children of all ages.
Adverse systemic effects only showed up in animal studies at exposures roughly 200x higher than what people get from cosmetics. And despite its very widespread use, this ingredient is a rare sensitizer and allergic reactions are uncommon.
Learn more about PhenoxyethanolWe don't have a description for Quaternium-90 Montmorillonite yet.
We don't have a description for Quaternium-90 Sepiolite yet.
Sodium cocoyl isethionate is a natural ingredient from coconut oil. It is an ultra gentle cleanser that gives a nice foam without drying the skin or impacting the skin barrier.
The amount of foam created depends on the amount of sodium cocoyl isethionate used in the product.
This ingredient also helps improve the spreadability of a product.
This ingredient hasn’t been shown in studies to feed fungal acne yeast.
Learn more about Sodium Cocoyl IsethionateSodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate is a cleansing ingredient. It is a surfactant, meaning it helps gather dirt, oil, and other pollutants. This helps them be rinsed away easily.
We don't have a description for Sodium Methyl Oleoyl Taurate yet.
Sodium stearate is the sodium salt of stearic acid.
The structure of sodium stearate makes it both a cleanser and emulsifier. As a cleanser, it helps dissolve dirt, oil, and other pollutants. As an emulsifier, it helps prevent ingredients from separating. This adds stability to the formula.
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.
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
