Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash Versus Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser

See how these products line up with your preferences

Here's our complete breakdown comparing the ingredients, attributes, and more of Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash versus Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser .

Published on September 17, 2021

Overview

What they are

These products are both cruelty-free and reef safe face cleansers. They have a total of 17 ingredients in common

Free From

They both do not contain any harsh alcohols, common allergens, oils, parabens, silicones or sulfates

We independently verify ingredients, and our claims are backed by peer-reviewed research. Spot a product that need an update? Let us know.

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Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser

Face Cleanser American Brand United States

Face Cleanser

Face cleansers are used to remove makeup, dead skin cells, pollutants, oil, dirt, and/or clean out pores on the skin. Face cleansers may specialize in having one function (exa. just removing makeup) or may have multiple functions (exa. Removing makeup and cleaning pores).

Face Cleanser

Price

Shop

Buy Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash

Starts at $90.00

Shop

Buy Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser

Starts at $19.00

Ingredient Info

Click any item below to learn more and view relevant ingredients.

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash 24 ingredients

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser 48 ingredients

alcohol-free

silicon-free

fragrance-free

sulfate-free

paraben-free

oil-free

fungal-acne safe

reef-safe

eu-allergen-free

vegan

cruelty-free

alcohol-free

silicon-free

fragrance-free

sulfate-free

paraben-free

oil-free

fungal-acne safe

reef-safe

eu-allergen-free

vegan

cruelty-free

At a glance

Click on any of the items below to learn more

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash 24 ingredients

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser 48 ingredients

Concerns

Rosacea

Eczema

Notable Ingredients

AHA

Benefits

Hydrating (2)

Redness Reducing (2)

Reduces Irritation (2)

Skin Texture

Reduces Large Pores (2)

Anti-Aging (2)

Dark Spots (2)

Scar Healing

Acne Fighting

Brightening (2)

Concerns

Drying

May Worsen Oily Skin (2)

Acne Trigger (3)

Irritating

Rosacea (2)

Eczema (2)

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Ingredients Compared

Ingredients that are highlighted in purple are present in both products.

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash 24 ingredients

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser 48 ingredients

Water • Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate • Cannabis Sativa Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract • Sodium Astrocaryum Murumuruate • Aspartic Acid • Glycine • Arginine • Alanine • Serine • Valine • Proline • Threonine • Isoleucine • Histidine • Phenylalanine • Sodium Gluconate • Sodium Lactate • Xanthan Gum • Sodium PCA • Phenoxyethanol • Ethylhexylglycerin • Polysorbate 20 • Citric Acid • Parfum

Water • Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate • Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine • Sodium Lauroamphoacetate • Cocamidopropyl Betaine • Glycerin • Sorbeth-230 Tetraoleate • Decyl Glucoside • Pentylene Glycol • Sodium Chloride • Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate • Lauric Acid • Lactic Acid • Sodium Lauroyl Oat Amino Acids • Sorbitan Laurate • Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate • Disodium EDTA • Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice • Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride • Cocoyl Proline • Sodium Citrate • Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract • Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract • Sodium PCA • Sodium Lactate • Arginine • Glycine Soja Sterols • Linoleic Acid • Phospholipids • Aspartic Acid • PCA • Glycine • Alanine • Serine • Valine • Isoleucine • Proline • Threonine • Potassium Citrate • Lactoperoxidase • Histidine • Phenylalanine • Glucose Oxidase • Citric Acid • Phenoxyethanol • Ethylhexylglycerin • Potassium Sorbate • Sodium Benzoate

Ingredients Side-by-side

Ingredients that are highlighted in purple are present in both products.

Learn more about what what Com. / Irr. ratings are

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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.

Water

What it does: Skin Conditioning, Solvent

Community Rating: Loved

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. Talk about multi-purpose! If you see this, drink a glass of water. Stay hydrated!

Learn more about Water

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 1.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 1.

Aspartic Acid

What it does: Masking, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Liked

Aspartic Acid is an amino acid that our bodies produce naturally. It is an antioxidant.

Our body uses Aspartic Acid to help build collagen and elastin. It also plays a role in hydrating skin.

Antioxidants help mitigate damage from free-radical molecules. These are molecules that originate from external sources such as pollution, cigarette smoke, or the sun.

Learn more about Aspartic Acid

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 5.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 30.

Glycine

What it does: Buffering, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Liked

Glycine is an amino acid that helps build proteins. It is already present in our skin as our bodies produce them naturally.

Glycine helps keep skin hydrated and reduce signs of aging. Amino acids help transport moisture throughout our skin; glycine already plays a role in helping keep our skin moisturized.

As collagen is made up of glycine and other amino acids, it is believed Glycine may help our skin produce more collagen. Collagen helps keep skin plump and firm.

Learn more about Glycine

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 6.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 32.

Arginine

What it does: Masking, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Mixed

Arginine is an amino acid that is important for human development. Your body uses is it to produce hair keratin and skin collagen.

As a cosmetic ingredient, Arginine has antioxidant properties and can also help repair damaged skin. This ingredient is derived either synthetically or from animals.

Arginine isn't fungal acne safe when used in the presence of other lipids (fats, fatty acids, oils, esters, etc). Oils and fats occur naturally within the skin, so take caution when using Arginine if you're prone to fungal acne.

Learn more about Arginine

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 7.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 26.

Alanine

What it does: Masking, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

Alanine is an amino acid and is already found in the human body.

Alanine has antioxidant properties and can help with anti-aging.

Alanine is used by fibrous proteins such as collagen, elastin, and keratin. These three help make a strong skin barrier. Having a healthy skin barrier leads to more plump and youthful skin.

Learn more about Alanine

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 8.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 33.

Serine

What it does: Masking, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

Serine is an amino acid naturally found in our body. Our bodies use amino acids to create protein.

Amino-acids help give keep our skin hydrated. They play an important role in the skin barrier, which keeps the skin plump and firm.

Serine is a non-essential amino acid, meaning we don't need to obtain it from eating foods.

Learn more about Serine

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 9.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 34.

Valine

What it does: Masking, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

We don't have a description for Valine.

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 10.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 35.

Proline

What it does: Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

Proline is an amino-acid. It helps moisturize the skin and plays an important role in creating proteins.

Proline is one of the building blocks for producing collagen. As we age, our bodies produce less collagen. Collagen helps the skin look plump and firm.

In medicine, proline is used as an osmoprotectant. This means it helps prevent oxidative degradation in other drugs.

Our bodies are able to produce proline naturally, but certain conditions may inhibit this production. In that case, proline can be obtained from eating egg whites, soy protein, dairy products, asparagus, mushrooms, and seaweed.

Learn more about Proline

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 11.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 37.

Threonine

What it does:

Community Rating: Loved

Threonine is an amino-acid. It helps hydrate the skin and has antioxidant benefits.

Threonine is vital for creating collagen and elastin. Collagen and elastin support youthful and firm skin. Our bodies decrease collagen production naturally with age.

Humans are not able to create threonine and must get it through eating foods such as fish, lentils, poultry, sesame seeds, and more.

Learn more about Threonine

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 12.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 38.

Isoleucine

What it does: Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

We don't have a description for Isoleucine.

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 13.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 36.

Histidine

What it does: Humectant, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

We don't have a description for Histidine.

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 14.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 41.

Phenylalanine

What it does: Masking, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

Phenylalanine is an amino acid. It is a skin soothing and hydrating ingredient. Amino acids play a crucial role in wound healing and skin hydration.

Phenylalanine is also used to help even out skin tone due to its ability to disrupt the melanin production process.

Two structures of phenylalanine exist: L-phenylalanine and D-phenylalanine. L-phenylalanine is essential, this means our bodies cannot produce it naturally and we must get it from foods. Our bodies convert D-phenylalanine to neurotransmitters, and D-phenylalanine is found in our bodies naturally.

Some foods that contain L-phenylalanine include eggs, soybeans, beef, milk.

Learn more about Phenylalanine

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 15.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 42.

Sodium Lactate

What it does: Buffering, Humectant

Community Rating: Liked

Sodium Lactate is the sodium salt of lactic acid, an AHA. It is a humectant and used to adjust the pH of a product.

Sodium Lactate is part of our skin's NMF, or natural moisturizing factor. Our NMF is essential for the hydration of our top skin layers and plasticity of skin.

It also influences our skin's natural acid mantle and pH, which protects our skin from harmful bacteria.

Our NMF is formed from amino acids, lactic acid, sugars, minerals, peptides, and electrolytes. As we age, our NMF naturally depletes. Other sources of NMF depletion include harsh and drying ingredients such as denatured alcohol. Sodium lactate can help replenish our NMF, leading to more hydrated and plump skin.

High percentages of Sodium Lactate can have an exfoliating effect.

Sodium Lactate is produced from fermented sugar.

Learn more about Sodium Lactate

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 17.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 25.

Sodium PCA

What it does: Humectant, Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Loved

Sodium PCA is the sodium salt of pyroglutamic acid and is naturally occurring on human skin.

The PCA stands for pyrrolidone carboxylic acid, a natural amino acid derivative.

Sodium PCA is a has conditioning, anti-inflammatory, and humectant properties. Humectants help hydrate your skin by drawing moisture from the air. This helps keep your skin moisturized.

Learn more about Sodium PCA

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 19.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 24.

Phenoxyethanol

What it does: Preservative

Community Rating: Very Disliked

Phenoxyethanol is a preservative that has germicide, antimicrobial, and aromatic properties. Studies show that phenoxyethanol can prevent germ and 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.

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 20.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 45.

Ethylhexylglycerin

What it does: Skin Conditioning

Community Rating: Mixed

Ethylhexylglycerin (we can't pronounce this either) is commonly used as a preservative and skin softener. It is derived from glyceryl.

You might see Ethylhexylglycerin often paired with other preservatives such as phenoxyethanol. Ethylhexylglycerin has been found to increase the effectiveness of these other preservatives.

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 21.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 46.

Citric Acid

What it does: Buffering, Masking

Community Rating: Disliked

Citric Acid is an AHA derived from citrus fruits (think oranges, lemons, and limes!).

If you spot Citric Acid near the end of an ingredient list, it's likely there as a pH adjuster rather than an active ingredient.

As an AHA, Citric Acid removes the top layer of skin cells from the newer layer of skin underneath. This helps skin to remove dark spots and look more even.

Read more about some other popular AHA's here:

Learn more about Citric Acid

Pacifica Cosmic Hemp Balancing Face Wash contains this as ingredient number 23.

Paula's Choice Defense Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 44.

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