This anti-aging moisturizer is formulated around Squalane to soften the look of wrinkles and hydrate skin.
This hydrating serum is formulated around Sodium Hyaluronate to hydrate skin and soften the look of wrinkles.
What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningDimethicone
Emollient
Squalane
Emollient
Glycerin
Humectant
Pyrus Malus Fruit Extract
Skin Conditioning
Pentylene Glycol
Skin Conditioning
1,2-Hexanediol
Skin Conditioning
Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/Vp Copolymer
Butylene Glycol
Humectant
Hydroxyacetophenone
Antioxidant
Sodium Acrylates Copolymer
Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer
Emulsion StabilisingGigartina Stellata Extract
Skin ProtectingAcetyl Sh-Hexapeptide-5 Amide Acetate
Skin Conditioning
Tridecapeptide-1
Skin Conditioning
Oligopeptide-1
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Phytate
Propanediol
Solvent
Lecithin
Emollient
Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hyaluronate
Cyanocobalamin
Skin ConditioningPhenoxyethanol
Preservative
Water, Dimethicone, Squalane, Glycerin, Pyrus Malus Fruit Extract, Pentylene Glycol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/Vp Copolymer, Butylene Glycol, Hydroxyacetophenone, Sodium Acrylates Copolymer, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Gigartina Stellata Extract, Acetyl Sh-Hexapeptide-5 Amide Acetate, Tridecapeptide-1, Oligopeptide-1, Sodium Phytate, Propanediol, Lecithin, Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hyaluronate, Cyanocobalamin, Phenoxyethanol
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Pentylene Glycol
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Betaine
Humectant
Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein
Skin ConditioningOligopeptide-78
Skin Conditioning
Palmitoyl Decapeptide-21
Skin Conditioning
Zinc Palmitoyl Nonapeptide-14
Skin Conditioning
Hexapeptide-9
Skin Conditioning
Decapeptide-21
Skin Conditioning
Oligopeptide-1
Skin Conditioning
Xylitylglucoside
Humectant
Anhydroxylitol
Humectant
Xylitol
Humectant
Sucrose
Humectant
Plankton Extract
Skin ConditioningGlucose
Humectant
Lecithin
Emollient
Butylene Glycol
Humectant
Hydroxyacetophenone
Antioxidant
Sodium Hydroxide
BufferingWater, Glycerin, Pentylene Glycol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Betaine, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Oligopeptide-78, Palmitoyl Decapeptide-21, Zinc Palmitoyl Nonapeptide-14, Hexapeptide-9, Decapeptide-21, Oligopeptide-1, Xylitylglucoside, Anhydroxylitol, Xylitol, Sucrose, Plankton Extract, Glucose, Lecithin, Butylene Glycol, Hydroxyacetophenone, Sodium Hydroxide
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Butylene Glycol (or BG) is used within cosmetic products for a few different reasons:
Overall, Butylene Glycol is a safe and well-rounded ingredient that works well with other ingredients.
Though this ingredient works well with most skin types, some people with sensitive skin may experience a reaction such as allergic rashes, closed comedones, or itchiness.
Learn more about Butylene GlycolGlycerin (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 HydroxyacetophenoneLecithin is a term for a group of substances found in the cell membranes of plants, animals, and humans. They are made up of phospholipids.
Thanks to its amphiphilic structure (water-loving head and oil-loving tail), it is a true multitasker:
It plays well with most ingredients and is typically used at 0.1-1%. However, concentrations up to 50% have been reported in moisturizers.
Learn more about LecithinOligopeptide-1 is another name for Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF). In a formula, EGF works as a signaling ingredient.
EGF binds to receptors on your skin cells and tells keratinocytes/fibroblasts to divide, move, and rebuild the skin's support structure.
A 2012 open-label study on a barley-derived EGF serum reported statistically significant improvements in fine-lines, skin texture, pore size, and uneven skin tone, with changes showing up within the first month of 2x/daily use.
And a 2023 review found generally positive but modest results for growth factor products while pointing out that most trials are small, often industry-funded, and rarely test EGF on its own.
So, a fair summary of this ingredient would be "promising with real mechanistic backing, but not yet large-scale proof".
Concentration-wise, EGF is biologically active at very tiny amounts so finished products use it at low levels (think parts per million).
Raw material supplies usually sell a pre-diluted EGF solution and recommend adding roughly 1-5% of that solution to a formula.
Another practical catch: EGF is a fragile protein so it reacts badly to heat and the wrong pH. This just means it relies heavily on good packaging and a solid delivery system to stay active in a bottle.
Oligopeptide-1 and Sh-Oligopeptide-1. The "sh-" prefix just means "synthetic human" and it tells you that it's the lab grown version.
Learn more about Oligopeptide-1Pentylene 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 GlycolWater. 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
