What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningSodium C16 Olefin Sulfonate
EmulsifyingCoco-Betaine
CleansingCaprylhydroxamic Acid
Caprylyl Glycol
EmollientGlycerin
HumectantHydrolyzed Pea Protein
EmollientGuar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride
Skin ConditioningSodium Gluconate
Skin ConditioningLactic Acid
BufferingAloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin ConditioningSimmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil
EmollientChamomilla Recutita Extract
Skin ConditioningCamellia Sinensis Leaf Extract
AntimicrobialMelissa Officinalis Leaf Extract
Skin ConditioningUrtica Dioica Extract
AstringentRosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract
AntimicrobialSalvia Officinalis Extract
AntimicrobialWater, Sodium C16 Olefin Sulfonate, Coco-Betaine, Caprylhydroxamic Acid, Caprylyl Glycol, Glycerin, Hydrolyzed Pea Protein, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Sodium Gluconate, Lactic Acid, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Chamomilla Recutita Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Melissa Officinalis Leaf Extract, Urtica Dioica Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract, Salvia Officinalis Extract
Water
Skin ConditioningDecyl Glucoside
CleansingPolyglyceryl-10 Caprylate/Caprate
EmulsifyingCoco-Glucoside
CleansingGlyceryl Oleate
EmollientAloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin ConditioningTrisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate
Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract
MaskingCalendula Officinalis Flower Extract
MaskingColloidal Oatmeal
AbsorbentTocopherol
AntioxidantPrunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil
MaskingSimmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil
EmollientOryza Sativa Bran Extract
Skin ConditioningHydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate
EmollientHelianthus Annuus Extract
EmollientRosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract
AntimicrobialGlycerin
HumectantPhenoxyethanol
PreservativeXanthan Gum
EmulsifyingCitric Acid
BufferingSodium Benzoate
MaskingEthylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningPotassium Sorbate
PreservativeWater, Decyl Glucoside, Polyglyceryl-10 Caprylate/Caprate, Coco-Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Colloidal Oatmeal, Tocopherol, Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Oryza Sativa Bran Extract, Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate, Helianthus Annuus Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract, Glycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Potassium Sorbate
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice comes from leaves of the aloe plant. Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice is best known for helping to soothe sunburns. It is also anti-inflammatory, moisturizing, antiseptic, and can help heal wounds.
Aloe is packed with good stuff including Vitamins A, C, and E. These vitamins are antioxidants, which help fight free-radicals and the damage they may cause. Free-radicals are molecules that may damage your skin cells, such as pollution.
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice also contains sugars. These sugars come in the form of monosaccharides and polysaccharides, folic acid, and choline. These sugars are able to help bind moisture to skin.
It also contains minerals such as calcium, 12 anthraquinones, fatty acids, amino acids, and Vitamin B12.
Learn more about Aloe Barbadensis Leaf JuiceGlycerin (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 GlycerinThis is a botanical extract from the rosemary plant (the same one you cook with). In skincare, it mostly works as a skin conditioning agent.
Its activity comes from a handful of polyphenols, carnosic acid, carnosol, and rosmarinic acid. Almost 90% of the antioxidant activity of this ingredient can be attributed to canosol and carnosic acid.
These compounds protect your skin two ways:
1) They fight off free radicals, or the unstable molecules from things like sun and pollution that age and damage skin.
2) They help calm inflammation by switching off the chemical signals that tell skin to get red and irritated.
Lab studies also suggest that rosmarinic acid may help protect collagen and slow sugar-related damage to it.
The Cosmetic Ingredient Review has concluded rosemary-derived ingredients to be safe when formulated to be non-sensitizing.
Rosemary can occasionally cause allergic contact dermatitis (due to carnosol), so be sure to patch test if you have reactive or fragrance-sensitive skin.
Learn more about Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf ExtractJojoba oil is one of the most well-studied plant-derived ingredients in cosmetics. It is an emollient with a special structure.
Because it is made up of 97-98% wax esters, it closely mirrors the linear monoesters found in human sebum. This makes it skin compatible, non-greasy, and lightweight.
Unlike other plant oils, jojoba wax doesn't easily penetrate skin. It mostly works in the uppermost layers as an emollient. This just means it forms a light barrier on the skin to help retain moisture.
Formulations with jojoba esters up to 90% reduced transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and increased barrier recovery by 81% (outperforming bisabolol at 47%).
Besides barrier support, the science also suggests jojoba to have anti-inflammatory effects and potential applications for skin infections, aging, and wound healing.
Fun fact: Indigenous cultures have used jojoba as a moisturizer and to help treat burns for centuries.
Fungal acne: The Malassezia yeast is known to metabolize fatty acids in the C11-24 range and jojoba's dominant fatty acid components fall into this range. This ingredient may not be fungal acne safe.
Learn more about Simmondsia Chinensis Seed OilWater. 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