What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningCoco-Betaine
Cleansing
Glycerin
Humectant
Propanediol
Solvent
Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside
CleansingAcrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer
Emulsion StabilisingSodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Sodium Gluconate
Skin ConditioningAloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder
Skin Conditioning
Caprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Sodium Hydroxide
BufferingCocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Water
Skin ConditioningSodium Coco-Sulfate
Cleansing
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Lauryl Glucoside
CleansingCaprylyl/Capryl Glucoside
CleansingGlycerin
Humectant
Hyaluronic Acid
Humectant
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Saccharide Isomerate
Humectant
Macrocystis Pyrifera Extract
Skin Conditioning
Lonicera Caprifolium Flower Extract
Perfuming
Lonicera Japonica Flower Extract
Skin ConditioningSodium Gluconate
Skin ConditioningSodium Benzoate
Masking
Potassium Sorbate
Preservative
Sodium Citrate
BufferingGuar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride
Skin ConditioningGlycol Distearate
Emollient
Laureth-4
Emulsifying
Parfum
Masking
Sodium Chloride
MaskingCitric Acid
Buffering
Linalool
Perfuming
Water, Sodium Coco-Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Lauryl Glucoside, Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside, Glycerin, Hyaluronic Acid, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Sodium Hyaluronate, Saccharide Isomerate, Macrocystis Pyrifera Extract, Lonicera Caprifolium Flower Extract, Lonicera Japonica Flower Extract, Sodium Gluconate, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Citrate, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Glycol Distearate, Laureth-4, Parfum, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Linalool
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
This ingredient is a mild surfactant made by sticking glucose onto a blend of fatty acids.
It does two jobs because it has a sugar head that loves water and a fatty tail that loves oil:
Typical use levels range from 10-20% in cleansers and 15-30% in shower products.
Once on your skin, your skin's glucoside hydrolases breaks it down into glucose and the parent fatty alcohols.
This ingredient is considered fungal acne safe because its fatty alcohol portion sits outside the Malassezia yeast's metabolization range.
Learn more about Caprylyl/Capryl GlucosideCocamidopropyl 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 GlycerinThis is the synthetic salt of gluconic acid, a form of PHA and mild exfoliant.
It is mainly used to stabilize oil and butter formulations from going bad. Sodium gluconate is a humectant, pH regulator, and chelating agent.
Chelating agents help neutralize unwanted metals from affecting the formulation.
Sodium gluconate is water-soluble.
Learn more about Sodium GluconateSodium Hyaluronate is the salt form of hyaluronic acid. It is a long sugar chain that is naturally found in your skin, joints, and connective tissue that maintains hydration and elasticity.
In skincare, it works as a humectant. It pulls water from the environment and deeper layers of skin and binds it to the surface.
Interestingly, the size of the molecule affects its behavior:
Some clinical evidence links low molecular weight versions to improved wrinkle depth, elasticity, anti-inflammatory effects, and barrier repair.
Many serums use a blend of both weights so you can get surface hydration plus longer-lasting and deeper effects.
You'll typically see concentrations between 0.1-2% for this ingredient.
Learn more about Sodium HyaluronateWater. 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
