What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Butylene Glycol
Humectant
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Sodium Myristoyl Glutamate
CleansingGlycol Distearate
Emollient
Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate
Cleansing
Citric Acid
Buffering
Cocamide Methyl Mea
Surfactant
Acrylates Copolymer
Sodium Chloride
MaskingPEG-14m
Emulsion StabilisingPanthenol
Skin Conditioning
Aspergillus Ferment
Skin ConditioningSodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Parfum
Masking
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Chlorphenesin
Antimicrobial
Water, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Myristoyl Glutamate, Glycol Distearate, Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate, Citric Acid, Cocamide Methyl Mea, Acrylates Copolymer, Sodium Chloride, PEG-14m, Panthenol, Aspergillus Ferment, Sodium Hyaluronate, Parfum, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin
Xanthan Gum
EmulsifyingCeramide NP
Skin Conditioning
Phytosphingosine
Skin Conditioning
Cholesterol
Emollient
Carbomer
Emulsion StabilisingCitric Acid
Buffering
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Sodium PCA
Humectant
Sodium Chloride
MaskingDisodium EDTA
Propylene Glycol
Humectant
Potassium Sorbate
Preservative
Sodium Benzoate
Masking
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate
Cleansing
Centella Asiatica Extract
Cleansing
Ceramide AP
Skin Conditioning
Ceramide EOP
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate
EmulsifyingTriethylene Glycol
Masking
Xanthan Gum, Ceramide NP, Phytosphingosine, Cholesterol, Carbomer, Citric Acid, Water, Glycerin, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium PCA, Sodium Chloride, Disodium EDTA, Propylene Glycol, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Centella Asiatica Extract, Ceramide AP, Ceramide EOP, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Triethylene Glycol
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Citric Acid is an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) naturally found in citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, and limes.
Like other AHAs, citric acid can exfoliate skin by breaking down the bonds that hold dead skin cells together. This helps reveal smoother and brighter skin underneath.
However, this exfoliating effect only happens at high concentrations (20%) which can be hard to find in cosmetic products.
Due to this, citric acid is usually included in small amounts as a pH adjuster. This helps keep products slightly more acidic and compatible with skin's natural pH.
In skincare formulas, citric acid can:
While it can provide some skin benefits, research shows lactic acid and glycolic acid are generally more effective and less irritating exfoliants.
Most citric acid used in skincare today is made by fermenting sugars (usually from molasses). This synthetic version is identical to the natural citrus form but easier to stabilize and use in formulations.
Read more about some other popular AHA's here:
Learn more about Citric AcidCocamidopropyl 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 a preservative that has germicide, antimicrobial, and aromatic properties. Studies show that phenoxyethanol can prevent 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.
Chances are, you eat sodium chloride every day. Sodium Chloride is also known as table salt. This ingredient has many purposes in skincare: thickener, emulsifier, and exfoliator.
You'll most likely find this ingredient in cleansers where it is used to create a gel-like texture. As an emulsifier, it also prevents ingredients from separating.
You might see people debate whether Sodium Chloride is comedogenic, but there actually haven't been any comedogenic tests done on it. Either way, the overall formulation of a product matters a lot more than any single ingredient.
You might see this ingredient used in scrubs as a primary exfoliating ingredient.
Learn more about Sodium ChlorideWater. 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
