What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Urea
Buffering
Linum Usitatissimum Seed Oil
Perfuming
Cetearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Olea Europaea Fruit Oil
Masking
Zeolite
AbsorbentCetearyl Glucoside
Emulsifying
Borago Officinalis Leaf Extract
Skin ConditioningRicinus Communis Seed Oil
Masking
Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil
Emollient
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate
Cleansing
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningCaprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Cymbopogon Martini Oil
Masking
Lavandula Angustifolia Oil
Masking
Pelargonium Graveolens Oil
Masking
Rosa Damascena Flower Water
Masking
Citronellol
Perfuming
Geraniol
Perfuming
Phenethyl Alcohol
MaskingLinalool
Perfuming
Water, Glycerin, Urea, Linum Usitatissimum Seed Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Olea Europaea Fruit Oil, Zeolite, Cetearyl Glucoside, Borago Officinalis Leaf Extract, Ricinus Communis Seed Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Cetearyl Sulfate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Caprylyl Glycol, Cymbopogon Martini Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia Oil, Pelargonium Graveolens Oil, Rosa Damascena Flower Water, Citronellol, Geraniol, Phenethyl Alcohol, Linalool
Water
Skin ConditioningCaprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Masking
Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil
Emollient
Cetearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Glycerin
Humectant
Dimethicone
Emollient
Cetearyl Glucoside
Emulsifying
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Xanthan Gum
EmulsifyingPotassium Cetyl Phosphate
EmulsifyingCarbomer
Emulsion StabilisingCaprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningHexylene Glycol
EmulsifyingButylene Glycol
Humectant
Pseudoalteromonas Ferment Extract
Humectant
Sodium Hydroxide
BufferingDimethylmethoxy Chromanyl Palmitate
Skin Conditioning
Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil
Masking
Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil
Masking
Lavandula Angustifolia Oil
Masking
Dimethylmethoxy Chromanol
Antioxidant
Proline
Skin Conditioning
Alanine
Masking
Serine
Masking
Sodium Phosphate
BufferingTetrapeptide-21
Skin Conditioning
Water, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Dimethicone, Cetearyl Glucoside, Phenoxyethanol, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Carbomer, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Hexylene Glycol, Butylene Glycol, Pseudoalteromonas Ferment Extract, Sodium Hydroxide, Dimethylmethoxy Chromanyl Palmitate, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia Oil, Dimethylmethoxy Chromanol, Proline, Alanine, Serine, Sodium Phosphate, Tetrapeptide-21
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Caprylyl Glycol is a humectant, skin conditioner, emollient, and preservative booster derived from either caprylic acid or synthetically created.
Typical use levels vary from 0.3-1% as a preservative booster and go up to 2% to condition skin.
Because it is not a free-fatty acid or alcohol, this ingredient is fungal acne safe (there's nothing for Malassezia to feed on).
Learn more about Caprylyl GlycolCetearyl alcohol is a waxy mixture of two fatty alcohols: cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol. It is an emollient and emulsifier.
Despite having "alcohol" in its name, it has nothing to do with drying solvent alcohols; the FDA also allows "alcohol-free" products to contain fatty alcohols like this ingredient.
It plays several roles in a formula:
Typical use levels for this ingredient sit around 1-10% and the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel has affirmed safety at concentrations up to 25% in leave-on products.
Multiple assessments have found it to be non-irritating and non-sensitizing to most people.
However, there have been some cases of allergic contact dermatitis in patients with chronically compromised skin barriers.
Cetearyl alcohol has a comedogenic rating of 2 and irritancy rating of 1. Both of these numbers come from the 1989 study that used rabbit ears; a "2" means mildly comedogenic and a "1" means low irritancy.
Here's the catch: rabbit skin is more sensitive than human skin and throws a lot of false positives. A 1996 reappraisal found that ingredients rated 1-2 in the rabbit ear tests are generally safe for humans.
Remember comedogenic ratings are unable to assess the entire formula of a product or how it will react on your skin. Just be sure to patch test if you are unsure about certain ingredients.
This ingredient is not fungal acne safe. Cetearyl alcohol is a fatty alcohol with chain lengths that fall within the range that Malassezia can metabolize.
Learn more about Cetearyl AlcoholCetearyl Glucoside is a sugar-based emulsifier. It is usually made by combining cetearyl alcohol and glucose.
Belonging to the aklyl polyglucoside (APG) family, Cetearyl Glucoside has a sugar "head" that loves water and a fatty "tail" that loves oil. This means it can shuffle oil and water into a stable and smooth emulsion.
Typical use levels are between 1-5% and this ingredient is considered to be non-irritating by the CIR Expert Panel Review.
Once applied, your skin's glucoside hydrolases breaks it down to the parent fatty alcohol and glucose. This is why this ingredient may not be fungal acne safe.
Learn more about Cetearyl GlucosideEthylhexylglycerin is created from glycerin. It is a multitasker ingredient that:
The CIR Expert Panel found minimal skin absorption or sensitization of any kind in a safety assessment. Though this ingredient is considered well-tolerated, a small number of cases of allergic dermatitis have been published since 2002. Just be sure to patch test if you are unsure.
Industry-reported use ranges from 8% in rinse-off products and 2% in leave-on formulations.
Learn more about EthylhexylglycerinGlycerin (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 GlycerinLavandula Angustifolia Oil is more commonly known as lavender essential oil. It is considered a fragrancing ingredient.
Lavender imparts a famous scent. While the smell is lovely, this ingredient and may sensitize skin in topical products. This is because about 85% of the oil is made up of linalool and linalyl acetate.
When exposed to air, these two compounds become strong allergens. This ingredient exhibits cytotoxicity at low concentrations; amounts of 0.25% have been shown to damage skin cells.
A study from Japan found this ingredient caused lavender sensitivity after widespread exposure.
Lavender essential oil has some antimicrobial, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties. However, the cons of this ingredient may outweight the pros.
More research is needed to confirm lavender essential oil's effects when used in aromatherapy.
Lavandula Angustifolia is known as the English Lavender and famous for creating purple fields in Provence, France.
Learn more about Lavandula Angustifolia OilPhenoxyethanol 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.
Jojoba 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.
Due to its fatty acid content, Jojoba oil 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
