What's inside
What's inside
Concerns
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Benzophenone-1 absorbs UV.
We don't have a description for Butyl Acetate yet.
CI 26100 is a synthetic red dye that does exactly one job: it makes a product look red.
It is oil-soluble rather than water-soluble so you'll find it in oily formulas like nail products, hair oils, or oil-based cosmetics.
On concentrations, neither the EU nor the FDA sets a hard number. The EU allows it with purity limits on leftover manufacturing residues and the FDA allows it in externally applied cosmetics at levels consistent with batch-certified good manufacturing practice.
Industry reports around 0.5% concentration usage in leave-on products, but most products use far less because it's a pretty strong dye.
The one rule that both regions share is that it isn't allowed anywhere it would touch mucous membranes (so no lipstick or eye products).
That restriction comes from an unresolved 2005 EU data request on how much of the dye penetrates skin and breaks down there, and not from any reported consumer harm.
Allergy risk is low and a guinea pig study ranked it a much weaker sensitizer than common hair-dye chemicals. But the same study found animals sensitized to paraphenylenediamine sometimes cross-reacted to it, so it's worth flagging for a patch test if you have a known permanant-hair-dye allergy.
Learn more about CI 26100Ethyl Acetate is a fragrance.
We don't have a description for Heptane yet.
Isopropyl Alcohol is a small, fast-evaporating alcohol.
Formulators use it as a solvent, a way to think out thick liquids, an antifoaming agent, and occasionally a fragrance ingredient.
Reported use concentrations run from 0.002%-100% and any number over 50% usually comes from a nail product.
Actual skincare numbers run much lower: cleansers (0.3-26%), toners (0.07-7%), face moisturizers (0.04-0.2%).
The Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel reviewed it and concluded it is safe in the present practices of use and the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies it as a non-carcinogenic to humans.
True allergy to this ingredient is uncommon but real: 44 out of 1,450 patients patch tested between 1992-2011 reacted with most cases clustering in people with leg ulcers, occupational hand eczema, or repeated use of Isopropyl Alcohol on already-broken skin.
Irritation and dryness are far more likely than allergy; before you throw away your skincare, just know this is dose-dependent and the risk is modest.
The irritant potential of the alcohols used in hand antiseptics is very low and skin irritation is significantly lower after alcohol application than after detergents (though isopropanol is somewhat more irritating than ethanol).
A 70% solution was a severe eye irritant in rabbit eye tests so the industry keeps this ingredient at low percentages in eye-area products.
One genuine caution: a 70% solution was a severe eye irritant in rabbit eye tests, so it belongs at low percentages in eye-area products, which is where the industry already keeps it.
According to the National Rosacea Society based in the US, you should be mindful of products with these alcohols in the top half of ingredients.
Learn more about Isopropyl AlcoholWe don't have a description for Nitrocellulose yet.
We don't have a description for Tosylamide/Epoxy Resin yet.
