What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningDecyl Glucoside
Cleansing
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin Conditioning
Glycerin
Humectant
Xanthan Gum
EmulsifyingSodium Citrate
BufferingTriticum Vulgare Germ Oil
Emollient
Fragaria Ananassa Fruit Extract
Skin Conditioning
Montmorillonite
AbsorbentPelargonium Graveolens Oil
Masking
Citric Acid
Buffering
Benzyl Alcohol
Perfuming
Benzoic Acid
Masking
Dehydroacetic Acid
Preservative
Citronellol
Perfuming
Tocopherol
Antioxidant
Citrus Limon Peel Oil
Masking
Hibiscus Sabdariffa Flower Extract
Skin ConditioningLimonene
Perfuming
Geraniol
Perfuming
Pelargonium Graveolens Extract
Masking
Linalool
Perfuming
Rosa Damascena Extract
MaskingWater, Decyl Glucoside, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Glycerin, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Citrate, Triticum Vulgare Germ Oil, Fragaria Ananassa Fruit Extract, Montmorillonite, Pelargonium Graveolens Oil, Citric Acid, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzoic Acid, Dehydroacetic Acid, Citronellol, Tocopherol, Citrus Limon Peel Oil, Hibiscus Sabdariffa Flower Extract, Limonene, Geraniol, Pelargonium Graveolens Extract, Linalool, Rosa Damascena Extract
Water
Skin ConditioningDecyl Glucoside
Cleansing
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin Conditioning
Glycerin
Humectant
Xanthan Gum
EmulsifyingSodium Citrate
BufferingBentonite
Absorbent
Triticum Vulgare Germ Oil
Emollient
Citric Acid
Buffering
Dehydroacetic Acid
Preservative
Tocopherol
Antioxidant
Pachyrhizus Erosus Root Extract
Skin ConditioningCarica Papaya Fruit Extract
Skin ConditioningAverrhoa Carambola Fruit Extract
Skin ConditioningIngredients 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 JuiceCitric 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 AcidDecyl Glucoside is a plant-derived surfactant and emulsion stabilizer. It is created by reacting glucose with the fatty acids from plants.
Like all surfactants, it works by lowering the surface tension between water and oil. This makes it so that dirt, sebum, and makeup can be lifted off your skin and rinsed away. It also produces a dense and creamy foam.
Because it has a neutral charge, it is compatible with a wide range of ingredients and stays stable across a broad pH range/water hardiness conditions.
Patch testing has shown it to have the lowest irritation potential among common cleansing surfactants (like SLS).
Typical use levels range from 5-20% in rinse-off cleansers.
One thing worth knowing: The American Contact Dermatitis Society named the parent family, alkyl glucosides, "Allergen of the Year" in 2017. The prevalence of allergy is pretty low but be sure to patch test if you've reacted to "gentle" or sulfate-free cleansers before.
This ingredient is fungal acne safe because the fatty alcohol portion of this ingredient is not within the C11-24 chain length that Malassezia can metabolize.
Learn more about Decyl GlucosideDehydroacetic Acid is fungicide and bactericide. It is used as a preservative in cosmetics. Preservatives help elongate the shelf life of a product.
Dehydroacetic Acid is not soluble in water.
Glycerin (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 GlycerinSodium Citrate is the sodium salts of citric acid. In skincare, it is used to alter pH levels and acts as a preservative.
Its main functions are to maintain the pH of a product and neutralize metal ions.
The acidity of our skin is maintained by our glands and skin biome; normal pH level of skin is slightly acidic (~4.75-5.5).
Being slightly acidic allows our skin to create an "acid mantle". This acid mantle is a thin barrier that protects our skin from bacteria and contaminants.
Learn more about Sodium CitrateTocopherol is a fat-soluble antioxidant known as Vitamin E.
You'll find this ingredient in the vast majority of skincare (for good reason). It works to neutralize free radicals, or unstable molecules generated by UV exposure, pollution, and other environmental stressors, before they can cause oxidative damage to your skin cells.
Topically applied tocopherol has been shown to protect against UV damage by ramping up the skin's own natural defense enzymes.
It also acts as a skin conditioning agent; some studies show that regular topical use can improve the skin's water-binding capacity over 2-4 weeks.
This ingredient is especially loved for being a team player. When combined with Vitamin C, the photoprotective effect of both ingredients roughly doubles and the combo also helps reduce UV-induced DNA damage.
This ingredient has some brightening potential but it's more of a prevention ingredient than spot-fader. Cell studies show it can slow down melanin production but it's worth noting that it's not the most powerful brightener out there.
In formulations, it also serves as a stabilizer that helps protect other oxidation-prone ingredients from degrading.
Concentrations usually range from 0.1-1% in most leave-on products.
Learn more about TocopherolWheatgerm oil is a yellow/reddish oil derived from germs on the common wheat. It is rich in Vitamin E, an ingredient with many skin benefits.
About 80% of the oil is made up of fatty acids. The majority of these include linoleic acid and linolenic acid.
Studies show this oil can aid in wound healing and soothing inflammation.
This ingredient may not be acne or fungal-acne safe.
Sometimes, the Vitamin E derived from wheat germ can contain gluten. However, most plant derived oil is processed to remove all proteins.
Learn more about Triticum Vulgare Germ 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 WaterXanthan gum is used as a stabilizer and thickener within cosmetic products. It helps give products a sticky, thick feeling - preventing them from being too runny.
On the technical side of things, xanthan gum is a polysaccharide - a combination consisting of multiple sugar molecules bonded together.
Xanthan gum is a pretty common and great ingredient. It is a natural, non-toxic, non-irritating ingredient that is also commonly used in food products.
Learn more about Xanthan Gum
