What's inside

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Show highlights for:

Water

Skin Conditioning

Dibutyl Adipate

Emollient

Titanium Dioxide

Cosmetic Colorant
0 / 0 UV Protection IconMineral UV Filter IconNon-Reef-Safe Icon

Propanediol

Solvent
Helps hydrate Dry Skin IconGood for Barrier Repair Icon

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride

Masking
Coconut Derived IconHelps hydrate Dry Skin IconGood for Barrier Repair Icon

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Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.

Antimicrobial, Emollient, Skin Conditioning

C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate is a lightweight emollient made by combinig benzoic acid with fatty alcohols that are 12-15 carbons long.

In cosmetics, it plays several roles:

The Cosmetic Review Expert Panel has concluded the alkyl benzoate group to be safe as used in cosmetics; it wasn't found to be a skin irritant and unlikely to be absorbed due to its low water solubility.

This report recorded almost 1000 reported uses with concentrations up to 59% in leave-on products but your cosmetics will typically use 0.5-15% depending on the product.

It's often called a "SPF booster": this is because it keeps UV filters properly dissolved and evenly distributed to support a sunscreen's performance. It doesn't actually raise SPF on its own.

Overall, this ingredient is well tolerated.

This ingredient is fungal acne safe.

The Malassezia yeast feeds on free fatty acids and this ingredient is made up of an aromatic acid and fatty alcohols.

When this ingredient breaks down, it yields benzoic acid (which is antifungal) and fatty alcohols. Neither of these have been found in studies to be a known food source for Malassezia.

Learn more about C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate
Masking, Skin Conditioning

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (aka MCT Oil) is a lightweight emollient, solvent, and texture enhancer. It is considered a skin-softener by helping to prevent moisture loss.

Though it behaves like an oil, it is not technically one due to its chemical composition. One perk of this ingredient is that it is very stable, resistant to oxidation, and unlikely to go rancid.

In practice, that translates to a long shelf life and a consistently elegant skin feel.

While there is an assumption Caprylic Triglyceride can clog pores due to it being derived from coconut oil, there is no research supporting this. Just patch test if you have concerns.

Fractionated coconut oil and MCT Oil are both listed as Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride according to INCI. This is because INCI names are based on the ingredient’s final chemical composition and not its marketing name or source.

This ingredient is treated as the gold standard fungal acne safe oil. Even though it is coconut derived, the problematic lauric acid is stripped out.

This leaves just caprylic (C8) and capric (C10) acid. These chain lengths actually trend antifungal; a 2020 study found caprylic acid was enough to disrupt Malassezia furfur cell membrane, with a caprylic acid derivative damaging membrane structures at concentrations as low as 0.2%.

Learn more about Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride

This ingredient is a silicone elastomer that works as a texture enhancer, adds a silky slip, and also helps absorb excess oil.

Because it's a large macromolecule that's insoluble in water and chemically inert, it's not expected to penetrate or be absorbed into skin.

Human patch tests with a facial lotion containing 1% of this ingredient found no sensitization.

Learn more about Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer
Skin Conditioning

Ethylhexylglycerin 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 Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin Conditioning

Trisiloxane is a type of silicone.

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