What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningDicaprylyl Carbonate
EmollientGlycerin
Humectant
Dimethicone
Emollient
Propanediol
Solvent
Capryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer
Skin ConditioningDiheptyl Succinate
EmollientSodium Acrylates Copolymer
Polysilicone-11
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Butylene Glycol
Humectant
Lecithin
Emollient
Alpha-Glucan Oligosaccharide
Cleansing
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Masking
Menthyl Lactate
Masking
Allantoin
Skin Conditioning
Bisabolol
Antioxidant
Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate
CleansingXanthan Gum
EmulsifyingNannochloropsis Oceanica Extract
Skin ConditioningEthylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningTocopheryl Acetate
Antioxidant
Phospholipids
Skin Conditioning
Biosaccharide Gum-1
Humectant
Decyl Glucoside
Cleansing
Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil
Emollient
Tasmannia Lanceolata Fruit/Leaf Extract
Antioxidant
Avena Sativa Kernel Oil
Skin Conditioning
Potassium Sorbate
Preservative
Hexylene Glycol
EmulsifyingCaprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Sphingolipids
Emollient
Bacillus Ferment
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Citrate
BufferingUndaria Pinnatifida Extract
Skin ConditioningTocopherol
Antioxidant
Ascorbyl Palmitate
Antioxidant
Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate
Emollient
CI 42090
Cosmetic ColorantCI 19140
Cosmetic ColorantSodium Sulfate
Sodium Chloride
MaskingWater, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Glycerin, Dimethicone, Propanediol, Capryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer, Diheptyl Succinate, Sodium Acrylates Copolymer, Polysilicone-11, Phenoxyethanol, Butylene Glycol, Lecithin, Alpha-Glucan Oligosaccharide, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Menthyl Lactate, Allantoin, Bisabolol, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Xanthan Gum, Nannochloropsis Oceanica Extract, Ethylhexylglycerin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Phospholipids, Biosaccharide Gum-1, Decyl Glucoside, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Tasmannia Lanceolata Fruit/Leaf Extract, Avena Sativa Kernel Oil, Potassium Sorbate, Hexylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol, Sphingolipids, Bacillus Ferment, Sodium Citrate, Undaria Pinnatifida Extract, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate, CI 42090, CI 19140, Sodium Sulfate, Sodium Chloride
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Squalane
Emollient
Lepidium Sativum Sprout Extract
Skin ConditioningSodium Acrylates Copolymer
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Masking
Bisabolol
Antioxidant
Phospholipids
Skin Conditioning
Hansenula/Kloeckera/Lactobacillus/Lactococcus/Leuconostoc/Pediococcus/Saccharomyces/Fig/Lemon Ferment
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Chondrus Crispus Extract
Skin Conditioning
Allantoin
Skin Conditioning
Glycine Soja Sterols
Emollient
Linoleic Acid
Cleansing
Capryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer
Skin ConditioningDiheptyl Succinate
EmollientCellulose Gum
Emulsion StabilisingLecithin
Emollient
Sorbitan Oleate
Emulsifying
Isoeicosane
EmollientChitosan
Sodium Phytate
Caprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
1,2-Hexanediol
Skin Conditioning
Citric Acid
Buffering
Water, Glycerin, Squalane, Lepidium Sativum Sprout Extract, Sodium Acrylates Copolymer, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Bisabolol, Phospholipids, Hansenula/Kloeckera/Lactobacillus/Lactococcus/Leuconostoc/Pediococcus/Saccharomyces/Fig/Lemon Ferment, Sodium Hyaluronate, Chondrus Crispus Extract, Allantoin, Glycine Soja Sterols, Linoleic Acid, Capryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer, Diheptyl Succinate, Cellulose Gum, Lecithin, Sorbitan Oleate, Isoeicosane, Chitosan, Sodium Phytate, Caprylyl Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Citric Acid
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Allantoin is a soothing ingredient known for its protective and moisturizing properties; it's basically a quiet workhorse ingredient you can find in a huge range of cosmetics.
Though it can be derived from the comfrey plant, allantoin is produced synthetically for cosmetic products to ensure purity.
Research shows it can encourage your skin cells to turn over and renew by stimulating keratinocyte and fibroblast proliferation.
It also has mild keratolytic properties to help loosen and shed dead skin cells without being harsh.
Studies also suggest allantoin can help calm inflammation by dialing down some of the chemical signals your skin sends out when it is irritated.
This ingredient is typically used in the 0.1-0.5% range, and the FDA recognizes it as a skin protectant in OTC products up to 2%.
Overall, allantoin is a wonderful addition to most routines; it is stable across a wide pH range (~4-8), works well with other ingredients, and is considered non-sensitizing/non-irritating.
Fun fact: Allantoin is naturally occurring in comfrey root, beets, chamomile, and wheat sprouts. Our bodies even produce it as a byproduct of uric acid metabolism.
Learn more about AllantoinBisabolol is a gentle skin conditioner, antioxidant, and soothing ingredient.
It's primary claim to fame is soothing and research shows topically applied bisabolol can quiet the chemical messengers that cause your skin to become inflamed, helping to sooth any irritation.
A clinical study found that applying 0.5% bisabolol daily for 8 weeks produced an average 9% decrease in skin pigmentation. Researchers found it can also suppress the process that leads to excess melanin production in skin.
In vitro studies found that bisabolol combined with propylene glycol significantly increased skin permeability by increasing lipid fluidity in the stratum corneum.
You'll likely see use concentrations quite low, usually 0.1-0.2%.
Overall, this is a well-tolerated ingredient that works well in formulas designed for sensitive, reactive, or post-procedure skin.
Learn more about BisabololThis ingredient is a lightweight emollient, solvent, and texture enhancer. It is considered a skin-softener by helping the skin prevent moisture loss.
It helps thicken a product's formula and makes it easier to spread by dissolving clumping compounds.
Caprylic Triglyceride is made by combining glycerin with coconut oil, forming a clear liquid. Though it behaves like an oil, it is not technically one due to its chemical composition. 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. Be sure to 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.
Learn more about Caprylic/Capric TriglycerideWe don't have a description for Capryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer yet.
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 GlycolWe don't have a description for Diheptyl Succinate yet.
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 GlycerinLecithin is a term for a group of substances found in the cell membranes of plants, animals, and humans. They are made up of phospholipids.
Thanks to its amphiphilic structure (water-loving head and oil-loving tail), it is a true multitasker:
It plays well with most ingredients and is typically used at 0.1-1%. However, concentrations up to 50% have been reported in moisturizers.
Depending on the source of this ingredient, lecithin may not be fungal acne safe. This is because some sources of lecithin come from soybean oil, which may feed the malassezia yeast that causes fungal acne.
We recommend reaching out to the brand you are purchasing from to inquire about the source of their lecithin.
Learn more about LecithinPhenoxyethanol 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.
Phospholipids are a family of skin-identical lipids that makeup the structural backbone of every cell membrane in your body.
In cosmetics, they function as skin conditioning agents with emulsifier and surfactant properties. They're typically sourced from soybean or sunflower lecithin (or sometimes egg yolk or marine sources).
Because they mirror the lipids naturally found in the deeper layers of your skin, topical phospholipids help reinforce the lipid matrix, reduce transepidermal water loss, and leave skin feeling conditioned.
They're also used to form liposomes, or tiny self-assembling vesible used to stabilize actives like vitamin c or retinol. This helps these ingredients integrate into the upper layers of skin more easily.
Phospholipids are compatible with everything and the CIR Expert Panel has concluded them to be safe at current use levels.
This ingredient may not be fungal acne safe since phospholipids contain fatty acid chains in the C11-24 range that the malassezia yeast likes to feed on.
Some types of phospholipids include:
Learn more about PhospholipidsThis ingredient is a synthetic, salt form polymer built from acrylic acid, ethacrylic acid, or their simple esters. It works as a binder, film former, and viscosity increasing agent.
Typical concentrations start at around 0.5% but can go up to 25% for film-forming or binding.
The CIR Expert Panel assessed the safety of 126 acrylates copolymers and concluded they are safe in cosmetics at current use levels when formulated to be non-irritating. They also noted the levels present in finished cosmetic products are not considered a safety risk and Genotoxicity testing (Ames tests, chromosomal aberration assays) has come back negative across the board.
Though the raw building blocks (like acrylic acid) can be irritating on their own, cosmetic-grade versions go through purification to keep levels extremely low.
Sodium Acrylates Copolymer is a large molecule that doesn't penetrate skin barrier in any meaningful way.
Learn more about Sodium Acrylates CopolymerWater. 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
