Here's our complete breakdown comparing the ingredients, attributes, and more of The Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Cleansing Foam versus Merle Norman Skin Refining Cleanser .
Published on August 03, 2022
Overview
What they are
These products are both cruelty-free and reef safe face cleansers. They have a total of 9 ingredients in common
Suited For
They're both likely to be good for dry skin and brightening skin
Free From
They both do not contain any harsh alcohols, parabens or silicones
What's Inside
They both contain oils
We independently verify ingredients, and our claims are backed by peer-reviewed research. Spot a product that need an update? Let us know.
Face Cleanser
Face cleansers are used to remove makeup, dead skin cells, pollutants, oil, dirt, and/or clean out pores on the skin. Face cleansers may specialize in having one function (exa. just removing makeup) or may have multiple functions (exa. Removing makeup and cleaning pores).
Face Cleanser
Face cleansers are used to remove makeup, dead skin cells, pollutants, oil, dirt, and/or clean out pores on the skin. Face cleansers may specialize in having one function (exa. just removing makeup) or may have multiple functions (exa. Removing makeup and cleaning pores).
Price
Ingredient Info
The Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Cleansing Foam 22 ingredients
Merle Norman Skin Refining Cleanser 17 ingredients
Alcohol Free
This product is free of harsh alcohols 🎉
Silicon Free
This product is free of silicons 🎉
Sulfate Free
This product is free of sulfates 🎉
Paraben Free
This product is free of parabens 🎉
Contains Oils
Ingredients in this product that are types of oil:
Not Malassezia Safe
Ingredients in this product that are not malassezia safe:
Reef Safe
This product is free of ingredients that damage reefs 🎉
Contains EU Allergens
Ingredients in this product that are EU allergens:
Vegan
This product is vegan 🎉
Cruelty Free
This product is cruelty-free 🎉
Alcohol Free
This product is free of harsh alcohols 🎉
Silicon Free
This product is free of silicons 🎉
Fragrance Free
This product is free of fragrances 🎉
Contains Sulfate
Ingredients in this product that are types of sulfate:
Paraben Free
This product is free of parabens 🎉
Contains Oils
Ingredients in this product that are types of oil:
Not Malassezia Safe
Ingredients in this product that are not malassezia safe:
Reef Safe
This product is free of ingredients that damage reefs 🎉
EU Allergen Free
This product is free of EU allergens 🎉
Non Vegan
This product is not vegan 😥
Cruelty Free
This product is cruelty-free 🎉
At a glance
Click on any of the items below to learn more
The Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Cleansing Foam 22 ingredients
Merle Norman Skin Refining Cleanser 17 ingredients
Notable Ingredients
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
Benefits
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
Concerns
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 2 ingredients that may have this attribute:
This product contains 3 ingredients that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 2 ingredients that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
Benefits
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
Concerns
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 2 ingredients that may have this attribute:
This product contains 2 ingredients that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
This product contains 1 ingredient that may have this attribute:
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Join SkinSortIngredients Compared
Ingredients that are highlighted in purple are present in both products.
The Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Cleansing Foam 22 ingredients
Merle Norman Skin Refining Cleanser 17 ingredients
Water • Myristic Acid • Glycerin • Stearic Acid • Lauric Acid • Potassium Cocoyl Glycinate • Potassium Hydroxide • Glycol Distearate • Butylene Glycol • Acrylates Copolymer • Sodium Cocoamphoacetate • Phenoxyethanol • Caprylyl Glycol • Polyquaternium-39 • Parfum • Sodium Chloride • Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil • Tetrasodium EDTA • Linalool • Sodium Benzoate • 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid • Palmaria Palmata Extract
Water • Stearic Acid • Glycerin • Myristic Acid • Potassium Hydroxide • Butylene Glycol • Lauric Acid • Phytelephas Aequatorialis Seed Powder • Poloxamer 188 • Sodium Caseinate • Peg-40 Castor Oil • Phenoxyethanol • Sodium Laureth Sulfate • Diazolidinyl Urea • Tetrasodium EDTA • Disodium EDTA • Zinc Sulfate
Ingredients Side-by-side
Ingredients that are highlighted in purple are present in both products.
Learn more about what what Com. / Irr. ratings are
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Water. 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. Talk about multi-purpose! If you see this, drink a glass of water. Stay hydrated!
Learn more about WaterThe Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Cleansing Foam contains this as ingredient number 1.
Merle Norman Skin Refining Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 1.
Myristic Acid is a saturated fatty acid. It is naturally found in milk fat. Other sources include palm oil, coconut oil, and butter fat.
Myristic Acid is an emulsifer and cleanser. As an emulsifer, it stabilizes a product by preventing ingredients from separating. Myristic Acid helps clean your skin by acting as a surfactant. It tends to gather oil and dirt on your skin to be easily rinsed away.
One study from 2021 found Myristic Acid to have anti-inflammatory properties.
Learn more about Myristic AcidThe Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Cleansing Foam contains this as ingredient number 2.
Merle Norman Skin Refining Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 4.
Glycerin is already naturally found in your skin. It helps moisturize and protect your skin.
A study from 2016 found glycerin to be more effective as a humectant than AHAs and hyaluronic acid.
As a humectant, it helps the skin stay hydrated by pulling moisture to your skin. The low molecular weight of glycerin allows it to pull moisture into the deeper layers of your skin.
Hydrated skin improves your skin barrier; Your skin barrier helps protect against irritants and bacteria.
Glycerin has also been found to have antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Due to these properties, glycerin is often used in wound and burn treatments.
In cosmetics, glycerin is usually derived from plants such as soybean or palm. However, it can also be sourced from animals, such as tallow or animal fat.
This ingredient is organic, colorless, odorless, and non-toxic.
Glycerin is the name for this ingredient in American English. British English uses Glycerol/Glycerine.
Learn more about GlycerinThe Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Cleansing Foam contains this as ingredient number 3.
Merle Norman Skin Refining Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 3.
Stearic Acid is a fatty acid. It is an emollient, emulsifier, and texture enhancer.
As an emollient, stearic acid helps soften skin. It aids the skin's protective barrier by preventing water loss. It also provides a gentle cleansing effect without stripping away natural oils.
Stearic acid may also be used to enhance the texture of products. It can add volume and stabilize ingredients such as water and oil. This can help water and oil ingredients from separating.
Sources of stearic acid include animal or vegetable fats/oils such as coconut or shea. It can be naturally found in butter, cocoa butter, shea butter, vegetable fats, and animal tallow.
This ingredient may not be Malassezia folliculitis, or fungal-acne safe.
Learn more about Stearic AcidThe Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Cleansing Foam contains this as ingredient number 4.
Merle Norman Skin Refining Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 2.
Lauric Acid is a fatty acid or lipid. About half of fatty acids in coconut oil is lauric acid.
This ingredient helps hydrate and sooth skin. As a humectant, it helps trap moisture. It also aids in cleaning and enhancing the texture of products.
Emerging studies show Lauric Acid to have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. The antimicrobial property helps strengthen the skin barrier by fighting off bad bacteria.
Lauric acid may not be Malassezia folliculitis, or fungal acne, safe.
Learn more about Lauric AcidThe Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Cleansing Foam contains this as ingredient number 5.
Merle Norman Skin Refining Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 7.
Potassium hydroxide is commonly known as caustic potash. It is used to fix the pH of a product or as a cleaning agent in soap. In cleansers, it is used for the saponification of oils.
Sapnification is the process of creating fatty acid metal salts from triglycerides and a strong base. During this process, Potassium Hydroxide is used up and is not present in the final product.
Using high concentrations of Potassium Hydroxide have shown to irritate the skin.
Learn more about Potassium HydroxideThe Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Cleansing Foam contains this as ingredient number 7.
Merle Norman Skin Refining Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 5.
Butylene Glycol (or BG) is used within cosmetic products for a few different reasons:
- It is a solvent, meaning that it helps to dissolve other ingredients. This also enhances the absorption of the product into one's skin.
- It is a humectant, which means that it helps attract moisture into the skin.
- It helps improve product application.
Overall, Butylene Glycol is a safe and well-rounded ingredient. It is unlikely to irritate skin, and works well with pretty much all other ingredients.
The Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Cleansing Foam contains this as ingredient number 9.
Merle Norman Skin Refining Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 6.
Phenoxyethanol is a preservative that has germicide, antimicrobial, and aromatic properties. Studies show that phenoxyethanol can prevent germ and 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.
The Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Cleansing Foam contains this as ingredient number 12.
Merle Norman Skin Refining Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 12.
Tetrasodium EDTA is the salt formed from neutralizing ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid with sodium hydroxide. It is a chelating agent and used to prevent metal ions from binding to other ingredients. This helps keep the product and ingredients stable.
Tetrasodium EDTA comes as a white solid and is soluble in water.
The Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Cleansing Foam contains this as ingredient number 18.
Merle Norman Skin Refining Cleanser contains this as ingredient number 15.
Here's what our community thinks of the ingredients in these two products.
The Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Cleansing Foam 22 ingredients
Merle Norman Skin Refining Cleanser 17 ingredients
Usage
Here's some more info on how this product is used by our community.
When to use
The Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Cleansing Foam 22 ingredients
Merle Norman Skin Refining Cleanser 17 ingredients
Alternatives
Our Dupe Finder has found 50 potential alternatives that have similar ingredients to The Body Shop Drops of Light Brightening Cleansing Foam.
See 50 alternativesOur Dupe Finder has found 50 potential alternatives that have similar ingredients to Merle Norman Skin Refining Cleanser.
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