What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
No key ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningMyristic Acid
Cleansing
Glycerin
Humectant
Stearic Acid
Cleansing
Lauric Acid
Cleansing
Potassium Cocoyl Glycinate
Potassium Hydroxide
BufferingGlycol Distearate
Emollient
Butylene Glycol
Humectant
Acrylates Copolymer
Sodium Cocoamphoacetate
CleansingPhenoxyethanol
Preservative
Caprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Polyquaternium-39
Parfum
Masking
Sodium Chloride
MaskingSclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil
Humectant
Tetrasodium EDTA
Linalool
Perfuming
Sodium Benzoate
Masking
3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid
Skin Conditioning
Palmaria Palmata Extract
Skin ProtectingWater, 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
Skin ConditioningStearic Acid
Cleansing
Glycerin
Humectant
Myristic Acid
Cleansing
Potassium Hydroxide
BufferingButylene Glycol
Humectant
Lauric Acid
Cleansing
Phytelephas Aequatorialis Seed Powder
Poloxamer 188
EmulsifyingSodium Caseinate
Skin ConditioningPEG-40 Castor Oil
Emulsifying
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Sodium Laureth Sulfate
Cleansing
Diazolidinyl Urea
Preservative
Tetrasodium EDTA
Disodium EDTA
Zinc Sulfate
Antimicrobial
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Butylene Glycol (or BG) is used within cosmetic products for a few different reasons:
Overall, Butylene Glycol is a safe and well-rounded ingredient that works well with other ingredients.
Though this ingredient works well with most skin types, some people with sensitive skin may experience a reaction such as allergic rashes, closed comedones, or itchiness.
Learn more about Butylene GlycolGlycerin (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 GlycerinLauric Acid is a saturated fatty acid naturally found in coconut oil, palm kernel oil, and even breast milk.
In cosmetics, it is an:
Lab studies have found that lauric acid is surprisingly good at killing acne-causing bacteria. However, these tests were done on bacteria in a petri dish and not on real skin, so we can't say for certain it works the same in a formulation on a real face.
The comedogenic rating of 4 comes from the 1972 rabbit ear model using undiluted ingredients. Comedogenicity is highly individual and one comedogenic ingredient cannot predict how a formula will behave on skin.
This ingredient is not fungal acne safe and research has confirmed Malassezia can use it as a food source.
Learn more about Lauric AcidMyristic 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 AcidPhenoxyethanol 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.
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 HydroxideStearic Acid is a fatty acid that is already found in your skin. It's one of the free fatty acids that works alongside ceramides and cholesterols to maintain your barrier.
In cosmetics, it is a multitasker:
Safety-wise, the CIR Expert Panel has concluded it to be safe in cosmetics when formulated to be non-irritating and non-sensitizing.
Free stearic acid is a C18 fatty acid that the Malassezia yeast can substrate, so this ingredient may not be fungal acne safe.
Learn more about Stearic AcidTetrasodium 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.
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. If you see this, drink a glass of water. Remember to stay hydrated!
Learn more about Water
