What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Myristic Acid
Cleansing
Glycerin
Humectant
Water
Skin ConditioningPotassium Hydroxide
BufferingPropylene Glycol
Humectant
Stearic Acid
Cleansing
Decyl Glucoside
Cleansing
Lauric Acid
Cleansing
Glycol Distearate
Emollient
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Xylitol
Humectant
Glucose
Humectant
Anhydroxylitol
Humectant
Nopalea Cochenillifera Extract
Skin ConditioningKojic Dipalmitate
Emollient
Niacinamide
Smoothing
Sodium PCA
Humectant
Glyceryl Stearate
Emollient
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Polyquaternium-7
Titanium Dioxide
Cosmetic Colorant
Sodium Metabisulfite
Antioxidant
BHT
Antioxidant
Tocopherol
Antioxidant
Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate
Antioxidant
Disodium EDTA
Glyceryl Glucoside
Humectant
Alpha-Arbutin
Antioxidant
Myristic Acid, Glycerin, Water, Potassium Hydroxide, Propylene Glycol, Stearic Acid, Decyl Glucoside, Lauric Acid, Glycol Distearate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Xylitol, Glucose, Anhydroxylitol, Nopalea Cochenillifera Extract, Kojic Dipalmitate, Niacinamide, Sodium PCA, Glyceryl Stearate, Phenoxyethanol, Polyquaternium-7, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Metabisulfite, BHT, Tocopherol, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Disodium EDTA, Glyceryl Glucoside, Alpha-Arbutin
Water
Skin ConditioningSodium Laureth Sulfate
Cleansing
Decyl Glucoside
Cleansing
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Glycerin
Humectant
PEG-55 Propylene Glycol Oleate
Surfactant
Propylene Glycol
Humectant
Sodium Chloride
MaskingPanthenol
Skin Conditioning
PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate
Emulsifying
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Glycol Distearate
Emollient
Tocopheryl Acetate
Antioxidant
Polyquaternium-39
Cocamide Mea
Emulsifying
Laureth-10
EmulsifyingDisodium EDTA
Sodium Benzoate
Masking
Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin
MaskingPantolactone
Humectant
Benzoic Acid
Masking
Bisabolol
Antioxidant
Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate
Preservative
Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Decyl Glucoside, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycerin, PEG-55 Propylene Glycol Oleate, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Chloride, Panthenol, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Phenoxyethanol, Glycol Distearate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Polyquaternium-39, Cocamide Mea, Laureth-10, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Benzoate, Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin, Pantolactone, Benzoic Acid, Bisabolol, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Cocamidopropyl Betaine is a fatty acid created by mixing similar compounds in coconut oil and dimethylaminopropylamine, a compound with two amino groups.
This ingredient is a surfactant and cleanser. It helps gather the dirt, pollutants, and other impurities in your skin to be washed away. It also helps thicken a product and make the texture more creamy.
Being created from coconut oil means Cocamidopropyl Betaine is hydrating for the skin.
While Cocamidopropyl Betaine was believed to be an allergen, a study from 2012 disproved this. It found two compounds in unpure Cocamidopropyl Betaine to be the irritants: aminoamide and 3-dimethylaminopropylamine. High-grade and pure Cocamidopropyl Betaine did not induce allergic reactions during this study.
Learn more about Cocamidopropyl BetaineDecyl 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 GlucosideDisodium EDTA is a chelating agent. It grabs onto and deactivates metal ions that sneak into your products from water, packaging, or air.
This ingredient mainly works behind the scenes and helps with:
On top of that, this ingredient can counteract the effects of hard water by binding to the minerals in it.
One thing worth knowing is that Disodium EDTA has been shown to be a mild penetration enhancer. It can help other ingredients absorb into skin more effectively which can be a double-edged sword (great for actives, but can also make the active too strong if you have sensitive skin).
Clinical patch testing showed no significant skin irritation at typical use concentrations and minimal dermal absorption.
You'll most likely see this ingredient near the end of an ingredient list. It's typically found in concentrations less than 1%.
Learn more about Disodium EDTAGlycerin (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 GlycerinGlycol Distearate is an emulsifier and emollient that adds a "pearly" appearance to formulations.
That lustrous look you see in many shampoos is due to this ingredient: when cooled, it crystallizes into small platelets that reflect light to give products that rich, shimmering look.
This ingredient is considered safe at present practices of use and concentration and repeated insult patch test with 50% Glycol Distearate on 125 subjects found no evidence of skin irritation, hypersensitivity, or acute toxicity.
Typical use concentrations range from 0.1-10%.
Because it's an ester of stearic acid, it falls into the range that Malassezia likes to metabolize. This ingredient may not be fungal acne safe.
Learn more about Glycol DistearatePhenoxyethanol 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.
Propylene Glycol is a synthetic, colorless, odorless liquid that has been a staple in cosmetics for decades. It is a skin conditioning agent, humectant, and solvent.
As a humectant, it draw water to the skin to reduce flaking and restore suppleness. It's also a solvent that helps dissolve other actives and keeps formulas stable across temperature changes.
The CIR Expert Panel has confirmed this ingredient to be nontoxic and clinical studies show no sensitization at cosmetic use concentrations.
True allergic reactions are quite rare: a 15-year retrospective study of 6,751 patients found only 0.31% had a positive reaction (and less than half were considered clinically relevant).
It seemed that when sensitization does occur, it's most commonly linked to topical medication (like corticosteroids) and not cosmetics. Allergic contact dermatitis also appears largely limited to individuals with underlying skin conditions.
Overall, propylene glycol is a well-studied ingredient that most people can tolerate without issue.
Learn more about Propylene GlycolWater. 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
