What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
No concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningNiacinamide
Smoothing
Glycerin
Humectant
Propanediol
Solvent
Dicaprylyl Ether
Emollient
Bakuchiol
Antimicrobial
Retinol
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer
Emulsion StabilisingDimethyl Isosorbide
SolventPolysorbate 20
Emulsifying
Sodium Hyaluronate
Humectant
Tocopherol
Antioxidant
Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate
Skin Conditioning
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Disodium EDTA
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin Conditioning
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Dimethyl Isosorbide is a solvent and helps deliver actives into your skin. It is created from sorbitol.
As a solvent, dimethyl isosorbide helps dissolve other ingredients. This helps ensure even distribution of an ingredient. It may also be used to decrease the thickness of a product.
Studies show dimethyl isosorbide is able to penetrate skin to deliver other ingredients into the skin, making them more effective.
Learn more about Dimethyl IsosorbideThis ingredient is a retinoid. It usually goes by a more common name: "Granactive".
Hydroxypinacolone Retinoate (HPR) belongs to the class of retinoids that also includes retinol and tretinoin.
Retinoids have been proven to:
So what is the difference between all the retinoids?
Most retinoids need to go through a conversion line to become effective on skin. The ending product is retinoic acid. Retinoic acid is AKA tretinoin.
HPR is an ester of tretinoin. Emerging studies suggest HPR to have an added benefit that other retinoids don't have: Low irritation.
A study from 2021 found HPR to have the greatest stability when exposed to light and temperature out of all the commercial retinoids.
A note about naming:
The name "Granactive" is the trade name and the name most commonly used on packages.
Granactive is the name of the mixture - about 90% solvent and 10% HPR. A product with 5% granactive has 0.5% HPR.
Learn more about Hydroxypinacolone RetinoateTocopherol (also known as Vitamin E) is a common antioxidant used to help protect the skin from free-radicals and strengthen the skin barrier. It's also fat soluble - this means our skin is great at absorbing it.
Vitamin E also helps keep your natural skin lipids healthy. Your lipid skin barrier naturally consists of lipids, ceramides, and fatty acids. Vitamin E offers extra protection for your skin’s lipid barrier, keeping your skin healthy and nourished.
Another benefit is a bit of UV protection. Vitamin E helps reduce the damage caused by UVB rays. (It should not replace your sunscreen). Combining it with Vitamin C can decrease sunburned cells and hyperpigmentation after UV exposure.
You might have noticed Vitamin E + C often paired together. This is because it is great at stabilizing Vitamin C. Using the two together helps increase the effectiveness of both ingredients.
There are often claims that Vitamin E can reduce/prevent scarring, but these claims haven't been confirmed by scientific research.
Learn more about Tocopherol
