What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningUrea
Buffering
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Masking
Glycerin
Humectant
Cetearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Glyceryl Stearate Se
Emulsifying
Avena Sativa Kernel Flour
Abrasive
Carthamus Tinctorius Seed Oil
Masking
Squalane
Emollient
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Benzyl Alcohol
Perfuming
Sodium Carbomer
Emulsion StabilisingSodium Stearoyl Glutamate
CleansingCitric Acid
Buffering
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningSodium Gluconate
Skin ConditioningDehydroacetic Acid
Preservative
Water, Urea, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate Se, Avena Sativa Kernel Flour, Carthamus Tinctorius Seed Oil, Squalane, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Alcohol, Sodium Carbomer, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Citric Acid, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Gluconate, Dehydroacetic Acid
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
C15-19 Alkane
SolventPolyglyceryl-4 Laurate
Emulsifying
Squalane
Emollient
Avena Sativa Kernel Extract
Abrasive
Sodium Carbomer
Emulsion StabilisingCrithmum Maritimum Extract
Skin ConditioningHaematococcus Pluvialis Extract
Antioxidant
Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38
Skin Conditioning
Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil
Emollient
Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil
Emollient
Tocopherol
Antioxidant
Polyglyceryl-6 Laurate
Emulsifying
Silica
Abrasive
Sodium Gluconate
Skin ConditioningSodium Hydroxide
BufferingSorbic Acid
Preservative
Benzyl Alcohol
Perfuming
Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin
MaskingSalicylic Acid
Masking
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Masking
Coco-Caprylate/Caprate
Emollient
Water, Glycerin, C15-19 Alkane, Polyglyceryl-4 Laurate, Squalane, Avena Sativa Kernel Extract, Sodium Carbomer, Crithmum Maritimum Extract, Haematococcus Pluvialis Extract, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, Tocopherol, Polyglyceryl-6 Laurate, Silica, Sodium Gluconate, Sodium Hydroxide, Sorbic Acid, Benzyl Alcohol, Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin, Salicylic Acid, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Benzyl Alcohol is an aromatic alcohol with several roles: it's a preservative, solvent, and mild fragrance component with a floral scent.
This ingredient has been deemed safe for use in cosmetic formulations at concentrations up to 5%, and up to 10% in hair dyes. You'll typically see 0.5-2% in most rinse-off or leave-on products.
As a preservative, it works by disrupting the membrane of microbial proteins. This helps keep bacteria and fungi from growing in your products.
The sensitization picture is actually quite assuring as well:of nearly 71,000 patients patch tested with benzyl alcohol, only 0.21% showed a positive reaction with most of them being weakly positive.
This led researchers to conclude that benzyl alcohol cannot be regarded as a significant contact allergen.
It is worth noting this ingredient is classified as one of the EU's regulated fragrance allergens and restricted to 1% in finished products.
Labels must also declare it in concentrations above 0.001% in leave-on products and 0.01% in rinse-off products.
At concentrations around 5%, localized redness and itching can appear as a direct irritant response and not as a true allergic reaction.
Learn more about Benzyl AlcoholCaprylic/Capric Triglyceride (aka MCT Oil) is a lightweight emollient, solvent, and texture enhancer. It is considered a skin-softener by helping to prevent moisture loss.
Though it behaves like an oil, it is not technically one due to its chemical composition. One perk of this ingredient is that 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. Just 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 ingredientās final chemical composition and not its marketing name or source.
This ingredient is treated as the gold standard fungal acne safe oil. Even though it is coconut derived, the problematic lauric acid is stripped out.
This leaves just caprylic (C8) and capric (C10) acid. These chain lengths actually trend antifungal; a 2020 study found caprylic acid was enough to disrupt Malassezia furfur cell membrane, with a caprylic acid derivative damaging membrane structures at concentrations as low as 0.2%.
Learn more about Caprylic/Capric TriglycerideGlycerin (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 GlycerinSodium Carbomer is used to thicken products and create a gel-like consistency.
It is synthetically created from carbomer and sodium salt.
This is the synthetic salt of gluconic acid, a form of PHA and mild exfoliant.
It is mainly used to stabilize oil and butter formulations from going bad. Sodium gluconate is a humectant, pH regulator, and chelating agent.
Chelating agents help neutralize unwanted metals from affecting the formulation.
Sodium gluconate is water-soluble.
Learn more about Sodium GluconateSqualane is the hydrogenated and shelf-stable form of squalene (a lipid that naturally occurs in human sebum).
It is an emollient and skin conditioning agent that is able to integrate seamlessly into the skin's lipid barrier without clogging pores.
This is due to how structurally similar it is to what your skin already produces.
Though it is mostly an emollient that helps soften and hydrate skin, it also has some humectant and occlusive action. Humectants help the skin retain moisture while occlusives seal it in, making squalane a triple-threat moisturizer.
Research shows it has antioxidant capabilities that help protect against stressors like UV exposure, specifically UVA induced oxidative stress. This study also found that it supports collagen biosynthesis in human dermal fibroblasts.
No clinical study has reported significant adverse effects and irritation reactions are very rare from this ingredient (even at 100% concentration).
Overall, it's a fantastic ingredient for hydration and is suitable for all skin types.
This depends on the source. Squalane can be derived from both plants and animals. Most squalane used in skincare comes from plants.
Please note: the source of squalane is only known if disclosed by the brand. We recommend reaching out to the brand if you have any questions about their squalane.
Read more about squalene with an "e".
Though squalane is often called an oil, itās technically not one. It is a hydrocarbon, meaning it is only made of carbon and hydrogen. True oils are triglycerides and made of fatty acids and glycerol.
The term āoil-freeā isnāt regulated so companies can define it however they want. Some exclude all oils, while others just avoid mineral oil or comedogenic oils.
Squalane has a comedogenic rating of 1 from the original 1972 study that tested raw ingredients under occlusion on rabbit ears. This system is not standardized or peer-reviewed, and using the raw ingredients is very different from how diluted cosmetic formulations are used on human skin.
A comedogenic rating of 1 means it is "unlikely to clog pores" according to the original rating system.
The overall formula of a product matters more than the individual ingredients on whether or not it will cause clogged pores.
Learn more about SqualaneWater. 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
