What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Sodium Chloride
MaskingDisodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate
CleansingPhenoxyethanol
Preservative
Laureth-2
CleansingMichelia Alba Flower Oil
Masking
Chlorphenesin
Antimicrobial
Niacinamide
Smoothing
Butylene Glycol
Humectant
Ethylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningPaeonia Suffruticosa Root Extract
Skin ProtectingDianthus Chinensis Extract
Humectant1,2-Hexanediol
Skin Conditioning
Hydroxyacetophenone
Antioxidant
Propylene Glycol
Humectant
Centella Asiatica Extract
Cleansing
Hydrogenated Lecithin
Emulsifying
Cholesterol
Emollient
Ceramide NP
Skin Conditioning
Water, Glycerin, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Chloride, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Phenoxyethanol, Laureth-2, Michelia Alba Flower Oil, Chlorphenesin, Niacinamide, Butylene Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Paeonia Suffruticosa Root Extract, Dianthus Chinensis Extract, 1,2-Hexanediol, Hydroxyacetophenone, Propylene Glycol, Centella Asiatica Extract, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Cholesterol, Ceramide NP
Water
Skin ConditioningGlycerin
Humectant
Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate
Cleansing
Propylene Glycol
Humectant
Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate
CleansingAcrylates Copolymer
Sodium PCA
Humectant
PEG-8
HumectantCocamidopropyl Betaine
Cleansing
Citric Acid
Buffering
Sodium Benzoate
Masking
Panthenol
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Chloride
MaskingChlorphenesin
Antimicrobial
Glyceryl Polyacrylate
Sodium Hydroxide
BufferingGlycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract
Bleaching
Disodium EDTA
Parfum
Masking
Betaine
Humectant
Pentylene Glycol
Skin Conditioning
Beta-Glucan
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Lactate
Buffering
PCA
Humectant
Caprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Serine
Masking
Alanine
Masking
Glycine
Buffering
Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate
Antioxidant
Glutamic Acid
Humectant
Lysine Hcl
Skin Conditioning
Threonine
Arginine
Masking
Proline
Skin Conditioning
Water, Glycerin, Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate, Acrylates Copolymer, Sodium PCA, PEG-8, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Panthenol, Sodium Chloride, Chlorphenesin, Glyceryl Polyacrylate, Sodium Hydroxide, Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract, Disodium EDTA, Parfum, Betaine, Pentylene Glycol, Beta-Glucan, Sodium Lactate, PCA, Caprylyl Glycol, Serine, Alanine, Glycine, Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Glutamic Acid, Lysine Hcl, Threonine, Arginine, Proline
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Chlorphenesin is a synthetic preservative. It helps protect a product against bacteria in order to extend shelf life. In most cases, Chlorphenesin is paired with other preservatives such as phenoxyethanol and caprylyl glycol.
Chlorphenesin is a biocide. This means it is able to help fight the microorganisms on our skin. It is also able to fight odor-releasing bacteria.
Chlorphenesin is soluble in both water and glycerin.
Studies show Chlorphenesin is easily absorbed by our skin. You should speak with a skincare professional if you have concerns about using Chlorphenesin.
Learn more about ChlorphenesinCocamidopropyl 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 BetaineGlycerin (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 GlycerinPropylene 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 GlycolChances are, you eat sodium chloride every day. Sodium Chloride is also known as table salt. This ingredient has many purposes in skincare: thickener, emulsifier, and exfoliator.
You'll most likely find this ingredient in cleansers where it is used to create a gel-like texture. As an emulsifier, it also prevents ingredients from separating.
You might see people debate whether Sodium Chloride is comedogenic, but there actually haven't been any comedogenic tests done on it. Either way, the overall formulation of a product matters a lot more than any single ingredient.
You might see this ingredient used in scrubs as a primary exfoliating ingredient.
Learn more about Sodium ChlorideWater. 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
