What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
No key ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningCetearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Capryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer
Skin ConditioningDiheptyl Succinate
EmollientBehentrimonium Methosulfate
Surfactant
Parfum
Masking
Glycerin
Humectant
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Cetrimonium Chloride
Antimicrobial
Hydroxyacetophenone
Antioxidant
Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride
Skin ConditioningPersea Gratissima Oil
Skin Conditioning
Citric Acid
Buffering
Moringa Oleifera Seed Oil
Emollient
Hydrolyzed Quinoa
Skin ConditioningRosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract
AntimicrobialPanthenol
Skin Conditioning
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin Conditioning
Citrus Limon Fruit Oil
Astringent
Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Capryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer, Diheptyl Succinate, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Parfum, Glycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Hydroxyacetophenone, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Persea Gratissima Oil, Citric Acid, Moringa Oleifera Seed Oil, Hydrolyzed Quinoa, Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract, Panthenol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Citrus Limon Fruit Oil
Water
Skin ConditioningUlmus Davidiana Root Extract
Skin Conditioning
Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract
AntimicrobialAloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice
Skin Conditioning
Behentrimonium Methosulfate
Surfactant
Cetearyl Alcohol
Emollient
Persea Gratissima Oil
Skin Conditioning
Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil
Masking
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
Masking
Glycerin
Humectant
Propanediol
Solvent
Diheptyl Succinate
EmollientCapryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer
Skin ConditioningPhenoxyethanol
Preservative
Caprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Sorbic Acid
Preservative
Polydiallyl Phthalate
Panthenol
Skin Conditioning
Caesalpinia Spinosa Gum
Skin ConditioningWater, Ulmus Davidiana Root Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Persea Gratissima Oil, Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glycerin, Propanediol, Diheptyl Succinate, Capryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Sorbic Acid, Polydiallyl Phthalate, Panthenol, Caesalpinia Spinosa Gum
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice comes from leaves of the aloe plant. Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice is best known for helping to soothe sunburns. It is also anti-inflammatory, moisturizing, antiseptic, and can help heal wounds.
Aloe is packed with good stuff including Vitamins A, C, and E. These vitamins are antioxidants, which help fight free-radicals and the damage they may cause. Free-radicals are molecules that may damage your skin cells, such as pollution.
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice also contains sugars. These sugars come in the form of monosaccharides and polysaccharides, folic acid, and choline. These sugars are able to help bind moisture to skin.
It also contains minerals such as calcium, 12 anthraquinones, fatty acids, amino acids, and Vitamin B12.
Learn more about Aloe Barbadensis Leaf JuiceBehentrimonium Methosulfate is an ammonium salt. It is mainly used to prevent static in haircare products as a surfactant.
Surfactants have differing ends: one side is hydrophilic while the other end is hydrophobic.
Surfactants also help your cleansers remove pollutants more easily from the skin.
Learn more about Behentrimonium MethosulfateWe don't have a description for Capryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer yet.
Cetearyl alcohol is a waxy mixture of two fatty alcohols: cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol. It is an emollient and emulsifier.
Despite having "alcohol" in its name, it has nothing to do with drying solvent alcohols; the FDA also allows "alcohol-free" products to contain fatty alcohols like this ingredient.
It plays several roles in a formula:
Typical use levels for this ingredient sit around 1-10% and the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel has affirmed safety at concentrations up to 25% in leave-on products.
Multiple assessments have found it to be non-irritating and non-sensitizing to most people.
However, there have been some cases of allergic contact dermatitis in patients with chronically compromised skin barriers.
Cetearyl alcohol has a comedogenic rating of 2 and irritancy rating of 1. Both of these numbers come from the 1989 study that used rabbit ears; a "2" means mildly comedogenic and a "1" means low irritancy.
Here's the catch: rabbit skin is more sensitive than human skin and throws a lot of false positives. A 1996 reappraisal found that ingredients rated 1-2 in the rabbit ear tests are generally safe for humans.
Remember comedogenic ratings are unable to assess the entire formula of a product or how it will react on your skin. Just be sure to patch test if you are unsure about certain ingredients.
This ingredient is not fungal acne safe. Cetearyl alcohol is a fatty alcohol with chain lengths that fall within the range that Malassezia can metabolize.
A 2019 study has also observed Malassezia growth in the presence of this ingredient, confirming it to be not-fungal acne safe.
Learn more about Cetearyl AlcoholWe don't have a description for Diheptyl Succinate yet.
Glycerin (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 GlycerinPanthenol is a common ingredient that helps hydrate and soothe the skin. It is found naturally in our skin and hair.
There are two forms of panthenol: D and L.
D-panthenol is also known as dexpanthenol. Most cosmetics use dexpanthenol or a mixture of D and L-panthenol.
Panthenol is famous due to its ability to go deeper into the skin's layers. Using this ingredient has numerous pros (and no cons):
Like hyaluronic acid, panthenol is a humectant. Humectants are able to bind and hold large amounts of water to keep skin hydrated.
This ingredient works well for wound healing. It works by increasing tissue in the wound and helps close open wounds.
Once oxidized, panthenol converts to pantothenic acid. Panthothenic acid is found in all living cells.
This ingredient is also referred to as pro-vitamin B5.
Learn more about PanthenolThis ingredient is also known as Avocado oil. It's the cold-pressed oil from the flesh of the avocado fruit packed with fatty acids (mostly oleic acid).
The rich fatty acid profile allows it to function as a skin conditioning agent and emollient; it helps soften and smooth skin while reducing water loss.
Preclinical research has found that topical avocado oil increased collagen synthesis and reduced inflammation during wound healing, giving it some skin-repairing credibility.
The unsaponifiable fraction of the oil is also interesting: studies on avocado unsaponifiables showed that it helped skin produce more collagen and other structural compounds that support healing.
The CIR Expert Panel has found this ingredient to be non-irritating in formulations.
It's a great ingredient for dry or compromised skin. Just know it may not be fungal acne safe. This is because the oleic acid content falls within the range that Malassezia can use as a food source.
Learn more about Persea Gratissima OilPhenoxyethanol 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.
This is a botanical extract from the rosemary plant (the same one you cook with). In skincare, it mostly works as a skin conditioning agent.
Its activity comes from a handful of polyphenols, carnosic acid, carnosol, and rosmarinic acid. Almost 90% of the antioxidant activity of this ingredient can be attributed to canosol and carnosic acid.
These compounds protect your skin two ways:
1) They fight off free radicals, or the unstable molecules from things like sun and pollution that age and damage skin.
2) They help calm inflammation by switching off the chemical signals that tell skin to get red and irritated.
Lab studies also suggest that rosmarinic acid may help protect collagen and slow sugar-related damage to it.
The Cosmetic Ingredient Review has concluded rosemary-derived ingredients to be safe when formulated to be non-sensitizing.
Rosemary can occasionally cause allergic contact dermatitis (due to carnosol), so be sure to patch test if you have reactive or fragrance-sensitive skin.
Learn more about Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf ExtractWater. 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
