What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
No key ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Propylene Glycol
Humectant
Glycerin
Humectant
Water
Skin ConditioningSodium Stearate
CleansingSteareth-100
Gel FormingPerlite
Absorbent
Behenic Acid
Cleansing
EDTA
ChelatingZinc Gluconate
Skin Conditioning
Sodium Hydroxide
BufferingSodium Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
Cleansing
Sodium Palmitoyl Proline
Skin ConditioningNymphaea Tetragona Extract
Skin ConditioningNymphaea Alba Flower Extract
Skin Conditioning
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Behenic acid is a long-chain fatty acid with 22 carbon atoms (C22) that is naturally found in moringa, rapeseed, and peanut oil.
In skincare, it's about as drama-free as ingredients come. It acts primarily as a texture enhancer, thickener, and opacifying agent that gives richness and viscosity to formulas.
On skin, it forms a protective, emollient layer that helps with moisture retention and contributes to barrier integrity.
In vitro studies on genotoxicity have come back negative and this ingredient is well-tolerated. Typical use concentrations range from 0.024%-22%.
This ingredient may not be fungal acne safe because Behenic acid falls within the C11-24 fatty acid range capable of supporting Malassezia growth.
Learn more about Behenic AcidEDTA is a chelating agent. This is just a fancy way of saying it grabs onto metal ions and holds them so they don't cause trouble.
Trace metals like iron, copper, and calcium sneak into products through water and raw materials. These metals make oils go rancid, cause color and texture changes, and stop preservatives and cleansers from doing their job properly.
EDTA locks them up so it's a neat little background helper ingredient.
Typical use is under 2% but numbers as high as 10-25% have been reported in hair color products.
The Cosmetic Ingredient Review panel looked at the whole family and concluded they're safe as used. At cosmetic concentrations, they have not been found to be skin irritants or sensitizers.
Clinical testing has found no absorption through skin so the scary-sounding oral toxicity numbers from animal studies aren't relevant to a face cream.
One real formulation note: this ingredient is a penetration enhancer so it can slightly increase how much of the other ingredients get through (though this is more of a thing for formulators to work around).
Allergy is genuinely rare; there are a handful of case reports so be sure to avoid if you're patch test positive to EDTA.
Learn more about 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 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 GlycolSodium Hydroxide is also known as lye or caustic soda. It is used to adjust the pH of products; many ingredients require a specific pH to be effective.
In small amounts, sodium hydroxide is considered safe to use. However, large amounts may cause chemical burns due to its high alkaline.
Your skin has a natural pH and acid mantle. This acid mantle helps prevent harmful bacteria from breaking through. The acid mantle also helps keep your skin hydrated.
"Alkaline" refers to a high pH level. A low pH level would be considered acidic.
Learn more about Sodium HydroxideSodium Stearate is soap and usually the main thing holding a bar of soap together. In cosmetics, it does three jobs: it cleanses, thickens, and turns liquids into solid sticks.
Use levels vary hugely by product type; supplier guidance puts the typical range at 0.5-20%, with bar soaps at 5-20%, deodorant sticks at 4-8%, and under 1% when it's acting as a co-emulfisifier. Industry data has reported levels as high as 84% in some leave-on fragrance products.
Safety-wise, it's about as well-established as an ingredient gets. The FDA and European food-safety regulators treat this ingredient as safe in food.
Allergy risk is genuinely low too; stearates aren't on standard patch test series and published sensitization reports are scarce. The more realistic concern is irritation since high-percentage soaps can leave the skin tight and dry.
Learn more about Sodium StearateSteareth-100 is an ether of stearyl alcohol . It is a waxy compound used to emulsify ingredients.
The 100 stands for the average number of ethylene oxide units.
Water. 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
