What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningDecyl Glucoside
Cleansing
Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate
Cleansing
Propanediol
Solvent
Glycerin
Humectant
Sodium Laurylglucosides Hydroxypropylsulfonate
CleansingDisodium Cocoamphodiacetate
CleansingSodium Chloride
MaskingSodium Lactate
Buffering
Sodium Gluconate
Skin ConditioningPanthenol
Skin Conditioning
Zinc PCA
Humectant
Xanthan Gum
EmulsifyingMyristoyl/Palmitoyl Oxostearamide/Arachamide Mea
Skin ConditioningO-Cymen-5-Ol
Antimicrobial
Disodium EDTA
Citric Acid
Buffering
1,2-Hexanediol
Skin Conditioning
Caprylyl Glycol
Emollient
Hexylene Glycol
EmulsifyingWater, Decyl Glucoside, Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Propanediol, Glycerin, Sodium Laurylglucosides Hydroxypropylsulfonate, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Lactate, Sodium Gluconate, Panthenol, Zinc PCA, Xanthan Gum, Myristoyl/Palmitoyl Oxostearamide/Arachamide Mea, O-Cymen-5-Ol, Disodium EDTA, Citric Acid, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Hexylene Glycol
Water
Skin ConditioningPotassium Laureth Phosphate
EmulsifyingLauryl Hydroxysultaine
CleansingGlycerin
Humectant
PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate
Emulsifying
Butylene Glycol
Humectant
Hexylene Glycol
EmulsifyingLactic Acid
Buffering
Sodium Lactate
Buffering
Sericin
Skin ConditioningSaccharide Isomerate
Humectant
Propanediol
Solvent
Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate
CleansingSodium Chloride
MaskingCentella Asiatica Extract
Cleansing
Sodium Glycolate
BufferingScutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract
Astringent
Polygonum Cuspidatum Root Extract
Antioxidant
O-Cymen-5-Ol
Antimicrobial
Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract
Bleaching
Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract
Antimicrobial
Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract
AntimicrobialChamomilla Recutita Flower Extract
Masking
Potassium Sorbate
Preservative
Citric Acid
Buffering
Sodium Citrate
BufferingWater, Potassium Laureth Phosphate, Lauryl Hydroxysultaine, Glycerin, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Butylene Glycol, Hexylene Glycol, Lactic Acid, Sodium Lactate, Sericin, Saccharide Isomerate, Propanediol, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Sodium Chloride, Centella Asiatica Extract, Sodium Glycolate, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Polygonum Cuspidatum Root Extract, O-Cymen-5-Ol, Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract, Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Citric Acid is an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) naturally found in citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, and limes.
Like other AHAs, citric acid can exfoliate skin by breaking down the bonds that hold dead skin cells together. This helps reveal smoother and brighter skin underneath.
However, this exfoliating effect only happens at high concentrations (20%) which can be hard to find in cosmetic products.
Due to this, citric acid is usually included in small amounts as a pH adjuster. This helps keep products slightly more acidic and compatible with skin's natural pH.
In skincare formulas, citric acid can:
While it can provide some skin benefits, research shows lactic acid and glycolic acid are generally more effective and less irritating exfoliants.
Most citric acid used in skincare today is made by fermenting sugars (usually from molasses). This synthetic version is identical to the natural citrus form but easier to stabilize and use in formulations.
Read more about some other popular AHA's here:
Learn more about Citric AcidDisodium Cocoamphodiacetate is a surfactant and helps cleanse skin. It is created from the fatty acids of coconut oil.
Surfactants help rinse oil, dirt, and other pollutants easily from skin. It has a faint fruit-like scent.
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 GlycerinHexylene Glycol is a multitasker ingredient that works as a solvent, humectant, emulsifier, viscosity reducer, and preservative booster.
It is able to dissolve both water and oil-soluble ingredients to stabilize tricky actives and make products spread more easily.
As a humectant, it pulls water into the skin. But it's a pretty minor moisturizing ingredient compared to other humectants, like glycerin.
Interestingly, it can act as a mild penetration enhancer. One in vitro study on human skin found a 12% concentration upped the absorption of mometasone furoate (a medicinal ingredient used to treat inflammatory skin conditions) up to 7%.
This ingredient is typically used at levels of 0.1-10% depending on the role it's playing.
A patch test study on eczema patients didn't find a significant increase in irritation versus the control group, but the potential for irritation rises at higher concentrations.
Learn more about Hexylene GlycolThis ingredient is more commonly known as IPMP or Isopropyl Methylphenol. It is a preservative and has antimicrobial properties.
According to the EPA, this ingredient is allowed for use in cleansers, creams, powders, bath products, toothpaste, perfume, and more.
Propanediol is an all-star ingredient. It softens, hydrates, and smooths the skin.Â
It’s often used to:
Propanediol is not likely to cause sensitivity and considered safe to use. It is derived from corn or petroleum with a clear color and no scent.
Learn more about PropanediolChances 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 ChlorideSodium Lactate is the sodium salt of lactic acid, an AHA. It is a humectant and sometimes used to adjust the pH of a product.
This ingredient is part of our skin's NMF, or natural moisturizing factor. Our NMF is essential for the hydration of our top skin layers and plasticity of skin. NMF also influences our skin's natural acid mantle and pH, which protects our skin from harmful bacteria.
High percentages of Sodium Lactate can have an exfoliating effect.
Fun fact: Sodium Lactate is produced from fermented sugar.
Learn more about Sodium LactateWater. 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
