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La Théorie Cleanser Clearing Gel Ingredients Explained

5.0   from 2 ratings
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Updated on February 27, 2024 Submitted by stacieaj

There is an older formulation of this product:

Overview

What it is

Face cleanser with 11 ingredients

Cool Features

It is fungal acne (malassezia) safe and reef safe

Suited For

It has ingredients that are good for dry skin and brightening skin

Free From

It doesn't contain any harsh alcohols, common allergens, fragrances, oils, parabens or silicones

Fun facts

La Théorie is from South Korea. This product is used in 5 routines created by our community.

We independently verify ingredients and our claims are backed by peer-reviewed research. Does this product need an update? Let us know.

You should know

Here's our breakdown of the notable ingredients, benefits, and concerns we determined from the ingredients in this product. Click any item to learn more.

Benefits

Hydrating
Brightening

Concerns

Drying (2)
May Worsen Oily Skin
Acne Trigger
Irritating
Rosacea

Ingredient Info

Click any item below to learn more and view relevant ingredients.
alcohol-free
silicon-free
fragrance-free
sulfate-free
paraben-free
oil-free
fungal-acne safe
reef-safe
eu-allergen-free
vegan
cruelty-free

Ingredients Overview

Here's our quick-to-read summary of the ingredients in this product. Keep scrolling if you'd like to learn more about what each ingredient does!
Ingredient
Features
1
Skin Conditioning, Solvent
2
Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting, Solvent
0 / 0
Helps hydrate Dry Skin IconHelps brighten skin Icon
3
Cleansing, Emulsifying, Foaming
0 / 0
Sulfate IconCan worsen Dry Skin IconMay worsen Oily Skin IconMay cause irritation Icon
4
Skin Conditioning, Solvent
5
Emulsifying, Emulsion Stabilising, Gel Forming, Skin Conditioning
6
Humectant, Masking, Skin Conditioning, Solvent
1 / 0
7
Antioxidant
Antioxidant Icon
8
Masking
Can worsen Dry Skin IconBad for Acne Prone Skin IconMay worsen Rosacea Icon
9
Sulfate Icon
10
Skin Conditioning
11

Ingredients Explained

This product contains 11 ingredients. Click on any ingredient to learn more about it
1
What it does: Skin Conditioning, Solvent
Community Rating: Loved

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. Talk about multi-purpose! If you see this, drink a glass of water. Stay hydrated!

Learn more about Water
2
What it does: Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting, Solvent
Community Rating: Loved

Glycerin is already naturally found in your skin. It helps moisturize and protect your skin.

A study from 2016 found glycerin to be more effective as a humectant than AHAs and hyaluronic acid.

As a humectant, it helps the skin stay hydrated by pulling moisture to your skin. The low molecular weight of glycerin allows it to pull moisture into the deeper layers of your skin.

Hydrated skin improves your skin barrier; Your skin barrier helps protect against irritants and bacteria.

Glycerin has also been found to have antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Due to these properties, glycerin is often used in wound and burn treatments.

In cosmetics, glycerin is usually derived from plants such as soybean or palm. However, it can also be sourced from animals, such as tallow or animal fat.

This ingredient is organic, colorless, odorless, and non-toxic.

Glycerin is the name for this ingredient in American English. British English uses Glycerol/Glycerine.

Learn more about Glycerin
3
What it does: Cleansing, Emulsifying, Foaming
Community Rating: Very Disliked

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) is a sulfate with surfactant properties.

The surfactant property make it a great foam creator and cleansing agent. Surfactants help bind ingredients that normally do not mix.

Some studies have shown skin irritation due to prolonged SLS use.

Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) is a milder version of SLS.

Learn more about Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
4
What it does: Skin Conditioning, Solvent
Community Rating: Mixed

1,2-Hexanediol is a multi-tasker ingredient. It acts as a preservative to increase shelf-life and can aid other preservatives in preventing microbe growth. 1,2-Hexanediol also helps the skin retain moisture as a humectant.

In products that are water-based, this ingredient can help stabilize perfumes and fragrances. It can also help make the texture of products softer and more smooth.

5
What it does: Emulsifying, Emulsion Stabilising, Gel Forming, Skin Conditioning
Community Rating: Disliked

Xanthan gum is used as a stabilizer and thickener within cosmetic products. It helps give products a sticky, thick feeling - preventing them from being too runny.

On the technical side of things, xanthan gum is a polysaccharide - a combination consisting of multiple sugar molecules bonded together.

Xanthan gum is a pretty common and great ingredient. It is a natural, non-toxic, non-irritating ingredient that is also commonly used in food products.

Learn more about Xanthan Gum
6
What it does: Humectant, Masking, Skin Conditioning, Solvent
Community Rating: Mixed

Butylene Glycol (or BG) is used within cosmetic products for a few different reasons:

  • It is a solvent, meaning that it helps to dissolve other ingredients. This also enhances the absorption of the product into one's skin.
  • It is a humectant, which means that it helps attract moisture into the skin.
  • It helps improve product application.

Overall, Butylene Glycol is a safe and well-rounded ingredient. It is unlikely to irritate skin, and works well with pretty much all other ingredients.

7
What it does: Antioxidant
Community Rating: Liked

Hydroxyacetophenone is antioxidant and helps with skin conditioning.

Antioxidants help fight off free-radical molecules. These unstable molecules may damage your skin cells. By helping stabilize free-radicals, antioxidants may help in anti-aging.

Hydroxyacetophenone boosts the efficiency of other preservatives.

Learn more about Hydroxyacetophenone
8
What it does: Masking
Community Rating: Very Disliked

Chances 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.

There is much debate on whether this ingredient is comedogenic. The short answer - comedogenic ratings don't tell the whole story. Learn more about comegodenic ratings here.

The concensus about this ingredient causing acne seems to be divided. Research is needed to understand if this ingredient does cause acne.

Scrubs may use salt as the primary exfoliating ingredient.

Learn more about Sodium Chloride
9
What it does:
Community Rating: Very Disliked

Sodium Sulfate is a type of sulfate.

10
What it does: Skin Conditioning
Community Rating: Mixed

Ethylhexylglycerin (we can't pronounce this either) is commonly used as a preservative and skin softener. It is derived from glyceryl.

You might see Ethylhexylglycerin often paired with other preservatives such as phenoxyethanol. Ethylhexylglycerin has been found to increase the effectiveness of these other preservatives.

11
What it does:
Community Rating: Disliked

Disodium EDTA plays a role in making products more stable by aiding other preservatives.

It is a chelating agent, meaning it neutralizes metal ions that may be found in a product.

Disodium EDTA is a salt of edetic acid and is found to be safe in cosmetic ingredients.

Learn more about Disodium EDTA
Embed Ingredients

Here's what our community thinks of the 11 ingredients in this product ✨

27% are loved or liked
27% have mixed ratings
45% are disliked or very disliked
0% have no rating yet

When to use

Here's some more info on how this product is used by our community.

Directions

Direction Apply in the morning and evening to moistened face. Gently massage into face, then rinse off. However, due to the mild surfactants, it CANNOT REMOVE MAKEUP. If strong cleansing is necessary, such as for makeup removal, we recommend using an oil cleanser or cleansing...

Direction Apply in the morning and evening to moistened face. Gently massage into face, then rinse off. However, due to the mild surfactants, it CANNOT REMOVE MAKEUP. If strong cleansing is necessary, such as for makeup removal, we recommend using an oil cleanser or cleansing water product first, and then finishing with this cleanser.

When to use

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