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artnaturals Retinol Serum Versus The INKEY List Retinol Serum

artnaturals Retinol Serum Versus The INKEY List Retinol Serum This anti-aging serum is formulated around Retinol and Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice to soften the look of wrinkles and refine skin texture. This anti-aging serum is formulated around Retinyl Acetate

artnaturals Retinol Serum Versus The INKEY List Retinol Serum

This anti-aging serum is formulated around Retinol and Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice to soften the look of wrinkles and refine skin texture.

This anti-aging serum is formulated around Retinyl Acetate and Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7 to soften the look of wrinkles and refine skin texture.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice

Hamamelis Virginiana Extract

Glycerin

Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil

Xanthan Gum

Sodium Hyaluronate

Retinol

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride

Centella Asiatica Extract

Tocopheryl Acetate

Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract

Water, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Hamamelis Virginiana Extract, Glycerin, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hyaluronate, Retinol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Centella Asiatica Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract

Butylene Glycol

Propanediol

Dicaprylyl Carbonate

Retinyl Acetate

Dimethicone

Phenoxyethanol

Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer

Caprylyl Glycol

Phospholipids

Squalane

Glycine Soja Oil

Carbomer

Polysorbate 60

Glycolipids

Sodium Hydroxide

Sodium Phytate

Sorbitan Isostearate

Glycine Soja Sterols

Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate

Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate

Hyaluronic Acid

Sodium Lactate

Tocopherol

Polysorbate 20

Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7

Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1

Water, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Propanediol, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Retinyl Acetate, Dimethicone, Phenoxyethanol, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Caprylyl Glycol, Phospholipids, Squalane, Glycine Soja Oil, Carbomer, Polysorbate 60, Tocopheryl Acetate, Glycolipids, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Phytate, Sorbitan Isostearate, Glycine Soja Sterols, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Hyaluronic Acid, Sodium Lactate, Tocopherol, Polysorbate 20, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1

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Alternatives

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.

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.

Tocopheryl Acetate is a stable, shelf-friendly form of vitamin E.

Formulators love it because plain vitamin E oxidizes quickly once it hits air. This acetate version stays stable and resists going off, helping to extend a product's shelf life.

It's actually inactive on its own and works like a slow-release "storage" form; the enzymes in your skin called esterases gradually convert it into active vitamin E over time.

One in vivo study showed 5% of the acetate in the living layer of the epidermis converted to vitamin E after 5 days of application. This study also found the skin gained protection against UV damage even though the conversion was slow and small.

Once converted, vitamin E acts as a skin's main fat-soluble antioxidant that fights free radicals to protect skin from damage.

Topical vitamin E generally boosts the skin's photoprotection, and it reduced UV-damage in animal models.

This ingredient has some brightening potential but it's more of a prevention ingredient than spot-fader. Cell studies show it can slow down melanin production but it's worth noting that it's not the most powerful brightener out there.

Overall, it has a pretty solid safety profile and has been found to be non-irritating and non-comedogenic. Allergic reactions may happen but stay rare due to how widely the ingredient gets used.

The concentration will vary depending on the formula; industry data shows 0.1% in baby lotions, 3% in lipsticks, and 5% in foot powders. You can also find this ingredient at 100% in a pure vitamin E oil.

Most leave-on skincare keeps it at the lower end, often between 0.5-1%.

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!

Similar Comparisons

The reference edit

Ingredients, questions
& further reading.

Connected source records selected through this article’s public topic index.

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Formula cabinet

Ingredients & structured notes

Ingredient index

The Inkey List Niacinamide SerumIngredients explained

  1. 01Good old water, aka H2O. The most common skincare ingredient of all. You can usually find it right in the very first spot of the ingredient list, meaning it’s the biggest thing out of all the stuff that makes up the product.
  2. 02It’s mainly a solvent for ingredients that do not like to dissolve in oils but rather in water.
  3. 03Expand to read more
  4. 04Once inside the skin, it hydrates, but not from the outside - putting pure water on the skin (hello long baths!) is drying.
  5. 05One more thing: the water used in cosmetics is purified and deionized (it means that almost all of the mineral ions inside it is removed). Like this, the products can stay more stable over time.
  6. 06A multi-functional skincare superstar with several proven benefits for the skin
  7. 07Great anti-aging, wrinkle smoothing ingredient used at 4-5% concentration
  8. 08Fades brown spots alone or in combination with amino sugar, acetyl glucosamine
  9. 09Increases ceramide synthesis that results in a stronger, healthier skin barrier and better skin hydration
  10. 10Can help to improve several skin conditions including acne, rosacea, and atopic dermatitis
  11. 11A natural moisturizer that’s also in our skin
  12. 12A super common, safe, effective and cheap molecule used for more than 50 years
  13. 13Not only a simple moisturizer but knows much more: keeps the skin lipids between our skin cells in a healthy (liquid crystal) state, protects against irritation, helps to restore barrier
  14. 14Effective from as low as 3% with even more benefits for dry skin at higher concentrations up to 20-40%
  15. 15High-glycerin moisturizers are awesome for treating severely dry skin
  16. 16Propanediol is a natural alternative for the often used and often bad-mouthed propylene glycol. It's produced sustainably from corn sugar and it's Ecocert approved.
  17. 17It's quite a multi-tasker: can be used to improve skin moisturization, as a solvent, to boost preservative efficacy or to influence the sensory properties of the end formula.
  18. 18Butylene glycol, or let’s just call it BG, is a multi-tasking colorless, syrupy liquid. It’s a great pick for creating a nice feeling product.
  19. 19BG’s main job is usually to be a solvent for the other ingredients. Other tasks include helping the product to absorb faster and deeper into the skin (penetration enhancer), making the product spread nicely over the skin (slip agent), and attracting…
  20. 20It’s an ingredient whose safety hasn’t been questioned so far by anyone (at least not that we know about). BG is approved by Ecocert and is also used enthusiastically in natural products. BTW, it’s also a food additive.
Source · incidecoder.com
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Product index

Related product references

Product

The Inkey List Symbright Moisturizer

The Inkey List Symbright Moisturizer The Inkey List Symbright Moisturizer ingredients explained: Water (Aqua/Eau), Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Cetearyl Alcohol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyce…

Source: incidecoder.comView reference →
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Comparison edit

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