Aveeno Ultra-Calming Daily Face Moisturizer SPF 15 Versus Paula's Choice Skin Recovery Daily Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30

Aveeno Ultra-Calming Daily Face Moisturizer SPF 15 Versus Paula's Choice Skin Recovery Daily Moisturizing Lotion SPF 30

This calming day moisturizer is formulated around Panthenol to calm redness and hydrate skin.

This barrier-repair moisturizer is formulated around Avena Sativa Kernel Extract and Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate to strengthen the skin barrier and hydrate skin.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane 3%

Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate 7.5%

Ethylhexyl Salicylate 2%

Water

C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate

Cetearyl Alcohol

Dimethicone

Cyclopentasiloxane

Glycerin

Cyclohexasiloxane

Arachidyl Alcohol

Phenyl Trimethicone

Phenoxyethanol

Cetearyl Glucoside

Panthenol

Benzyl Alcohol

Ethylene/Acrylic Acid Copolymer

Chrysanthemum Parthenium Extract

Behenyl Alcohol

Steareth-2

Sodium Cocoyl Amino Acids

Steareth-21

Parfum

Polyacrylamide

Arachidyl Glucoside

Disodium EDTA

Methylparaben

C13-14 Isoparaffin

Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate

Sarcosine

Laureth-7

Ethylparaben

Butylparaben

Propylparaben

Isobutylparaben

Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate

Potassium Aspartate

Magnesium Aspartate

Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane 3%, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate 7.5%, Ethylhexyl Salicylate 2%, Water, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Dimethicone, Cyclopentasiloxane, Glycerin, Cyclohexasiloxane, Arachidyl Alcohol, Phenyl Trimethicone, Phenoxyethanol, Cetearyl Glucoside, Panthenol, Benzyl Alcohol, Ethylene/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Chrysanthemum Parthenium Extract, Behenyl Alcohol, Steareth-2, Sodium Cocoyl Amino Acids, Steareth-21, Parfum, Polyacrylamide, Arachidyl Glucoside, Disodium EDTA, Methylparaben, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Sarcosine, Laureth-7, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben, Propylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Potassium Aspartate, Magnesium Aspartate

Titanium Dioxide 3.85%

Zinc Oxide 3.12%

Isononyl Isononanoate

Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil

Glyceryl Stearate

PEG-100 Stearate

Butylene Glycol

Pentylene Glycol

Glycine Soja Sterols

Vp/Eicosene Copolymer

Avena Sativa Kernel Extract

Sodium Hyaluronate

Allantoin

Tocopheryl Acetate

Hydrogenated Lecithin

Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate

Superoxide Dismutase

Ubiquinone

Ceramide Ng

Methicone

Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12

PEG-10 Dimethicone

Cucumis Sativus Fruit Extract

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride

Tribehenin

PEG-10 Phytosterol

Sorbitan Stearate

Polyhydroxystearic Acid

Alumina

Polysorbate 20

Aluminum Stearate

Xanthan Gum

Caprylyl Glycol

Ethylhexylglycerin

Chlorphenesin

Titanium Dioxide 3.85%, Zinc Oxide 3.12%, Water, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Isononyl Isononanoate, Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil, Cyclopentasiloxane, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Butylene Glycol, Pentylene Glycol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Dimethicone, Glycine Soja Sterols, Vp/Eicosene Copolymer, Avena Sativa Kernel Extract, Glycerin, Sodium Hyaluronate, Allantoin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Superoxide Dismutase, Ubiquinone, Ceramide Ng, Methicone, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Cucumis Sativus Fruit Extract, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Tribehenin, PEG-10 Phytosterol, Sorbitan Stearate, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Alumina, Polysorbate 20, Aluminum Stearate, Xanthan Gum, Caprylyl Glycol, Disodium EDTA, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin

Alternatives

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

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

C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate is a lightweight emollient made by combinig benzoic acid with fatty alcohols that are 12-15 carbons long.

In cosmetics, it plays several roles:

The Cosmetic Review Expert Panel has concluded the alkyl benzoate group to be safe as used in cosmetics; it wasn't found to be a skin irritant and unlikely to be absorbed due to its low water solubility.

This report recorded almost 1000 reported uses with concentrations up to 59% in leave-on products but your cosmetics will typically use 0.5-15% depending on the product.

It's often called a "SPF booster": this is because it keeps UV filters properly dissolved and evenly distributed to support a sunscreen's performance. It doesn't actually raise SPF on its own.

Overall, this ingredient is well tolerated.

This ingredient is fungal acne safe because it is an ester of benzoic acid.

Think of this ingredient as two parts stuck together: an oily part and an acid part. Malassezia only gets a meal when it can snip off a fatty acid to eat. With C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, the acid part is benzoic acid, which isn't a fatty acid and which the yeast can't use as food.

Benzoic acid is actually used as a preservative to stop yeast from growing.

The oily part is a blend of C12-15 fatty alcohols but fatty alcohols in this size range can support only a little Malassezia growth (mostly for one species of Malassezia as well).

In the ingredient, those alcohols stay locked inside the molecule. The yeast can only reach them by snipping the benzoate bond, and that type of bond is harder for it to cut than a normal fatty bond.

So not much gets released. And whatever does get snipped comes packaged with benzoic acid, which discourages yeast growth.

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.

Cyclopentasiloxane (D5) is a lightweight silicone that mostly acts as an emollient and solvent in cosmetics. Its the reason your products feel silky, fast-spreading, and non-greasy.

Since D5 is volatile, it does its thing and then evaporates off the skin quickly.

The safety profile of this ingredient is reassuring; the US CIR Expert Panel concluded D5 is safe as used in cosmetics and Health Canada concluded that D5 is not harmful to human health or the environment as currently used in cosmetics

There's a study that people mention about D5 in a rat study showing tumors. This study is related to long-term inhalation of high D5 levels.

Regulatory bodies have judged this study to be not applicable in topical skincare since skin absorption of D5 is very low and we're not really inhaling huge amounts of D5.

The only restriction for this ingredient is environmental. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) restricted D5 in wash-off cosmetics at or above 0.1% due to their persistence in water.

Dimethicone is a type of synthetic silicone created from natural materials such as quartz. It is also known as polydimethylsiloxane.

What it does:

Dimethicone comes in different viscosities:

Depending on the viscosity, dimethicone has different properties.

Ingredients lists don't always show which type is used, so we recommend reaching out to the brand if you have questions about the viscosity.

This ingredient is unlikely to cause irritation because it does not get absorbed into skin. However, people with silicone allergies should be careful about using this ingredient.

Note: Dimethicone may contribute to pilling. This is because it is not oil or water soluble, so pilling may occur when layered with products. When mixed with heavy oils in a formula, the outcome is also quite greasy.

Disodium EDTA is a chelating agent. It grabs onto and deactivates metal ions that sneak into your products from water, packaging, or air.

This ingredient mainly works behind the scenes and helps with:

On top of that, this ingredient can counteract the effects of hard water by binding to the minerals in it.

One thing worth knowing is that Disodium EDTA has been shown to be a mild penetration enhancer. It can help other ingredients absorb into skin more effectively which can be a double-edged sword (great for actives, but can also make the active too strong if you have sensitive skin).

Clinical patch testing showed no significant skin irritation at typical use concentrations and minimal dermal absorption.

You'll most likely see this ingredient near the end of an ingredient list. It's typically found in concentrations less than 1%.

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.

Phenoxyethanol is one of the most widely used preservatives in skincare (and for good reason!).

It has a large spectrum of antimicrobial activity and especially effective bacteria, yeast, and mold while only having a weak effect on your skin's natural microbiome.

On a cellular level, it disrupts the cell membranes of microbes by poking holes that make the cell leak. This shuts down the chemical reactions the microbe needs to make energy so it can no longer survive.

Another perk of this ingredient is that it stays functional across a wide pH range (3-10).

You'll often see it paired with boosters like Ethylhexylglycerin; one study showed that a 1:9 ratio of Ethylhexylglycerin to Phenoxyethanol damages bacterial membranes as effectively as doubling the Phenoxyethanol concentration on its own.

Typical use concentrations range from 0.3-1% depending on the formula, and this ingredient is capped at 1% int the EU.

Safety-wise, the fear mongering does not hold up to the evidence. The EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety and FDA consider it safe as a preservative at up to 1%, including for children of all ages.

Adverse systemic effects only showed up in animal studies at exposures roughly 200x higher than what people get from cosmetics. And despite its very widespread use, this ingredient is a rare sensitizer and allergic reactions are uncommon.

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!

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