First Aid Beauty Bronze + Glow Drops With Niacinamide Versus e.l.f. cosmetics Bronzing Drops

First Aid Beauty Bronze + Glow Drops With Niacinamide Versus e.l.f. cosmetics Bronzing Drops

This brightening serum is formulated around Niacinamide to brighten dull-looking skin and fade the look of dark spots.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride

Niacinamide

Pentylene Glycol

Glycerin

Mica

Terminalia Ferdinandiana Fruit Extract

Tocopheryl Acetate

Caprylyl Glycol

Sorbitan Isostearate

Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer

Pvp

Sodium Phytate

Phenoxyethanol

Sorbic Acid

Tin Oxide

CI 77491

CI 77499

CI 77891

Water, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Niacinamide, Pentylene Glycol, Glycerin, Mica, Terminalia Ferdinandiana Fruit Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Caprylyl Glycol, Sorbitan Isostearate, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Pvp, Sodium Phytate, Phenoxyethanol, Sorbic Acid, Tin Oxide, CI 77491, CI 77499, CI 77891

Trimethyl Pentaphenyl Trisiloxane

Hydrogenated Polyisobutene

Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil

Synthetic Fluorphlogopite

Glyceryl Stearate Citrate

Bis-Behenyl/Isostearyl/Phytosteryl Dimer Dilinoleyl Dimer Dilinoleate

Tocopherol

Carbomer

Ethylhexylglycerin

Tromethamine

Disodium EDTA

Polysorbate 60

Xanthan Gum

Sodium Citrate

Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil

Rubus Idaeus Seed Oil

C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate

Ubiquinone

CI 77492

Water, Trimethyl Pentaphenyl Trisiloxane, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, Glycerin, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Glyceryl Stearate Citrate, Mica, Bis-Behenyl/Isostearyl/Phytosteryl Dimer Dilinoleyl Dimer Dilinoleate, Tocopherol, Phenoxyethanol, Sorbitan Isostearate, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Carbomer, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Tromethamine, Disodium EDTA, Polysorbate 60, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Citrate, Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil, Rubus Idaeus Seed Oil, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Tin Oxide, Tocopheryl Acetate, Ubiquinone, CI 77491, CI 77499, CI 77492, CI 77891

Reviews

Alternatives

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

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

Caprylyl Glycol is a humectant, skin conditioner, emollient, and preservative booster derived from either caprylic acid or synthetically created.

Typical use levels vary from 0.3-1% as a preservative booster and go up to 2% to condition skin.

Because it is not a free-fatty acid, this ingredient is fungal acne safe (there's nothing for Malassezia to feed on).

Ci 77491 is also hydrated iron III oxide. It's sole purpose is to give a red/pink hue to products.

Iron III oxides are classified as inorganic chemicals for coloring.

Synthetically created Ci 77491 is considered safer than those naturally found. This is because the synthetically created version may contain less impurities. Iron oxides are generally non-toxic and non-allergenic.

Ci 77499 is also hydrated iron III oxide. It is created from mixing red and black iron oxides. This helps give shades of darkness to a product.

Ci 77891 is a white pigment from Titanium dioxide. It is naturally found in minerals such as rutile and ilmenite.

It's main function is to add a white color to cosmetics. It can also be mixed with other colors to create different shades.

Ci 77891 is commonly found in sunscreens due to its ability to block UV rays.

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.

This is a synthetic polymer. It helps improve the texture of products by adding thickness and gel-like feel.

It is also an emulsifer, meaning it prevents ingredients such as oil and water from separating. It also helps evenly disperse other ingredients.

Mica is a naturally occurring mineral used to add shimmer and color in cosmetics. It can also help improve the texture of a product or give it an opaque, white/silver color.

Serecite is the name for very fine but ragged grains of mica.

This ingredient is often coated with metal oxides like titanium dioxide. Trace amounts of heavy metals may be found in mica, but these metals are not harmful in our personal products.

Mica has been used since prehistoric times throughout the world. Ancient Egyptian, Indian, Greek, Roman, Aztec, and Chinese civilizations have used mica.

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.

Sorbitan Isostearate is an emulsifer. It is created from isostearic acid and sorbitol.

As an emulsifier, it keeps the water and oil ingredients from separating. This keeps formulas stable and smooth.

In a 24 hour occlusive patch test on 56 subjects, 10% sorbitan isostearate was completely non-irritating. Most formulas use less than 10%.

Because it's a fatty acid ester, it may not be fungal acne safe since the Malassezia yeast can utilize it as a nutrient source.

Tin Oxide is an inorganic oxide used to add opacity and volume to a product. In nature, it is already found in mineral form. The main ore of tin is an opaque and shiny mineral called casseterite.

Tin Oxide helps remove translucency in a product, or make it more opaque. Besides adding opacity, tin oxide is used for bulking to add volume.

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!

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