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Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops Versus First Aid Beauty Dark Spot Serum With Niacinamide

Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops Versus First Aid Beauty Dark Spot Serum With Niacinamide This brightening serum is formulated around Niacinamide and Citrullus Lanatus Fruit Extract to brighten dull-looking skin. This brightening serum is form

Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops Versus First Aid Beauty Dark Spot Serum With Niacinamide

This brightening serum is formulated around Niacinamide and Citrullus Lanatus Fruit Extract to brighten dull-looking skin.

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

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Propanediol

Glycereth-26

Glycerin

Niacinamide

2,3-Butanediol

1,2-Hexanediol

Cetyl Ethylhexanoate

Citrullus Lanatus Fruit Extract

Sodium Hyaluronate

Eclipta Prostrata Extract

Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract

Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate

Tromethamine

Glyceryl Stearate

Carbomer

Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer

Ethylhexylglycerin

Xanthan Gum

Polyquaternium-51

Moringa Oleifera Seed Oil

Parfum

Benzyl Benzoate

Water, Propanediol, Glycereth-26, Glycerin, Niacinamide, 2,3-Butanediol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Cetyl Ethylhexanoate, Citrullus Lanatus Fruit Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Eclipta Prostrata Extract, Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract, Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate, Tromethamine, Glyceryl Stearate, Carbomer, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Ethylhexylglycerin, Xanthan Gum, Polyquaternium-51, Moringa Oleifera Seed Oil, Parfum, Benzyl Benzoate

Dimethicone

Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate

Butylene Glycol

Panthenol

Polysorbate 20

Actinidia Chinensis Fruit Extract

Chrysanthemum Parthenium Extract

Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract

Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract

Allantoin

Aminomethyl Propanol

Hydroxyacetophenone

Undecylenoyl Phenylalanine

Acrylates/Vinyl Isodecanoate Crosspolymer

Dimethiconol

Laureth-4

Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer

Phenoxyethanol

Disodium EDTA

Pvm/Ma Copolymer

Tetrasodium EDTA

Water, Niacinamide, Dimethicone, Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Panthenol, Polysorbate 20, Actinidia Chinensis Fruit Extract, Chrysanthemum Parthenium Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Allantoin, Aminomethyl Propanol, Hydroxyacetophenone, Undecylenoyl Phenylalanine, Acrylates/Vinyl Isodecanoate Crosspolymer, Dimethiconol, Laureth-4, Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Disodium EDTA, Pvm/Ma Copolymer, Tetrasodium EDTA

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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.

Niacinamide is a multitasking form of vitamin B3 that strengthens the skin barrier, reduces pores and dark spots, regulates oil, and improves signs of aging.

And the best part? It's gentle and well-tolerated by most skin types, including sensitive and reactive skin.

You might have heard of "niacin flush", or the reddening of skin that causes itchiness. Niacinamide has not been found to cause this.

In very rare cases, some individuals may not be able to tolerate niacinamide at all or experience an allergic reaction to it.

If you are experiencing flaking, irritation, and dryness with this ingredient, be sure to double check all your products as this ingredient can be found in all categories of skincare.

When incorporating niacinamide into your routine, look out for concentration amounts. Typically, 5% niacinamide provides benefits such as fading dark spots. However, if you have sensitive skin, it is better to begin with a smaller concentration.

When you apply niacinamide to your skin, your body converts it into nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD). NAD is an essential coenzyme that is already found in your cells as "fuel" and powers countless biological processes.

In your skin, NAD helps repair cell damage, produce new healthy cells, support collagen production, strengthen the skin barrier, and fight environmental stressors (like UV and pollution).

Our natural NAD levels start to decline with age, leading to slower skin repair, visible aging, and a weaker skin barrier. By providing your skin niacinamide, you're recharging your skin's NAD levels. This leads to stronger, healthier, and younger looking skin.

Another name for vitamin B3 is nicotinamide. This vitamin is water-soluble and our bodies don't store it. We obtain Vitamin B3 from either food or skincare. Meat, fish, wheat, yeast, and leafy greens contain vitamin B3.

The type of niacinamide used in skincare is synthetically created.

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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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

Ingredients Explained

  1. 01These ingredients are found in both products.
  2. 02Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
  3. 03Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract (tea extract) is one of the most well-researched plant extracts in skincare with an impressive resume.
  4. 04Black tea, green tea, and oolong tea are all harvested from the Camellia Sinensis plant.
  5. 05Studies show green tea extract and its catechins (like epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)) help your skin cells product energy more efficiently and reducing the number of free-radicals that can damage your skin from the inside.
  6. 06In lab-grown skin models, this translated to younger, healthier, and stronger skin.
  7. 07There's also good sun protection data; researchers saw less DNA damage and redness on human skin when green tea was applied before UVB exposure. And the more they applied, the better the protection.
  8. 08Needless to say, this ingredient shouldn't replace your sunscreen. But it is a great supportive ingredient that you can already find in many sunscreens and antioxidant serums.
  9. 09A 2009 study found a 2% green tea lotion was effective for mild-to-moderate acne thanks to its anti-inflammatory and mild antimicrobial activity.
  10. 10The quality of the extract matters a lot here:
  11. 11Good extracts contain 50-90% catechins while lower quality ones are mostly there for marketing. We recommend reaching out to the brand if you have questions about the quality or source of their ingredients.
  12. 12Human Repeated Insult Patch Testing showed no irritation or sensitization at use concentrations (0.86% in leave-on products and up to 30% as leaf water).
  13. 13Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (aka MCT Oil) is a lightweight emollient, solvent, and texture enhancer. It is considered a skin-softener by helping to prevent moisture loss.
  14. 14Though it behaves like an oil, it is not technically one due to its chemical composition. One perk of this ingredient is that it is very stable, resistant to oxidation, and unlikely to go rancid.
  15. 15In practice, that translates to a long shelf life and a consistently elegant skin feel.
  16. 16While there is an assumption Caprylic Triglyceride can clog pores due to it being derived from coconut oil, there is no research supporting this. Just patch test if you have concerns.
  17. 17Fractionated coconut oil and MCT Oil are both listed as Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride according to INCI. This is because INCI names are based on the ingredient’s final chemical composition and not its marketing name or source.
  18. 18This ingredient is treated as the gold standard fungal acne safe oil. Even though it is coconut derived, the problematic lauric acid is stripped out.
  19. 19This leaves just caprylic (C8) and capric (C10) acid. These chain lengths actually trend antifungal; a 2020 study found caprylic acid was enough to disrupt Malassezia furfur cell membrane, with a caprylic acid derivative damaging membrane structures…
  20. 20Cetyl Alcohol is a fatty alcohol. Fatty Alcohols are most often used as an emollient or to thicken a product.
Source · skinsort.com
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Product index

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Comparison edit

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