Nu Skin Nutricentials Bioadaptive Skin Care™ To Be Clear Pure Cleansing Gel Versus Paula's Choice Calm Ultra-Gentle Cleanser

Nu Skin Nutricentials Bioadaptive Skin Care™ To Be Clear Pure Cleansing Gel Versus Paula's Choice Calm Ultra-Gentle Cleanser

This mild gel cleanser is made to cleanse without leaving your skin tight or dry.

This mild gel cleanser is made to cleanse while calming and soothing your skin.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Cocamidopropyl Betaine

Sodium Cocoyl Alaninate

Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate

Acrylates Copolymer

Propanediol

Acanthopanax Senticosus Root Extract

Inonotus Obliquus Extract

Rhaponticum Carthamoides Root Extract

Rhodiola Rosea Extract

Selaginella Lepidophylla Extract

Trehalose

Glycerin

Sodium Hyaluronate

Serine

Algin

Urea

Pullulan

Glyceryl Laurate

Polyglyceryl-3 Caprate

Lauryl Lactate

Glyceryl Polyacrylate

Lauryl Alcohol

Lactic Acid

Pentylene Glycol

Sodium Hydroxide

Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate

Phenoxyethanol

Parfum

Sodium Benzoate

Chlorphenesin

Water, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Cocoyl Alaninate, Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate, Acrylates Copolymer, Propanediol, Acanthopanax Senticosus Root Extract, Inonotus Obliquus Extract, Rhaponticum Carthamoides Root Extract, Rhodiola Rosea Extract, Selaginella Lepidophylla Extract, Trehalose, Glycerin, Sodium Hyaluronate, Serine, Algin, Urea, Pullulan, Glyceryl Laurate, Polyglyceryl-3 Caprate, Lauryl Lactate, Glyceryl Polyacrylate, Lauryl Alcohol, Lactic Acid, Pentylene Glycol, Sodium Hydroxide, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Phenoxyethanol, Parfum, Sodium Benzoate, Chlorphenesin

Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride

Sodium Laurylglucosides Hydroxypropylsulfonate

Cellulose Gum

Coco-Caprylate/Caprate

Hydroxyacetophenone

Inulin

Xanthan Gum

Ethylhexylglycerin

Sodium Phytate

Cellulose

Fructose

Glucose

Water, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Laurylglucosides Hydroxypropylsulfonate, Cellulose Gum, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Hydroxyacetophenone, Inulin, Xanthan Gum, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Phytate, Cellulose, Fructose, Glucose, Phenoxyethanol

Reviews

Be the first to review

Alternatives

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

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

Cocamidopropyl Betaine is a fatty acid created by mixing similar compounds in coconut oil and dimethylaminopropylamine, a compound with two amino groups.

This ingredient is a surfactant and cleanser. It helps gather the dirt, pollutants, and other impurities in your skin to be washed away. It also helps thicken a product and make the texture more creamy.

Being created from coconut oil means Cocamidopropyl Betaine is hydrating for the skin.

While Cocamidopropyl Betaine was believed to be an allergen, a study from 2012 disproved this. It found two compounds in unpure Cocamidopropyl Betaine to be the irritants: aminoamide and 3-dimethylaminopropylamine. High-grade and pure Cocamidopropyl Betaine did not induce allergic reactions during this study.

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!

Similar Comparisons