Peptide Skincare & BeautySkin science and ingredient guides

Skin science article

Paula's Choice Clinical 0.3% Retinol + 2% Bakuchiol Treatment Versus Paula's Choice Resist Triple Active Total Repair Serum

Paula's Choice Clinical 0.3% Retinol + 2% Bakuchiol Treatment Versus Paula's Choice Resist Triple Active Total Repair Serum This anti-aging treatment is formulated around Bakuchiol and Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate to soften the look of wrinkles and refine skin te

By Peptide Skincare & Beauty Editorial TeamPublished

Paula's Choice Clinical 0.3% Retinol + 2% Bakuchiol Treatment Versus Paula's Choice Resist Triple Active Total Repair Serum

This anti-aging treatment is formulated around Bakuchiol and Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate to soften the look of wrinkles and refine skin texture.

This anti-aging serum is formulated around Niacinamide and Retinyl Propionate to soften the look of wrinkles and fade the look of dark spots.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Dimethicone

Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate

Isononyl Isononanoate

Butylene Glycol

Bakuchiol

Arachidyl Alcohol

Glyceryl Polymethacrylate

Dimethicone Crosspolymer

Behenyl Alcohol

Glycerin

PEG-75 Shea Butter Glycerides

Glyceryl Stearate

C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate

Polysorbate 20

Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate

Retinol

Ceramide Ng

Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7

Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12

Sodium Hyaluronate

Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate

Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract

Avena Sativa Kernel Extract

Arctium Lappa Root Extract

Salix Alba Bark Extract

Glycine Soja Sterols

Lecithin

Allantoin

Tocopheryl Acetate

Hydrolyzed Soy Protein

Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1

Sodium Hydroxide

Tribehenin

Caprylyl Glycol

Dipeptide-2

Polygonum Cuspidatum Root Extract

PEG-10 Phytosterol

PEG-8

Magnesium Aluminum Silicate

Arachidyl Glucoside

Chrysin

Pentylene Glycol

Sodium Acrylates Copolymer

Steareth-20

Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer

Cetearyl Alcohol

Coco-Glucoside

Hesperidin Methyl Chalcone

N-Hydroxysuccinimide

Disodium EDTA

Phenoxyethanol

Benzoic Acid

Ethylhexylglycerin

Water, Dimethicone, Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Isononyl Isononanoate, Butylene Glycol, Bakuchiol, Arachidyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Polymethacrylate, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Behenyl Alcohol, Glycerin, PEG-75 Shea Butter Glycerides, Glyceryl Stearate, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Polysorbate 20, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Retinol, Ceramide Ng, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12, Sodium Hyaluronate, Dipotassium Glycyrrhizate, Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract, Avena Sativa Kernel Extract, Arctium Lappa Root Extract, Salix Alba Bark Extract, Glycine Soja Sterols, Lecithin, Allantoin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Sodium Hydroxide, Tribehenin, Caprylyl Glycol, Dipeptide-2, Polygonum Cuspidatum Root Extract, PEG-10 Phytosterol, PEG-8, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Arachidyl Glucoside, Chrysin, Pentylene Glycol, Sodium Acrylates Copolymer, Steareth-20, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Cetearyl Alcohol, Coco-Glucoside, Hesperidin Methyl Chalcone, N-Hydroxysuccinimide, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Benzoic Acid, Ethylhexylglycerin

Isopropyl Myristate

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride

Niacinamide

Hydroxystearic Acid

Oryza Sativa Bran Oil

Tocotrienols

Retinyl Propionate

Hexylresorcinol

Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer

Cetyl Alcohol

Castanea Sativa Leaf Extract

Hydroxyacetophenone

Ceramide AP

1,2-Hexanediol

Dilauryl Thiodipropionate

Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate

Sodium Phytate

BHT

Water, Isopropyl Myristate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glycerin, Niacinamide, Hydroxystearic Acid, Oryza Sativa Bran Oil, Tocotrienols, Retinyl Propionate, Hexylresorcinol, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Cetyl Alcohol, Castanea Sativa Leaf Extract, Hydroxyacetophenone, Ceramide AP, 1,2-Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Sodium Hydroxide, Dilauryl Thiodipropionate, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Sodium Phytate, BHT

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.

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).

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.

Sodium Hydroxide is also known as lye or caustic soda. It is used to adjust the pH of products; many ingredients require a specific pH to be effective.

In small amounts, sodium hydroxide is considered safe to use. However, large amounts may cause chemical burns due to its high alkaline.

Your skin has a natural pH and acid mantle. This acid mantle helps prevent harmful bacteria from breaking through. The acid mantle also helps keep your skin hydrated.

"Alkaline" refers to a high pH level. A low pH level would be considered acidic.

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.

01

Formula cabinet

Ingredients & structured notes

Ingredient index

Paula's Choice 25% Vitamin C + Glutathione Clinical 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. 06Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate is a stable, oil-soluble form of skincare big shot Vitamin C. If you do not know, why Vitamin C is such a big deal in skincare, click here and read all about it. We are massive vitamin C fans and have written about it in ex…
  7. 07So now, you know that Vitamin C is great and all, but it's really unstable and gives cosmetics companies many headaches. To solve this problem they came up with vitamin C derivatives, and one of them is Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate (let's call it THDA …
  8. 08It's a really promising candidate (see below), but while reading all the goodness about it in a minute, do not forget that derivatives not only have to be absorbed into the skin but also have to be converted to pure vitamin C (ascorbic acid or AA) a…
  9. 09With this context in mind let's see what THDA might be able to do. First, it is stable (if pH < 5), easy to formulate, and a joy to work with for a cosmetic chemist.
  10. 10Second, because it's oil-soluble, its skin penetration abilities seem to be great. So great in fact, that it surpasses the penetration of pure vitamin C threefold at the same concentration and it penetrates successfully into the deeper layers of the…
  11. 11Third, THDA seems to have all three magic abilities of pure vitamin C: it gives antioxidant protection from both UVB and UVA rays, it increases collagen synthesis (even more than AA) and it has a skin brightening effect by reducing melanogenesis by …
  12. 12So this all sounds really great, but these are only in-vitro results at this point. We could find Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate mentioned only in one published in-vivo study that examined the anti-aging properties of a silicone formula containing 10% AA…
  13. 13Bottom line: a really promising, but not well-proven vitamin C derivative that can be worth a try especially if you like experimenting (but if you like the tried and true, pure vitamin C will be your best bet).
  14. 14Probably the most common silicone of all. It is a polymer (created from repeating subunits) molecule and has different molecular weight and thus different viscosity versions from water-light to thick liquid.
  15. 15As for skincare, it makes the skin silky smooth, creates a subtle gloss and forms a protective barrier (aka occlusive). Also, works well to fill in fine lines and wrinkles and give skin a plump look (of course that is only temporary, but still, it's…
  16. 16As for hair care, it is a non-volatile silicone meaning that it stays on the hair rather than evaporates from it and smoothes the hair like no other thing. Depending on your hair type, it can be a bit difficult to wash out and might cause some build…
  17. 17A natural moisturizer that’s also in our skin
  18. 18A super common, safe, effective and cheap molecule used for more than 50 years
  19. 19Not 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
  20. 20Effective from as low as 3% with even more benefits for dry skin at higher concentrations up to 20-40%
Source · incidecoder.com ⟶
02

Product index

Related product references

03

Comparison edit

Read side by side

Continue reading

Related articles