Paula's Choice Earth Sourced Perfectly Natural Cleansing Gel Versus Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser

Paula's Choice Earth Sourced Perfectly Natural Cleansing Gel Versus Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser

This mild gel cleanser is mild enough to cleanse without leaving skin feeling tight or stripped.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

No key ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Decyl Glucoside

Glycerin

Sodium Cocoamphoacetate

Lauryl Glucoside

Xanthan Gum

Coco-Glucoside

Glucose

Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate

Sodium Lauryl Glucose Carboxylate

Glyceryl Oleate

Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice

Carrageenan

Sodium Phytate

Citric Acid

Ethylhexylglycerin

Phenoxyethanol

Potassium Sorbate

Water, Decyl Glucoside, Glycerin, Sodium Cocoamphoacetate, Lauryl Glucoside, Xanthan Gum, Coco-Glucoside, Glucose, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Sodium Lauryl Glucose Carboxylate, Glyceryl Oleate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Carrageenan, Sodium Phytate, Citric Acid, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium Sorbate

Sodium Laureth Sulfate

Cocamidopropyl Betaine

Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate

Acrylates Copolymer

PEG-200 Hydrogenated Glyceryl Palmate

Triethanolamine

Sodium Chloride

Pentylene Glycol

PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate

Sodium Hydroxide

Hexylene Glycol

Behenyl Alcohol

Distearyl Ether

Sodium Benzoate

Laureth-2

Squalane

Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil

Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil

Tocopherol

Ascorbyl Glucoside

Persea Gratissima Oil

Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Decyl Glucoside, Glycerin, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Acrylates Copolymer, Lauryl Glucoside, PEG-200 Hydrogenated Glyceryl Palmate, Triethanolamine, Sodium Chloride, Pentylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Sodium Hydroxide, Citric Acid, Hexylene Glycol, Behenyl Alcohol, Distearyl Ether, Sodium Benzoate, Laureth-2, Squalane, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil, Prunus Armeniaca Kernel Oil, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Persea Gratissima Oil

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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.

Citric Acid is an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) naturally found in citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, and limes.

Like other AHAs, citric acid can exfoliate skin by breaking down the bonds that hold dead skin cells together. This helps reveal smoother and brighter skin underneath.

However, this exfoliating effect only happens at high concentrations (20%) which can be hard to find in cosmetic products.

Due to this, citric acid is usually included in small amounts as a pH adjuster. This helps keep products slightly more acidic and compatible with skin's natural pH.

In skincare formulas, citric acid can:

While it can provide some skin benefits, research shows lactic acid and glycolic acid are generally more effective and less irritating exfoliants.

Most citric acid used in skincare today is made by fermenting sugars (usually from molasses). This synthetic version is identical to the natural citrus form but easier to stabilize and use in formulations.

Rosacea skin has a lower threshold for acids generally, with 62.5% of rosacea subjects in one study reacting to lactic acid in a sting test. This is why we mark citric acid as a potential rosacea trigger.

However, this ingredient shows up as a pH adjuster or chelator at roughly 0.1-1% in many products. These low levels are unlikely to be an issue for rosacea skin and becomes a potential trigger at exfoliating concentrations (20%). Because everybody's skin is unique, we recommend a patch test if you are unsure.

Decyl Glucoside is a plant-derived surfactant and emulsion stabilizer. It is created by reacting glucose with the fatty acids from plants.

Like all surfactants, it works by lowering the surface tension between water and oil. This makes it so that dirt, sebum, and makeup can be lifted off your skin and rinsed away. It also produces a dense and creamy foam.

Because it has a neutral charge, it is compatible with a wide range of ingredients and stays stable across a broad pH range/water hardiness conditions.

Patch testing has shown it to have the lowest irritation potential among common cleansing surfactants (like SLS).

Typical use levels range from 5-20% in rinse-off cleansers.

One thing worth knowing: The American Contact Dermatitis Society named the parent family, alkyl glucosides, "Allergen of the Year" in 2017. The prevalence of allergy is pretty low but be sure to patch test if you've reacted to "gentle" or sulfate-free cleansers before.

This ingredient is fungal acne safe because the fatty alcohol portion of this ingredient is not within the C11-24 chain length that Malassezia can metabolize.

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.

Lauryl Glucoside sugar- and lipid-based cleansing agent. It is created from glucose and lauryl alcohol.

This ingredient is a surfactant, making it easier to rinse oil, dirt, and other pollutants away.

A British study found lauryl glucoside to cause skin sensitivity for some people. We recommend speaking with a professional if you have concerns.

Other names for this ingredient include "Lauryl Polyglucose", "Lauryl glycoside", and "D-Glucopyranoside".

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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