Paula's Choice Skin Balancing Oil-Reducing Cleanser Versus Clinique All About Clean Liquid Facial Soap

Paula's Choice Skin Balancing Oil-Reducing Cleanser Versus Clinique All About Clean Liquid Facial Soap

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

What's inside

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate

Sodium Lauroamphoacetate

Stearic Acid

Glycerin

Glycol Distearate

Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil

Acrylates Copolymer

Cetearyl Alcohol

Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract

Sodium Chloride

Sodium Hydroxide

Xanthan Gum

Caprylyl Glycol

Hexylene Glycol

Disodium EDTA

Phenoxyethanol

Water, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Sodium Lauroamphoacetate, Stearic Acid, Glycerin, Glycol Distearate, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, Acrylates Copolymer, Cetearyl Alcohol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Hydroxide, Xanthan Gum, Caprylyl Glycol, Hexylene Glycol, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol

Lauramidopropyl Betaine

Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine

Sodium Laureth Sulfate

Sodium Cocoyl Sarcosinate

Tea-Cocoyl Glutamate

Butylene Glycol

Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice

PEG-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate

Sucrose

Sodium Coco Pg-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate

Citric Acid

Polyquaternium-7

Methylchloroisothiazolinone

Methylisothiazolinone

Water, Lauramidopropyl Betaine, Cocamidopropyl Hydroxysultaine, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Cocoyl Sarcosinate, Tea-Cocoyl Glutamate, Butylene Glycol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, PEG-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate, Sucrose, Sodium Coco Pg-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, Citric Acid, Hexylene Glycol, Polyquaternium-7, Caprylyl Glycol, Disodium EDTA, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Phenoxyethanol

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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.

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).

Disodium EDTA is a chelating agent. It grabs onto and deactivates metal ions that sneak into your products from water, packaging, or air.

This ingredient mainly works behind the scenes and helps with:

On top of that, this ingredient can counteract the effects of hard water by binding to the minerals in it.

One thing worth knowing is that Disodium EDTA has been shown to be a mild penetration enhancer. It can help other ingredients absorb into skin more effectively which can be a double-edged sword (great for actives, but can also make the active too strong if you have sensitive skin).

Clinical patch testing showed no significant skin irritation at typical use concentrations and minimal dermal absorption.

You'll most likely see this ingredient near the end of an ingredient list. It's typically found in concentrations less than 1%.

Hexylene Glycol is a multitasker ingredient that works as a solvent, humectant, emulsifier, viscosity reducer, and preservative booster.

It is able to dissolve both water and oil-soluble ingredients to stabilize tricky actives and make products spread more easily.

As a humectant, it pulls water into the skin. But it's a pretty minor moisturizing ingredient compared to other humectants, like glycerin.

Interestingly, it can act as a mild penetration enhancer. One in vitro study on human skin found a 12% concentration upped the absorption of mometasone furoate (a medicinal ingredient used to treat inflammatory skin conditions) up to 7%.

This ingredient is typically used at levels of 0.1-10% depending on the role it's playing.

A patch test study on eczema patients didn't find a significant increase in irritation versus the control group, but the potential for irritation rises at higher concentrations.

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.

Chances are, you eat sodium chloride every day. Sodium Chloride is also known as table salt. This ingredient has many purposes in skincare: thickener, emulsifier, and exfoliator.

You'll most likely find this ingredient in cleansers where it is used to create a gel-like texture. As an emulsifier, it also prevents ingredients from separating.

You might see people debate whether Sodium Chloride is comedogenic, but there actually haven't been any comedogenic tests done on it. Either way, the overall formulation of a product matters a lot more than any single ingredient.

You might see this ingredient used in scrubs as a primary exfoliating ingredient.

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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