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Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Gel Exfoliant Versus Holy Snails First Snow Essence

Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Gel Exfoliant Versus Holy Snails First Snow Essence This pore-care exfoliator is formulated around Salicylic Acid and Phytosphingosine to refine the look of pores and refine skin texture. This calming essence is formulated

By Peptide Skincare & Beauty Editorial TeamPublished

Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Gel Exfoliant Versus Holy Snails First Snow Essence

This pore-care exfoliator is formulated around Salicylic Acid and Phytosphingosine to refine the look of pores and refine skin texture.

This calming essence is formulated around Panax Ginseng Root Extract and Centella Asiatica Extract to calm redness and strengthen the skin barrier.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Methylpropanediol

Butylene Glycol

Polysorbate 20

Salicylic Acid

Phytosphingosine

Hydroxyethylcellulose

Vitis Vinifera Seed Extract

Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract

Epilobium Angustifolium Extract

Bisabolol

Tetrasodium EDTA

Sodium Hydroxide

Water, Methylpropanediol, Butylene Glycol, Polysorbate 20, Salicylic Acid, Phytosphingosine, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Vitis Vinifera Seed Extract, Camellia Oleifera Leaf Extract, Epilobium Angustifolium Extract, Bisabolol, Tetrasodium EDTA, Sodium Hydroxide

Hydrolyzed Oats

Panax Ginseng Root Extract

Aesculus Hippocastanum Extract

Calendula Officinalis Extract

Centella Asiatica Extract

Chamomilla Recutita Extract

Zingiber Officinale Root Extract

Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract

Lycium Barbarum Fruit Extract

Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract

Helichrysum Italicum Extract

Hibiscus Sabdariffa Flower Extract

Iris Florentina Root Extract

Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract

Cucurbita Pepo Seed Extract

Ceramide NP

Ceramide AP

Ceramide EOP

Cholesterol

Abronia Villosa Leaf Extract

Agave Americana Stem Extract

Nymphaea Coerulea Flower Extract

Oenothera Biennis Flower Extract

Fouquieria Splendens Stem Extract

Tremella Fuciformis Extract

Opuntia Coccinellifera Flower Extract

Yucca Brevifolia Root Extract

Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate

Carbomer

Xanthan Gum

Glycerin

Caprylyl Glycol

Hexylene Glycol

Wasabia Japonica Root Extract

Allium Sativum Bulb Extract

Propylene Glycol

Diazolidinyl Urea

Methylparaben

Propylparaben

Disodium EDTA

Water, Hydrolyzed Oats, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Aesculus Hippocastanum Extract, Calendula Officinalis Extract, Centella Asiatica Extract, Chamomilla Recutita Extract, Zingiber Officinale Root Extract, Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, Lycium Barbarum Fruit Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Helichrysum Italicum Extract, Hibiscus Sabdariffa Flower Extract, Iris Florentina Root Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract, Cucurbita Pepo Seed Extract, Ceramide NP, Ceramide AP, Ceramide EOP, Phytosphingosine, Cholesterol, Abronia Villosa Leaf Extract, Agave Americana Stem Extract, Nymphaea Coerulea Flower Extract, Oenothera Biennis Flower Extract, Fouquieria Splendens Stem Extract, Tremella Fuciformis Extract, Opuntia Coccinellifera Flower Extract, Yucca Brevifolia Root Extract, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Carbomer, Xanthan Gum, Glycerin, Caprylyl Glycol, Hexylene Glycol, Wasabia Japonica Root Extract, Allium Sativum Bulb Extract, Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Disodium EDTA

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Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

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

Phytosphingosine is a phospholipid naturally found in our skin as a building block for ceramides.. It helps moisturize, soothe, and protect skin.

Phytosphingosine contributes to your skin's natural moisturizing factor (NMF). The NMF is responsible for hydration, a strong barrier, and plasticity. Our NMF decreases with age. Increasing NMF leads to more healthy and hydrated skin.

Studies show products formulated with NMF ingredients help strengthen our skin's barrier. Having a healthy skin barrier reduces irritation and increases hydration. Our skin barrier is responsible for having plump and firm skin. It also helps protect our skin against infection, allergies, and inflammation.

Fun fact: Phytosphingosine is abundant in plants and fungi.

More ingredients that help boost collagen in skin:

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.

01

Formula cabinet

Ingredients & structured notes

Ingredient index

Paula's Choice Hyaluronic Acid BoosterIngredients 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. 06A natural moisturizer that’s also in our skin
  7. 07A super common, safe, effective and cheap molecule used for more than 50 years
  8. 08Not 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
  9. 09Effective from as low as 3% with even more benefits for dry skin at higher concentrations up to 20-40%
  10. 10High-glycerin moisturizers are awesome for treating severely dry skin
  11. 11It’s the - sodium form - cousin of the famous NMF, hyaluronic acid (HA). If HA does not tell you anything we have a super detailed, geeky explanation about it here. The TL; DR version of HA is that it's a huge polymer (big molecule from repeated sub…
  12. 12As far as skincare goes, sodium hyaluronate and hyaluronic acid are pretty much the same and the two names are used interchangeably. As cosmetic chemist kindofstephen writes on reddit "sodium hyaluronate disassociates into hyaluronic acid molecule a…
  13. 13In spite of this, if you search for "hyaluronic acid vs sodium hyaluronate" you will find on multiple places that sodium hyaluronate is smaller and can penetrate the skin better. Chemically, this is definitely not true, as the two forms are almost t…
  14. 14What seems to be a true difference, though, is that the salt form is more stable, easier to formulate and cheaper so it pops up more often on the ingredient lists.
  15. 15If you wanna become a real HA-and-the-skin expert you can read way more about the topic at hyaluronic acid (including penetration-questions, differences between high and low molecular weight versions and a bunch of references to scientific literature).
  16. 16It’s naturally in our skin and behaves there like a sponge
  17. 17It can bind up to 1000 times its own weight in water
  18. 18It is a big molecule from repeated subunits (polymer) so different molecular weight versions exist (unfortunately there is no way to determine MW from INCI list only)
  19. 19High-molecular-weight-HA (>500 kDa) is an excellent surface hydrator, skin protectant and can act as an osmotic pump helping water-soluble actives to penetrate deeper into the skin
  20. 20Low-molecular-weight-HA (< 500 kDa) can hydrate the skin somewhat deeper though it is still a big molecule and works mainly in the epidermis (outer layer of the skin)
Source · incidecoder.com ⟶
02

Product index

Related product references

Product

Paula's Choice Power Berry Serum

Paula's Choice Power Berry Serum Paula's Choice Power Berry Serum ingredients explained: Water⁠, Glycerin⁠, Coco-Caprylate⁠, Butylene Glycol⁠, Propanediol⁠, Glyceryl Stearate⁠, Emblica Offi…

Source: incidecoder.comView reference →
03

Comparison edit

Read side by side

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