Peptide Skincare & BeautySkin science and ingredient guides

Skin science article

PCA Skin Acne Gel Versus Paula's Choice Regular Strength Daily Skin Clearing Treatment with 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide

PCA Skin Acne Gel Versus Paula's Choice Regular Strength Daily Skin Clearing Treatment with 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide This acne treatment is formulated around Lactic Acid and Azelaic Acid to clear breakouts and fade the look of dark spots. This acne treatment is f

By Peptide Skincare & Beauty Editorial TeamPublished

PCA Skin Acne Gel Versus Paula's Choice Regular Strength Daily Skin Clearing Treatment with 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide

This acne treatment is formulated around Lactic Acid and Azelaic Acid to clear breakouts and fade the look of dark spots.

This acne treatment is formulated around Benzoyl Peroxide and Bisabolol to clear breakouts and calm redness.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Sd Alcohol 40-B

Water

Hamamelis Virginiana Water

Butylene Glycol

Lactic Acid

Azelaic Acid

Kojic Acid

Hydroxyethylcellulose

Phenylethyl Resorcinol

Glutathione

Silybum Marianum Fruit Extract

BHT

Sd Alcohol 40-B, Water, Hamamelis Virginiana Water, Butylene Glycol, Lactic Acid, Azelaic Acid, Kojic Acid, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Phenylethyl Resorcinol, Glutathione, Silybum Marianum Fruit Extract, BHT

Propylene Glycol

Benzoyl Peroxide

Bisabolol

Allantoin

Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer

Sodium Citrate

Laureth-4

Caprylyl Glycol

Sodium Hydroxide

Disodium EDTA

Hexylene Glycol

Phenoxyethanol

Water, Propylene Glycol, Benzoyl Peroxide, Bisabolol, Allantoin, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Sodium Citrate, Laureth-4, Caprylyl Glycol, Sodium Hydroxide, Disodium EDTA, Hexylene Glycol, 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.

Hydroxyethylcellulose is used to improve the texture of products. It is created from a chemical reaction involving ethylene oxide and alkali-cellulose. Cellulose is a sugar found in plant cell walls and help give plants structure.

This ingredient helps stabilize products by preventing ingredients from separating. It can also help thicken the texture of a product.

This ingredient can also be found in pill medicines to help our bodies digest other ingredients.

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.

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Formula cabinet

Ingredients & structured notes

Ingredient index

PCA Skin Silkcoat BalmIngredients 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. 11Unless you live under a rock you must have heard about shea butter. It's probably the most hyped up natural butter in skincare today. It comes from the seeds of African Shea or Karite Trees and used as a magic moisturizer and emollient.
  12. 12But it's not only a simple emollient, it regenerates and soothes the skin, protects it from external factors (such as UV rays or wind) and is also rich in antioxidants (among others vitamin A, E, F, quercetin and epigallocatechin gallate). If you ar…
  13. 13A super common emollient that makes your skin feel nice and smooth. It comes from coconut oil and glycerin, it’s light-textured, clear, odorless and non-greasy. It’s a nice ingredient that just feels good on the skin, is super well tolerated by ever…
  14. 14A so-called fatty (the good, non-drying kind of) alcohol that does all kinds of things in a skincare product: it makes your skin feel smooth and nice (emollient), helps to thicken up products and also helps water and oil to blend (emulsifier). Can b…
  15. 15A super common, waxy, white, solid stuff that helps water and oil to mix together, gives body to creams and leaves the skin feeling soft and smooth.
  16. 16Chemically speaking, it is the attachment of a glycerin molecule to the fatty acid called stearic acid. It can be produced from most vegetable oils (in oils three fatty acid molecules are attached to glycerin instead of just one like here) in a pret…
  17. 17It also occurs naturally in our body and is used as a food additive. As cosmetic chemist Colins writes it, "its safety really is beyond any doubt".
  18. 18Probably 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.
  19. 19As 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…
  20. 20As 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…
Source · incidecoder.com ⟶
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Product index

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Comparison edit

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