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The INKEY List Hyaluronic Acid Cleanser Versus La Roche-Posay Toleriane Hydrating Gentle Cleanser

The INKEY List Hyaluronic Acid Cleanser Versus La Roche-Posay Toleriane Hydrating Gentle Cleanser This cream cleanser uses mild cleansing ingredients, but contains alcohol that may feel drying for some. What's inside Key Ingredients Benefits Concerns Ingredien

The INKEY List Hyaluronic Acid Cleanser Versus La Roche-Posay Toleriane Hydrating Gentle Cleanser

This cream cleanser uses mild cleansing ingredients, but contains alcohol that may feel drying for some.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Glycerin

Coco-Glucoside

Betaine

Cetearyl Alcohol

Stearic Acid

Phenoxyethanol

Benzyl Alcohol

Xanthan Gum

Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer

Inulin

Ethylhexylglycerin

Sodium Hydroxide

Dehydroacetic Acid

Polyquaternium-10

Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate

Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate

Sodium Hyaluronate

Lecithin

Water, Glycerin, Coco-Glucoside, Betaine, Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Alcohol, Xanthan Gum, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Inulin, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Hydroxide, Dehydroacetic Acid, Polyquaternium-10, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Hydrolyzed Sodium Hyaluronate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Lecithin

Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate

Propylene Glycol

Ammonium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate

Polysorbate 60

Ceramide NP

Niacinamide

Sodium Chloride

Coco-Betaine

Disodium EDTA

Caprylyl Glycol

Panthenol

T-Butyl Alcohol

Tocopherol

Water, Glycerin, Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate, Propylene Glycol, Ammonium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate, Polysorbate 60, Ceramide NP, Niacinamide, Sodium Chloride, Coco-Betaine, Disodium EDTA, Caprylyl Glycol, Panthenol, T-Butyl Alcohol, Tocopherol

Reviews

Alternatives

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

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

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.

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

Ingredients Explained

  1. 01These ingredients are found in both products.
  2. 02Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
  3. 03Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (aka MCT Oil) is a lightweight emollient, solvent, and texture enhancer. It is considered a skin-softener by helping to prevent moisture loss.
  4. 04Though it behaves like an oil, it is not technically one due to its chemical composition. One perk of this ingredient is that it is very stable, resistant to oxidation, and unlikely to go rancid.
  5. 05In practice, that translates to a long shelf life and a consistently elegant skin feel.
  6. 06While there is an assumption Caprylic Triglyceride can clog pores due to it being derived from coconut oil, there is no research supporting this. Just patch test if you have concerns.
  7. 07Fractionated coconut oil and MCT Oil are both listed as Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride according to INCI. This is because INCI names are based on the ingredient’s final chemical composition and not its marketing name or source.
  8. 08This ingredient is treated as the gold standard fungal acne safe oil. Even though it is coconut derived, the problematic lauric acid is stripped out.
  9. 09This leaves just caprylic (C8) and capric (C10) acid. These chain lengths actually trend antifungal; a 2020 study found caprylic acid was enough to disrupt Malassezia furfur cell membrane, with a caprylic acid derivative damaging membrane structures…
  10. 10Ceramide NP (formerly known as Ceramide 3) is one of the skin's naturally occurring lipids.
  11. 11Since ceramides are the major lipid components of the skin, they are crucial for maintaining skin barrier and hydration. Ceramide NP most closely mirrors the dominant kind in human skin amongst ceramide subtypes.
  12. 12This ceramide works by slotting into gaps within the stratum corneum's lipid matrix to limit trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL) and shield the skin against external irritants.
  13. 13A study with 312 patients found that using a ceramide-containing routine for 4 weeks reduced the severity of atopic dermatitis by over 61%.
  14. 14Another clinical study in subjects aged 60 and older found that a ceramide body wash and moisturizer improved skin dryness and itchy skin in 15 days.
  15. 15Overall, ceramides are considered non-irritating and safety tests have found little to no observable adverse effects from using this ingredient.
  16. 16Ceramide NP is usually sourced from plants (like soybean or rice bran), or produced synthetically.
  17. 17Cetearyl Olivate is a plant-derived emulsifier and texture enhancer. It helps keep the oil and water phases from separating so your formulas stay stable.
  18. 18You'll likely see it combined with Sorbitan Olivate (together sold as the trade name Olivem 1000). This combination generates a liquid crystal structure that closely resemble the lipid organization of the stratum corneum.
  19. 19These "skin-like" liquid crystals improve skin barrier integrity and promote the delivery of actives into the skin.
  20. 20This ingredient is well-tolerated and has no significant sensitization data.
Source · skinsort.com
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Product index

Related product references

Product

The Inkey List Niacinamide

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Source: incidecoder.comView reference →

Product

The Inkey List Kaolin Mask

The Inkey List Kaolin Mask The Inkey List Kaolin Mask ingredients explained: Aqua, Kaolin, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate, Carthamus Tinctorius Seed Oil, Stearic A…

Source: incidecoder.comView reference →
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Comparison edit

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