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The INKEY List Salicylic Acid Cleanser Versus Panoxyl Acne Creamy Wash Benzoyl Peroxide 4% Daily Control

The INKEY List Salicylic Acid Cleanser Versus Panoxyl Acne Creamy Wash Benzoyl Peroxide 4% Daily Control This salicylic acid gel cleanser is formulated around Salicylic Acid to clear breakouts and unclog pores. This benzoyl peroxide cream cleanser is formulate

The INKEY List Salicylic Acid Cleanser Versus Panoxyl Acne Creamy Wash Benzoyl Peroxide 4% Daily Control

This salicylic acid gel cleanser is formulated around Salicylic Acid to clear breakouts and unclog pores.

This benzoyl peroxide cream cleanser is formulated around Benzoyl Peroxide to clear breakouts and help reduce acne-causing bacteria.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Propanediol

Glycerin

Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate

Cocamidopropyl Betaine

PEG-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate

Salicylic Acid

PEG-150 Pentaerythrityl Tetrastearate

PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric Glycerides

Betaine

Zinc PCA

Phenoxyethanol

Sodium Chloride

Allantoin

Sodium Hydroxide

Coco-Glucoside

Glyceryl Oleate

Benzyl Alcohol

Coconut Acid

Ethylhexylglycerin

Sodium Benzoate

Citric Acid

Dehydroacetic Acid

Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate

Tocopherol

Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate

Water, Propanediol, Glycerin, Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, PEG-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate, Salicylic Acid, PEG-150 Pentaerythrityl Tetrastearate, PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric Glycerides, Betaine, Zinc PCA, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Chloride, Allantoin, Sodium Hydroxide, Coco-Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, Benzyl Alcohol, Coconut Acid, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Benzoate, Citric Acid, Dehydroacetic Acid, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Tocopherol, Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate

Benzoyl Peroxide 4%

Carbomer

Decyl Glucoside

Dimethicone

Diethylhexyl Sodium Sulfosuccinate

Palmitic Acid

Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6

PEG-40 Stearate

Silica

Sodium Citrate

Sodium Laurylglucosides Hydroxypropylsulfonate

Sorbitan Stearate

Sorbitol

Stearic Acid

T-Butyl Alcohol

Xanthan Gum

Benzoyl Peroxide 4%, Carbomer, Decyl Glucoside, Dimethicone, Diethylhexyl Sodium Sulfosuccinate, Glycerin, Palmitic Acid, Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6, PEG-40 Stearate, Propanediol, Water, Silica, Sodium Chloride, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Laurylglucosides Hydroxypropylsulfonate, Sorbitan Stearate, Sorbitol, Stearic Acid, T-Butyl Alcohol, Xanthan Gum

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.

Propanediol is an all-star ingredient. It softens, hydrates, and smooths the skin.

It’s often used to:

Propanediol is not likely to cause sensitivity and considered safe to use. It is derived from corn or petroleum with a clear color and no scent.

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.

Sodium Hydroxide is also known as lye or caustic soda. It is used to adjust the pH of products; many ingredients require a specific pH to be effective.

In small amounts, sodium hydroxide is considered safe to use. However, large amounts may cause chemical burns due to its high alkaline.

Your skin has a natural pH and acid mantle. This acid mantle helps prevent harmful bacteria from breaking through. The acid mantle also helps keep your skin hydrated.

"Alkaline" refers to a high pH level. A low pH level would be considered acidic.

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. 10Cetearyl alcohol is a waxy mixture of two fatty alcohols: cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol. It is an emollient and emulsifier.
  11. 11Despite having "alcohol" in its name, it has nothing to do with drying solvent alcohols; the FDA also allows "alcohol-free" products to contain fatty alcohols like this ingredient.
  12. 12It plays several roles in a formula:
  13. 13Typical use levels for this ingredient sit around 1-10% and the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel has affirmed safety at concentrations up to 25% in leave-on products.
  14. 14Multiple assessments have found it to be non-irritating and non-sensitizing to most people.
  15. 15However, there have been some cases of allergic contact dermatitis in patients with chronically compromised skin barriers.
  16. 16Cetearyl alcohol has a comedogenic rating of 2 and irritancy rating of 1. Both of these numbers come from the 1989 study that used rabbit ears; a "2" means mildly comedogenic and a "1" means low irritancy.
  17. 17Here's the catch: rabbit skin is more sensitive than human skin and throws a lot of false positives. A 1996 reappraisal found that ingredients rated 1-2 in the rabbit ear tests are generally safe for humans.
  18. 18Remember comedogenic ratings are unable to assess the entire formula of a product or how it will react on your skin. Just be sure to patch test if you are unsure about certain ingredients.
  19. 19This ingredient is not fungal acne safe. Cetearyl alcohol is a fatty alcohol with chain lengths that fall within the range that Malassezia can metabolize.
  20. 20A 2019 study has also observed Malassezia growth in the presence of this ingredient, confirming it to be not-fungal acne safe.
Source · skinsort.com
02

Product index

Related product references

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Comparison edit

Read side by side