Vitamins and Sea beauty Dead Sea Minerals & Vitamin C Complex Toning Skin Serum Versus Pacifica Sea & C Love Vitamin Serum

Vitamins and Sea beauty Dead Sea Minerals & Vitamin C Complex Toning Skin Serum Versus Pacifica Sea & C Love Vitamin Serum

This brightening serum is formulated around Retinyl Palmitate and Niacinamide to brighten dull-looking skin.

This brightening serum is formulated around 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid and Macrocystis Pyrifera Extract to brighten dull-looking skin and hydrate skin.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Propanediol

Glycereth-26

Polysorbate 20

Glycerin

Hydroxyethylcellulose

Aminomethyl Propanol

Parfum

Tocopheryl Acetate

Retinyl Palmitate

Niacinamide

Panthenol

Soil Minerals

Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil

Persea Gratissima Oil

Rosa Canina Fruit Oil

Phenoxyethanol

Dehydroacetic Acid

Benzyl Alcohol

Hc Yellow No. 15

Water, Propanediol, Glycereth-26, Polysorbate 20, Glycerin, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Aminomethyl Propanol, Parfum, Tocopheryl Acetate, Retinyl Palmitate, Niacinamide, Panthenol, Soil Minerals, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Persea Gratissima Oil, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Dehydroacetic Acid, Benzyl Alcohol, Hc Yellow No. 15

3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid

Macrocystis Pyrifera Extract

Gelidiella Acerosa Extract

Monostroma Nitidum Thallus Extract

Spirulina Maxima Extract

Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract

Saccharomyces/Xylinum/Black Tea Ferment

Sodium Hyaluronate

Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract

Melia Azadirachta Flower Extract

Amino Esters-1

Coccinia Indica Fruit Extract

Solanum Melongena Fruit Extract

Aloe Barbadensis Flower Extract

Lawsonia Inermis Flower/Fruit/Leaf Extract

Ocimum Sanctum Leaf Extract

Ocimum Basilicum Flower/Leaf Extract

Curcuma Longa Root Extract

Corallina Officinalis Extract

Brassica Campestris/Aleurites Fordi Oil Copolymer

Sodium Citrate

Ethylhexylglycerin

Water, Glycerin, 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid, Macrocystis Pyrifera Extract, Gelidiella Acerosa Extract, Monostroma Nitidum Thallus Extract, Spirulina Maxima Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Saccharomyces/Xylinum/Black Tea Ferment, Sodium Hyaluronate, Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract, Melia Azadirachta Flower Extract, Amino Esters-1, Coccinia Indica Fruit Extract, Solanum Melongena Fruit Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Flower Extract, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Lawsonia Inermis Flower/Fruit/Leaf Extract, Ocimum Sanctum Leaf Extract, Ocimum Basilicum Flower/Leaf Extract, Curcuma Longa Root Extract, Corallina Officinalis Extract, Brassica Campestris/Aleurites Fordi Oil Copolymer, Sodium Citrate, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Parfum

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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.

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.

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.

Parfum is a catch-all term for an ingredient or more that is used to give a scent to products.

Also called "fragrance", this ingredient can be a blend of hundreds of chemicals or plant oils. This means every product with "fragrance" or "parfum" in the ingredients list is a different mixture.

For instance, Habanolide is a proprietary trade name for a specific aroma chemical. When used as a fragrance ingredient in cosmetics, most aroma chemicals fall under the broad labeling category of “FRAGRANCE” or “PARFUM” according to EU and US regulations.

The term 'parfum' or 'fragrance' is not regulated in many countries. In many cases, it is up to the brand to define this term.

For instance, many brands choose to label themselves as "fragrance-free" because they are not using synthetic fragrances. However, their products may still contain ingredients such as essential oils that are considered a fragrance by INCI standards.

One example is Calendula flower extract. Calendula is an essential oil that still imparts a scent or 'fragrance'.

Depending on the blend, the ingredients in the mixture can cause allergies and sensitivities on the skin. Some ingredients that are known EU allergens include linalool and citronellol.

Parfum can also be used to mask or cover an unpleasant scent.

The bottom line is: not all fragrances/parfum/ingredients are created equally. If you are worried about fragrances, we recommend taking a closer look at an ingredient. And of course, we always recommend speaking with a professional.

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.

Jojoba oil is one of the most well-studied plant-derived ingredients in cosmetics. It is an emollient with a special structure.

Because it is made up of 97-98% wax esters, it closely mirrors the linear monoesters found in human sebum. This makes it skin compatible, non-greasy, and lightweight.

Unlike other plant oils, jojoba wax doesn't easily penetrate skin. It mostly works in the uppermost layers as an emollient. This just means it forms a light barrier on the skin to help retain moisture.

Formulations with jojoba esters up to 90% reduced transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and increased barrier recovery by 81% (outperforming bisabolol at 47%).

Besides barrier support, the science also suggests jojoba to have anti-inflammatory effects and potential applications for skin infections, aging, and wound healing.

Fun fact: Indigenous cultures have used jojoba as a moisturizer and to help treat burns for centuries.

Fungal acne: The Malassezia yeast is known to metabolize fatty acids in the C11-24 range and jojoba's dominant fatty acid components fall into this range. This ingredient may not be fungal acne safe.

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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