Skin Inc French Pine Bark Serum Versus Biologique Recherche Sérum PIGM 400 Brightening and Dark Spot-Correcting Serum for the Face

Skin Inc French Pine Bark Serum Versus Biologique Recherche Sérum PIGM 400 Brightening and Dark Spot-Correcting Serum for the Face

This calming serum is formulated around Pinus Pinaster Bark Extract and Sh-Oligopeptide-1 to calm redness and soften the look of wrinkles.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Butylene Glycol

Glycerin

Pentylene Glycol

Pinus Pinaster Bark Extract

Sh-Oligopeptide-1

Glycine Soja Oil

Lecithin

Sodium Phosphate

Algin

Carbomer

Alcaligenes Polysaccharides

Potassium Hydroxide

Polysorbate 80

CI 77491

Iron Oxides

Phenoxyethanol

Water, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Pentylene Glycol, Pinus Pinaster Bark Extract, Sh-Oligopeptide-1, Glycine Soja Oil, Lecithin, Sodium Phosphate, Algin, Carbomer, Alcaligenes Polysaccharides, Potassium Hydroxide, Polysorbate 80, CI 77491, Iron Oxides, Phenoxyethanol

Coco-Caprylate

Lactobacillus/Wasabia Japonica Root Ferment Extract

Sodium Acrylates Copolymer

Soy Isoflavones

Hydrolyzed Prunus Domestica

Dictyopteris Membranacea Extract

Pancratium Maritimum Extract

Dimethylmethoxy Chromanyl Palmitate

Dimethylmethoxy Chromanol

Oligopeptide-68

Lepidium Sativum Sprout Extract

Hydrogenated Lecithin

Alcohol

Sodium Oleate

Disodium EDTA

Water, Coco-Caprylate, Butylene Glycol, Pentylene Glycol, Glycerin, Lactobacillus/Wasabia Japonica Root Ferment Extract, Sodium Acrylates Copolymer, Soy Isoflavones, Hydrolyzed Prunus Domestica, Dictyopteris Membranacea Extract, Pancratium Maritimum Extract, Dimethylmethoxy Chromanyl Palmitate, Dimethylmethoxy Chromanol, Oligopeptide-68, Lepidium Sativum Sprout Extract, Glycine Soja Oil, Lecithin, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Polysorbate 80, Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Oleate, Disodium EDTA

Alternatives

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

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

Butylene Glycol (or BG) is used within cosmetic products for a few different reasons:

Overall, Butylene Glycol is a safe and well-rounded ingredient that works well with other ingredients.

Though this ingredient works well with most skin types, some people with sensitive skin may experience a reaction such as allergic rashes, closed comedones, or itchiness.

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.

Glycine Soja Oil is a plant-derived oil from soybean seeds. Like other oils, it is rich in essential fatty acids (mostly linoleic and oleic) that support skin hydration and barrier function.

The fatty acids are able to integrate into the lipid matrix of the stratum corneum to help soften skin and reduce water loss.

On top of that, soybean oil is rich in vitamins like vitamin E, a potent antioxidant.

Research on soybean's active components also point to anti-inflammatory, collagen-stimulating, antioxidant activity, and protection against UV-induced oxidative damage.

Most of this research applies to the broader soybean plant and not just the oil fraction alone.

This ingredient may not be fungal acne safe due to the oleic acid content.

Lecithin is a term for a group of substances found in the cell membranes of plants, animals, and humans. They are made up of phospholipids.

Thanks to its amphiphilic structure (water-loving head and oil-loving tail), it is a true multitasker:

It plays well with most ingredients and is typically used at 0.1-1%. However, concentrations up to 50% have been reported in moisturizers.

Pentylene Glycol (1,2-pentanediol) is a multitasking little diol with three main roles in a formula:

Research on alkanediols (the family pentylene glycol belongs to) show they work by disrupting microbial cell membranes. This disruption helps the primary preservative system in a product work more effectively at lower doses.

On the safety side, the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel has concluded this ingredient to be safe as used in current cosmetic practices + concentrations.

Typical use levels in a formula run about 1-5%.

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.

Polysorbate 80 is a synthetic surfactant and emulsifier derived from sorbitol and oleic acid.

It reduces the surface tension between oil and water phases to help them stay mixed and stable in a formulation. In other words, it prevents your formulas from separating into an oily mess.

The CIR Expert Panel has evaluated the scientific data and found this ingredient to be safe, non-irritating, and non-sensitizing at concentrations up to 5% (it's even approved by the FDA as an OTC eye drop ingredient).

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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