SkinCity Skincare Calm Moisturiser Versus Biossance Squalane + Probiotic Gel Moisturizer

SkinCity Skincare Calm Moisturiser Versus Biossance Squalane + Probiotic Gel Moisturizer

This calming moisturizer is formulated around Allantoin and Bisabolol to calm redness and strengthen the skin barrier.

This barrier-repair moisturizer is formulated around Squalane to strengthen the skin barrier and hydrate skin.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Dicaprylyl Carbonate

Glycerin

Dimethicone

Propanediol

Capryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer

Diheptyl Succinate

Sodium Acrylates Copolymer

Polysilicone-11

Phenoxyethanol

Butylene Glycol

Lecithin

Alpha-Glucan Oligosaccharide

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride

Menthyl Lactate

Allantoin

Bisabolol

Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate

Xanthan Gum

Nannochloropsis Oceanica Extract

Ethylhexylglycerin

Tocopheryl Acetate

Phospholipids

Biosaccharide Gum-1

Decyl Glucoside

Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil

Tasmannia Lanceolata Fruit/Leaf Extract

Avena Sativa Kernel Oil

Potassium Sorbate

Hexylene Glycol

Caprylyl Glycol

Sphingolipids

Bacillus Ferment

Sodium Citrate

Undaria Pinnatifida Extract

Tocopherol

Ascorbyl Palmitate

Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate

CI 42090

CI 19140

Sodium Sulfate

Sodium Chloride

Water, Dicaprylyl Carbonate, Glycerin, Dimethicone, Propanediol, Capryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer, Diheptyl Succinate, Sodium Acrylates Copolymer, Polysilicone-11, Phenoxyethanol, Butylene Glycol, Lecithin, Alpha-Glucan Oligosaccharide, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Menthyl Lactate, Allantoin, Bisabolol, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Xanthan Gum, Nannochloropsis Oceanica Extract, Ethylhexylglycerin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Phospholipids, Biosaccharide Gum-1, Decyl Glucoside, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Tasmannia Lanceolata Fruit/Leaf Extract, Avena Sativa Kernel Oil, Potassium Sorbate, Hexylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol, Sphingolipids, Bacillus Ferment, Sodium Citrate, Undaria Pinnatifida Extract, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate, CI 42090, CI 19140, Sodium Sulfate, Sodium Chloride

Squalane

Lepidium Sativum Sprout Extract

Isoeicosane

Sodium Phytate

Glycine Soja Sterols

Linoleic Acid

Hansenula/Kloeckera/Lactobacillus/Lactococcus/Leuconostoc/Pediococcus/Saccharomyces/Fig/Lemon Ferment

Chondrus Crispus Extract

Sorbitan Oleate

Cellulose Gum

Chitosan

1,2-Hexanediol

Sodium Hyaluronate

Citric Acid

Water, Glycerin, Squalane, Lepidium Sativum Sprout Extract, Sodium Acrylates Copolymer, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Phenoxyethanol, Capryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer, Lecithin, Caprylyl Glycol, Diheptyl Succinate, Isoeicosane, Allantoin, Bisabolol, Sodium Phytate, Glycine Soja Sterols, Linoleic Acid, Phospholipids, Hansenula/Kloeckera/Lactobacillus/Lactococcus/Leuconostoc/Pediococcus/Saccharomyces/Fig/Lemon Ferment, Chondrus Crispus Extract, Sorbitan Oleate, Cellulose Gum, Chitosan, 1,2-Hexanediol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Citric Acid, Potassium Sorbate

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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.

Allantoin is a soothing ingredient known for its protective and moisturizing properties; it's basically a quiet workhorse ingredient you can find in a huge range of cosmetics.

Though it can be derived from the comfrey plant, allantoin is produced synthetically for cosmetic products to ensure purity.

Research shows it can encourage your skin cells to turn over and renew by stimulating keratinocyte and fibroblast proliferation.

It also has mild keratolytic properties to help loosen and shed dead skin cells without being harsh.

Studies also suggest allantoin can help calm inflammation by dialing down some of the chemical signals your skin sends out when it is irritated.

This ingredient is typically used in the 0.1-0.5% range, and the FDA recognizes it as a skin protectant in OTC products up to 2%.

Overall, allantoin is a wonderful addition to most routines; it is stable across a wide pH range (~4-8), works well with other ingredients, and is considered non-sensitizing/non-irritating.

Fun fact: Allantoin is naturally occurring in comfrey root, beets, chamomile, and wheat sprouts. Our bodies even produce it as a byproduct of uric acid metabolism.

Bisabolol is a gentle skin conditioner, antioxidant, and soothing ingredient.

It's primary claim to fame is soothing and research shows topically applied bisabolol can quiet the chemical messengers that cause your skin to become inflamed, helping to sooth any irritation.

A clinical study found that applying 0.5% bisabolol daily for 8 weeks produced an average 9% decrease in skin pigmentation. Researchers found it can also suppress the process that leads to excess melanin production in skin.

In vitro studies found that bisabolol combined with propylene glycol significantly increased skin permeability by increasing lipid fluidity in the stratum corneum.

You'll likely see use concentrations quite low, usually 0.1-0.2%.

Overall, this is a well-tolerated ingredient that works well in formulas designed for sensitive, reactive, or post-procedure skin.

Caprylic/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.

Though 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.

In practice, that translates to a long shelf life and a consistently elegant skin feel.

While 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.

Fractionated 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.

This ingredient is treated as the gold standard fungal acne safe oil. Even though it is coconut derived, the problematic lauric acid is stripped out.

This 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 at concentrations as low as 0.2%.

We don't have a description for Capryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer yet.

Caprylyl Glycol is a humectant, skin conditioner, emollient, and preservative booster derived from either caprylic acid or synthetically created.

Typical use levels vary from 0.3-1% as a preservative booster and go up to 2% to condition skin.

Because it is not a free-fatty acid, this ingredient is fungal acne safe (there's nothing for Malassezia to feed on).

We don't have a description for Diheptyl Succinate yet.

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.

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.

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.

Phospholipids are a family of skin-identical lipids that makeup the structural backbone of every cell membrane in your body.

In cosmetics, they function as skin conditioning agents with emulsifier and surfactant properties. They're typically sourced from soybean or sunflower lecithin (or sometimes egg yolk or marine sources).

Because they mirror the lipids naturally found in the deeper layers of your skin, topical phospholipids help reinforce the lipid matrix, reduce transepidermal water loss, and leave skin feeling conditioned.

They're also used to form liposomes, or tiny self-assembling vesible used to stabilize actives like vitamin c or retinol. This helps these ingredients integrate into the upper layers of skin more easily.

Phospholipids are compatible with everything and the CIR Expert Panel has concluded them to be safe at current use levels.

Some types of phospholipids include:

Potassium Sorbate is a preservative used to prevent yeast and mold in products. It is commonly found in both cosmetic and food products.

This ingredient comes from potassium salt derived from sorbic acid. Sorbic acid is a natural antibiotic and effective against fungus.

Both potassium sorbate and sorbic acid can be found in baked goods, cheeses, dried meats, dried fruit, ice cream, pickles, wine, yogurt, and more.

You'll often find this ingredient used with other preservatives.

This ingredient is a synthetic, salt form polymer built from acrylic acid, ethacrylic acid, or their simple esters. It works as a binder, film former, and viscosity increasing agent.

Typical concentrations start at around 0.5% but can go up to 25% for film-forming or binding.

The CIR Expert Panel assessed the safety of 126 acrylates copolymers and concluded they are safe in cosmetics at current use levels when formulated to be non-irritating. They also noted the levels present in finished cosmetic products are not considered a safety risk and Genotoxicity testing (Ames tests, chromosomal aberration assays) has come back negative across the board.

Though the raw building blocks (like acrylic acid) can be irritating on their own, cosmetic-grade versions go through purification to keep levels extremely low.

Sodium Acrylates Copolymer is a large molecule that doesn't penetrate skin barrier in any meaningful way.

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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