Every ingredient, and why it's there.
Two products, two short lists. This page explains all of it in plain English.
If you have reactive skin you already read ingredient lists, and you already know that most brand ingredient pages are a list of names with an adjective attached to each one. This page tries to be more useful than that. Each entry says what the ingredient actually is, and what job it is doing in the formula. Where the honest answer is "it holds water", that is what it says.
Neither formula is long. That was the point.
In the 2PY Serum
- PHA
- Polyhydroxy acid. An exfoliating acid from the same broad family as glycolic and lactic acid, and the one commonly chosen when a formula is aimed at skin that has not done well with the others. In this serum it does the main work of loosening dead cells at the surface.
- Papain
- An enzyme from papaya. It works on a different principle from an acid, breaking down the proteins that hold dull surface cells in place. Combining an enzyme with an acid means neither has to be present at a high level to get the same result.
- Yuzu
- Extract from the East Asian citrus. It supports the exfoliating side of the formula and it is the source of the faint natural scent in the bottle. Nothing has been added on top of it.
- Centella asiatica, madecassoside, asiaticoside
- The cica group, present in three forms rather than one. Centella asiatica is the plant. Madecassoside and asiaticoside are two of the specific compounds within it. These are the calming ingredients in the serum, and they are the reason an exfoliating product can sit in a twice-daily routine.
- Peptides (five)
- Copper tripeptide-1, acetyl hexapeptide-8, palmitoyl pentapeptide-4, palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7 and palmitoyl tripeptide-1. Peptides are short chains of amino acids, and they are conditioning ingredients: they are here for the feel and condition of the skin surface, not to do anything dramatic.
- Panthenol
- Pro-vitamin B5. A hydrating ingredient, and one of the most common ones in formulas built for easily irritated skin.
- Aloe
- Aloe vera. A long-standing soothing and hydrating ingredient, which is exactly why it turns up in almost every calming formula ever made.
In the Hydrasnow Cream
Also in the formula, in smaller supporting amounts: ectoin and licorice root, among others. It is a well-regarded hydrating ingredient and it is a costly one, which is why you will not see us build a product name around it. It is a supporting player in this cream, and we would rather say that than imply otherwise.
- Panthenol
- Pro-vitamin B5 again, and one of the two ingredients this cream is built around. It sits near the front of the list rather than at the end.
- Tremella mushroom (snow mushroom)
- A mushroom used in Korean preparations for a very long time, and known in the US market as snow mushroom. In skincare it works as a humectant, meaning its job is drawing and holding water.
- Rice bran water
- The water phase of this cream is rice bran water rather than plain water. It carries its own small load of skin-conditioning components, which is a quiet way of getting more out of the single largest ingredient in any moisturizer.
- Allantoin
- A soothing and skin-conditioning ingredient. Standard, unglamorous and reliable, which is the whole reason it is here.
- Aloe
- Same role as in the serum. Soothing and hydrating.
Not in either product
- Added fragrance
- Parabens
- Silicones
- Mineral oils
- Dyes
- PEG
Both products are vegan, and neither is tested on animals.
A note on reading any ingredient list
Order matters more than presence. An ingredient listed second is doing more work than the same ingredient listed twenty-eighth, and a brand can put a fashionable name on the front of a box while including barely any of it. That is why this page tells you which ingredients each formula is built around and which ones are supporting, rather than presenting all of them as equally important. The complete list in formulation order is on the packaging of each product.
