Cetaphilbr Gentle Skin Cleanserbr Sensitive to the needs of dry skin, this fragrance- and soap-free facial cleanser won't dry your skin, won't dull your healthy glow.br Ingredients overviewbr Water, br Cetyl Alcohol, br Propylene Glycol,br Sodium Lauryl Sulfate,br Stearyl Alcohol,br Methylparaben,br Propylparaben, br Butylparabenbr Emollient: Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcoholbr Emulsifying: Cetyl Alcohol, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Stearyl Alcoholbr Moisturizerhumectant: Propylene Glycolbr Perfuming: Propylparabenbr Preservative: Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparabenbr Solvent: Water, Propylene Glycolbr Surfactantcleansing: Cetyl Alcohol, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Stearyl Alcoholbr Viscosity controlling: Cetyl Alcohol, Propylene Glycol, Stearyl Alcoholbr Waterbr Good old water, aka H2O. The most common skincare ingredient of all. You can usually find it right in the very first spot of the ingredient list, meaning it’s the biggest thing out of all the stuff that makes up the product. br br It’s mainly a solvent for ingredients that do not like to dissolve in oils but rather in water.br Cetyl Alcoholbr A so-called fatty (the good, non-drying kind of) alcohol that does all kinds of things in a skincare product: it makes your skin feel smooth and nice (emollient), helps to thicken up products and also helps water and oil to blend (emulsifier). Can be derived from coconut or palm kernel oil.br Propylene Glycolbr It's a helper ingredient that improves the freeze-thaw stability of productsbr It's also a solvent, humectant and to some extent a penetration enhancerbr It has a bad reputation among natural cosmetics advocates but cosmetic scientists and toxicology experts do not agree (read more in the geeky details section)br Sodium Lauryl Sulfatebr The famous or rather infamous SLS (not to be confused with SLES). It is a cleansing agent known for being too good at the job and potentially irritating the skin. But, on the positive side, it can produce copious, creamy and luxurious foam compared to the more gentle and thus nowadays much more commonly used Sodium Laureth Sulfate.br br In fact, SLS is so good at irritating the skin that it is very commonly used in dermatological studies just for that. It is a so-called "primary irritant", a substance that irritates the skin in one go (without prior sensitization) but doesn't do any other big harm (such as being carcinogenic or systematically toxic - those claims are not true). Also, the formula can greatly influence the irritating potential of SLS, and mixing it with other cleaning agents makes it milder. br Stearyl Alcoholbr A handy multi-tasker, white to light yellowish oil-loving wax that works very well in oil-in-water emulsions. It makes your skin feel nice and smooth (emollient), stabilizes oil-water mixes and gives body to them.br br Oh, and one more thing: it's a so-called fatty alcohol - the good, emollient type of alcohol that is non-drying and non-irritating.