Glycolic Exfoliating Toner safety rating

Glycolic Exfoliating Toner safety rating | Greenlens

Raters split

Ingredient safety

A 30-point gap between the two loudest voices.

70Health Canada Ingredient HotlistGovernment

100Greenlens Precautionary ScreenIndependent

050100

See why, ingredient by ingredient

All 916 cleaner options, safest first We show the best 12, including the strongest on each axis.

Every rater, every axis

Ingredient safety

30 pts apart

Independent — not funded by the brands it rates. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →
A government authority. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →
A government authority. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →
Independent — not funded by the brands it rates. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →
A government authority. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →
Independent — not funded by the brands it rates. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. Checked this week. about this rater →

Also screened, nothing found: California Proposition 65 · ANSES Endocrine Disruptors · ECHA SVHC Candidate List · US NTP Report on Carcinogens

Environmental

Also screened, nothing found: EU Microplastics Restriction

Labor

Run by a nonprofit. Auto-linked to this product, not yet human-reviewed. This rates Good Molecules as a company and applies to everything they make, not this product alone. Checked this week. about this rater →

Coverage & match quality

7 ratings · 2 of 4 axes

Some ratings rest on an automatic match that has not been human-reviewed.
Fewer raters reach smaller-brand products, so a missing rating is not a clean bill of health, only a gap.

Weighted by what you care about

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composite recomputes live

Ingredient safety1.0×

Environmentalno rating

No rater covers this axis for this product, so its weight can't move the score.

Labor1.0×

Packagingno rating

No rater covers this axis for this product, so its weight can't move the score.

0 means ignored. Higher = more weight in your composite.

Ingredients, decoded

Data availability

Robust20 of 22 characterized

Our sources have reference data on 20 of 22 listed ingredients; 2 are uncharacterized in our data — a gap, not a clean bill.

Worth a look (3)

Salicylic Acidexfoliating acid

Where this came from

Cruelty-free status recorded from leapingbunny.org ↗

Researched facts on Greenlens always carry the page that stated them — nothing is inferred from a model's memory.

What these ingredient tags mean (3)

These describe what an ingredient is, not whether it is a problem. The stance marks above are the ratings; these are not.

exfoliating acidGlycolic Acid, Salicylic Acid
- Glycolic Acid: An alpha hydroxy acid that loosens surface skin cells; it also makes skin more sun-sensitive while you use it. FDA, "Guidance for Industry: Labeling for Topically Applied Cosmetic Products Containing Alpha Hydroxy Acids as Ingredients" (announced at 70 FR 1721, 10 January 2005; FDA web pages title it "Labeling for Cosmetics Containing Alpha Hydroxy Acids"), which names this acid and recommends the statement "Sunburn Alert: This product contains an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) that may increase your skin's sensitivity to the sun and particularly the possibility of sunburn."
- Salicylic Acid: A beta hydroxy acid that clears the inside of pores; the EU restricts its level and keeps it off children under three. SCCS Opinion on Salicylic Acid, Submission I (SCCS/1601/18, corrigendum of 20 to 21 June 2019); EU Regulation (EC) 1223/2009 Annex III entry 98, as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/850, which for purposes other than preservation caps it at 3,0% in rinse-off hair products, 2,0% in other products, and 0,5% in body lotion, eye shadow, mascara, eyeliner, lipstick and roll-on deodorant, and states "Not to be used in preparations for children under 3 years of age." Its separate PRESERVATIVE use sits at Annex V entry 3, capped at 0,5% (acid), where the salts carry the carve-out "except for shampoos".
humectantGlycerin, Sodium Hyaluronate
- Glycerin: A humectant, and one of the two ingredients a comparison of moisturiser components found made a significant difference to skin hydration. FDA OTC skin protectant monograph, 21 CFR 347.10(h), lists glycerin as a skin protectant at 20 to 45%. On the humectant half: Jeong CB, Han JY, Cho JC, Suh KD, Nam GW, "Analysis of electrical property changes of skin by oil-in-water emulsion components", Int J Cosmet Sci 2013;35(4):402-410, DOI 10.1111/ics.12059, PMID 23621673, found that "glycerine and urea showed significant skin hydration effects compared with other humectants".
- Sodium Hyaluronate: A humectant that holds a large amount of water at the skin surface. Chylińska N, Maciejczyk M, "Hyaluronic Acid and Skin: Its Role in Aging and Wound-Healing Processes", Gels 2025;11(4):281, DOI 10.3390/gels11040281, PMID 40277717, open access: hyaluronic acid's "high osmotic activity and anionic structure enable it to bind large amounts of water", and "sodium and potassium hyaluronate are widely used in moisturizing products". The same review notes that high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid does not penetrate the deeper layers.
soothingNiacinamide
- Niacinamide: A vitamin B3 form that supports the skin barrier and has anti-inflammatory activity; it turns up in products aimed at acne, rosacea and eczema. Camillo L, Zavattaro E, Savoia P, "Nicotinamide: A Multifaceted Molecule in Skin Health and Beyond", Medicina (Kaunas) 2025;61(2):254, DOI 10.3390/medicina61020254, PMID 40005371, open access: it "is extensively used in ... the treatment of dermatological conditions such as blistering diseases, atopic dermatitis, rosacea, and acne vulgaris", and contributes to reducing inflammation. On the acne evidence specifically: Liu H, Yu H, Xia J, Liu L, Liu GJ, Sang H, Peinemann F, "Topical azelaic acid, salicylic acid, nicotinamide, sulphur, zinc and fruit acid (alpha-hydroxy acid) for acne", Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2020;5:CD011368, DOI 10.1002/14651858.CD011368.pub2, PMID 32356369, records "low-quality evidence" for every nicotinamide comparison it could pool, and none of its four nicotinamide studies measured the physician global assessment at all.