I bought the normal strength version of the Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta® Universal Daily Peel to see how it compares with the extra strength version. I had previously used the extra strength version and loved it to bits! Hence I thought that I should do a comparison post for you guys in case you were pondering which strength you should get. In any case, I could only evaluate the products based on my own skin condition so please keep this in mind while you read my post.
Let’s jump into the ingredients list, shall we?
Ingredients
Step 1 Comparison
Ingredients (Normal Strength) |
Ingredients (Extra Strength) |
Water |
Water |
Alcohol Denat |
Alcohol Denat |
Glycolic Acid |
Glycolic Acid |
Potassium Hydroxide |
Potassium Hydroxide |
Hamamelis Virginiana Water |
Hamamelis Virginiana Water |
Salicylic Acid |
Salicylic Acid |
Polysorbate 20 |
Polysorbate 20 |
Citric Acid |
Lactic Acid |
Lactic Acid |
Mandelic acid |
Malic Acid |
Malic Acid |
Citric Acid |
|
Salix Alba Bark Extract |
|
Menthone Glycerin Acetal |
|
Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract |
Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract |
Achillea Millefolium Extract |
Achillea Millefolium Extract |
Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract |
Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract |
soy isoflavones |
soy isoflavones |
Copper PCA |
Copper PCA |
Zinc PCA |
Zinc PCA |
Lecithin |
Lecithin |
Disodium EDTA |
Disodium EDTA |
Alcohol |
Alcohol |
Polysorbate 80 |
Polysorbate 80 |
Fragrance |
Fragrance |
Linalool |
Linalool |
Benzyl salicylate |
Benzyl salicylate |
Benzoic Acid |
Benzoic Acid |
Phenoxyethanol |
Phenoxyethanol |
Sodium Benzoate |
Sodium Benzoate |
Step 2 Comparison
Ingredient (Normal Strength) |
Ingredient (Extra Strength) |
Water |
Water |
Sodium bicarbonate |
Sodium bicarbonate |
Ascorbic Acid |
Resveratrol |
Ascorbyl Palmitate |
Retinol |
Retinyl Palmitate |
Ascorbic Acid |
Retinol |
Ubiquinone |
Tocopheryl Acetate |
Ascorbyl Palmitate |
Resveratrol |
Phospholipids |
Ubiquinone |
Retinyl Palmitate |
Achillea Millefolium Extract |
Tocopheryl Acetate |
Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract |
soy isoflavones |
Leuconostoc/ Radish Root Ferment Filtrate |
Achillea Millefolium Extract |
soy isoflavones |
Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract |
Phospholipids |
Leuconostoc/ |
Copper PCA |
Copper PCA |
Sodium PCA |
Sodium PCA |
Zinc PCA |
Zinc PCA |
Dimethicone |
Dimethicone |
Lecithin |
Lecithin |
Polysorbate 20 |
Polysorbate 20 |
Polysorbate 80 |
Polysorbate 80 |
PEG-30 STEARATE |
Alcohol |
Octoxynol-9 |
BHT |
Alcohol |
PEG-30 STEARATE |
BHT |
Octoxynol-9 |
Tetrasodium EDTA |
Tetrasodium EDTA |
Sorbic Acid |
Sorbic Acid |
Sodium Benzoate |
Sodium Benzoate |
Phenoxyethanol |
Phenoxyethanol |
I’ve highlighted in red the ingredients that are in different order or just simply different ingredients. As you can see from the above tables, the extra strength version of the Alpha Beta Peel has 7 acids in total while the normal strength version has 5 acids. Also, the order of the acids are different.
Nonetheless, I’m sure that you can tell from the comparison tables above that most of their main ingredients are basically the same and are also in the same order.
How does the Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta® Universal Daily Peel fare?
In all honesty, I think that the effects of this normal strength peel did not differ too much from their extra strength version. All my thoughts on the extra strength version of this peel also applies to the normal strength version (Read my full review of the extra strength version of the alpha beta peel here). I love this normal strength version as much as its extra strength version. Therefore, the only noticeable difference for me personally is that the extra strength version of the alpha-beta peel has a much more pronounced smell of alcohol. Again I’m not surprised at this, given that alcohol ranks higher in its ingredients list.
So if you were pondering on which version to get, I would say both versions are basically the same with the extra strength version containing 2 extra acids. If you have normal combination skins, you could just purchase the normal strength version. If you have combination oily skins, you might appreciate the slightly more exfoliating effects of the extra strength version better. Either way, both versions had worked very well for me and I would gladly recommend this product to anybody looking for maximum anti-ageing benefits.
Where can you find it?
I bought this product from Cult Beauty Online. It retails at £73.50 (30 treatments).
Thank you for reading!