This serum does contain a slight amount of alcohol but it doesn't sting. It also has a small amount of  emolients and some astringent plant extracts, not exactly the same ones as in the gel cream--there is some overlap but there are also significant differences. It is not drying and it has no added fragrance. Not sticky or drying and best for oily-to-normal breakout-prones. 

ingredients from us.isoi website:

Water, Glycerin, Alcohol*, Betaine, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetyl Ethylhexanoate, Trehalose, Xanthan Gum, Salix Nigra (Willow) Bark Extract, Hedera Helix (Ivy) Extract, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Rosa Damascena Flower Oil, Houttuynia Cordata Extract, Castanea Crenata (Chestnut) Shell Extract, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract, Centella Asiatica Extract, Lactobacillus/Soybean Ferment Extract, Cinnamomum Cassia Bark Extract, Origanum Vulgare Leaf Extract, Chamaecyparis Obtusa Leaf Extract, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Malpighia Emarginata (Acerola) Fruit Extract, Corchorus Olitorius Leaf Extract, Brassica Oleracea Italica (Broccoli) Extract, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Extract, Arachidyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Behenyl Alcohol, Arachidyl Glucoside, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Arginine, Allantoin, Carbomer, Euterpe Oleracea Fruit Extract, Vaccinium Angustifolium (Blueberry) Fruit Extract, Phyllanthus Emblica Fruit Extract, Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Fruit Extract, Scutellaria Baicalensis Root Extract, Paeonia Suffruticosa Root Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract