Clinique Smart Clinical Repair Lifting Face + Neck Cream Versus Estée Lauder Resilience Multi-Effect Tri-Peptide Face And Neck Creme SPF 15

Clinique Smart Clinical Repair Lifting Face + Neck Cream Versus Estée Lauder Resilience Multi-Effect Tri-Peptide Face And Neck Creme SPF 15

This anti-aging moisturizer is formulated around Butyrospermum Parkii Butter and Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 to soften the look of wrinkles and hydrate skin.

This anti-aging day moisturizer is formulated around Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 to soften the look of wrinkles.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Butyrospermum Parkii Butter

Butylene Glycol

Caprylic/Capric/Myristic/Stearic Triglyceride

Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate

Glycerin

Coco-Caprylate/Caprate

Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil

Polyglyceryl-10 Pentastearate

Glyceryl Stearate

Behenyl Alcohol

Ricinus Communis Seed Oil

Mangifera Indica Seed Butter

Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Seed Extract

Caffeine

Dimethicone

Ethylhexylglycerin

Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer

Caprylyl Glycol

Cera Alba

Sodium Hyaluronate

Acetyl Hexapeptide-8

Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1

Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7

Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12

PEG-8

PEG-100 Stearate

Glyceryl Polymethacrylate

Acrylates/Va Copolymer

Copernicia Cerifera Cera

Potassium Cetyl Phosphate

Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer

Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate

Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer

Stearic Acid

Hexylene Glycol

Sodium Hydroxide

Carbomer

Polysorbate 60

Sorbitan Isostearate

Polysorbate 20

Tocopheryl Acetate

Tocopherol

Disodium EDTA

Phenoxyethanol

Chlorphenesin

Potassium Sorbate

Mica

CI 77891

Water, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Butylene Glycol, Caprylic/Capric/Myristic/Stearic Triglyceride, Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate, Glycerin, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil, Polyglyceryl-10 Pentastearate, Glyceryl Stearate, Behenyl Alcohol, Ricinus Communis Seed Oil, Mangifera Indica Seed Butter, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Seed Extract, Caffeine, Dimethicone, Ethylhexylglycerin, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Caprylyl Glycol, Cera Alba, Sodium Hyaluronate, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12, PEG-8, PEG-100 Stearate, Glyceryl Polymethacrylate, Acrylates/Va Copolymer, Copernicia Cerifera Cera, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Stearic Acid, Hexylene Glycol, Sodium Hydroxide, Carbomer, Polysorbate 60, Sorbitan Isostearate, Polysorbate 20, Tocopheryl Acetate, Tocopherol, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin, Potassium Sorbate, Mica, CI 77891

Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate

Ethylhexyl Salicylate

Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane

Octocrylene

Cetyl Alcohol

Butyloctyl Salicylate

Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate

Polyethylene

Di-C12-15 Alkyl Fumarate

Petrolatum

Hydrogenated Lecithin

Propanediol

Hydrogenated Polyisobutene

Octyldodecyl Myristate

Hexyldecyl Stearate

Cucumis Melo Fruit Extract

Polygonum Aviculare Extract

Myrtus Communis Leaf Extract

Laminaria Digitata Extract

Tetradecyl Aminobutyroylvalylaminobutyric Urea Trifluoroacetate

Lactoperoxidase

Glucose Oxidase

Cholesterol

Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate

Aminopropyl Ascorbyl Phosphate

Glucose

Algae Extract

Artemia Extract

Acetyl Glucosamine

Sigesbeckia Orientalis Extract

Persea Gratissima Oil

C12-16 Alcohols

Trehalose

Palmitic Acid

Glycine Soja Sterols

Isohexadecane

Polymethyl Methacrylate

Trifluoroacetyl Tripeptide-2

Zinc PCA

Polysilicone-11

Polysorbate 80

Faex Extract

Potato Starch Modified

Decarboxy Carnosine Hcl

Xanthan Gum

Parfum

Potassium Sulfate

Acrylamide/Sodium Acryloyldimethyltaurate Copolymer

Dextran

BHT

CI 14700

Water, Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate, Ethylhexyl Salicylate, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Octocrylene, Cetyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Butyloctyl Salicylate, Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate, Polyethylene, Di-C12-15 Alkyl Fumarate, Petrolatum, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Butylene Glycol, Propanediol, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Octyldodecyl Myristate, Hexyldecyl Stearate, Behenyl Alcohol, Cucumis Melo Fruit Extract, Polygonum Aviculare Extract, Myrtus Communis Leaf Extract, Laminaria Digitata Extract, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Tetradecyl Aminobutyroylvalylaminobutyric Urea Trifluoroacetate, Lactoperoxidase, Glucose Oxidase, Cholesterol, Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate, Aminopropyl Ascorbyl Phosphate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Glucose, Algae Extract, Artemia Extract, Acetyl Glucosamine, Sigesbeckia Orientalis Extract, Glyceryl Stearate, Persea Gratissima Oil, Dimethicone, C12-16 Alcohols, Trehalose, Ethylhexylglycerin, PEG-100 Stearate, Caffeine, Palmitic Acid, Glycine Soja Sterols, Caprylyl Glycol, Isohexadecane, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Trifluoroacetyl Tripeptide-2, Tocopheryl Acetate, Zinc PCA, Polysilicone-11, Polysorbate 80, Faex Extract, Potato Starch Modified, Decarboxy Carnosine Hcl, Xanthan Gum, Parfum, Sodium Hydroxide, Potassium Sulfate, Acrylamide/Sodium Acryloyldimethyltaurate Copolymer, Dextran, Hexylene Glycol, Disodium EDTA, BHT, Potassium Sorbate, Phenoxyethanol, CI 14700, Mica, CI 77891

Alternatives

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.

Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 (also known as Argireline) is a synthetic hexapeptide that is often called a "topical Botox alternative".

It works by mimicking how Botox relaxes muscles; it interferes with the signaling process that tells your facial muscles to contract. This can help soften expression lines like forehead wrinkles or crow's feet over time.

The comparison to Botox does have limits because the molecule is water-loving and relatively large.

Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 has a hard time absorbing deeply enough through the skin's outer barrier to actually reach the muscles.

So whether it truly works the way Botox does at a biological level is still up for debate, but early clinical outcomes are fairly encouraging.

A 12 week human study of a multi-ingredient regimen containing this ingredient saw:

While some studies have observed improvements in wrinkle appearance, it is important to note that more consistent results are seen in multi-ingredient formulations (vs just Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 alone).

Some research studies also used higher concentrations (up to 10%) while this ingredient is usually found in concentrations up to 0.005% in leave-on formulations.

Behenyl Alcohol is a type of fatty alcohol (these are different from the drying, solvent alcohols).

Fatty Alcohols have hydrating properties and are most often used as an emollient or to thicken a product. They are usually derived from natural fats and oils; behenyl alcohol is derived from the fats of vegetable oils.

Emollients help keep your skin soft and hydrated by creating a film that traps moisture in.

In 2000, Behenyl Alcohol was approved by the US as medicine to reduce the duration of cold sores.

Butylene Glycol (or BG) is used within cosmetic products for a few different reasons:

Overall, Butylene Glycol is a safe and well-rounded ingredient that works well with other ingredients.

Though this ingredient works well with most skin types, some people with sensitive skin may experience a reaction such as allergic rashes, closed comedones, or itchiness.

Caffeine is a naturally occurring plant compound found in coffee beans, tea leaves, cocoa pods, and guarana.

As an antioxidant, caffeine protects your skin from free radical damage caused by UV exposure and envionrmnetal stressors.

Early research also shows that caffeine can help calm redness, soothe irritated skin, and support hair growth by stimulating microcirculation in the scalp.

You might have seen eye creams marketing caffeine as a depuffing ingredient. This is because it is a vasoconstrictor meaning it can temporarily constrict blood vessels, though clinical evidence for this specific use is still limited.

Most skincare products contain this ingredient at concentrations between 1-6%. It is able to penetrate skin easily regardless of skin type or thickness.

Just so you know, a very small number of case reports describe caffeine-induced allergy. This ingredient is generally well-tolerated, non-irritating, and non-sensitizing for the majority of people.

Caprylyl Glycol is a humectant, skin conditioner, emollient, and preservative booster derived from either caprylic acid or synthetically created.

Typical use levels vary from 0.3-1% as a preservative booster and go up to 2% to condition skin.

Because it is not a free-fatty acid, this ingredient is fungal acne safe (there's nothing for Malassezia to feed on).

Ci 77891 is a white pigment from Titanium dioxide. It is naturally found in minerals such as rutile and ilmenite.

It's main function is to add a white color to cosmetics. It can also be mixed with other colors to create different shades.

Ci 77891 is commonly found in sunscreens due to its ability to block UV rays.

Dimethicone is a type of synthetic silicone created from natural materials such as quartz. It is also known as polydimethylsiloxane.

What it does:

Dimethicone comes in different viscosities:

Depending on the viscosity, dimethicone has different properties.

Ingredients lists don't always show which type is used, so we recommend reaching out to the brand if you have questions about the viscosity.

This ingredient is unlikely to cause irritation because it does not get absorbed into skin. However, people with silicone allergies should be careful about using this ingredient.

Note: Dimethicone may contribute to pilling. This is because it is not oil or water soluble, so pilling may occur when layered with products. When mixed with heavy oils in a formula, the outcome is also quite greasy.

Disodium EDTA is a chelating agent. It grabs onto and deactivates metal ions that sneak into your products from water, packaging, or air.

This ingredient mainly works behind the scenes and helps with:

On top of that, this ingredient can counteract the effects of hard water by binding to the minerals in it.

One thing worth knowing is that Disodium EDTA has been shown to be a mild penetration enhancer. It can help other ingredients absorb into skin more effectively which can be a double-edged sword (great for actives, but can also make the active too strong if you have sensitive skin).

Clinical patch testing showed no significant skin irritation at typical use concentrations and minimal dermal absorption.

You'll most likely see this ingredient near the end of an ingredient list. It's typically found in concentrations less than 1%.

Ethylhexylglycerin is created from glycerin. It is a multitasker ingredient that:

The CIR Expert Panel found minimal skin absorption or sensitization of any kind in a safety assessment. Though this ingredient is considered well-tolerated, a small number of cases of allergic dermatitis have been published since 2002. Just be sure to patch test if you are unsure.

Industry-reported use ranges from 8% in rinse-off products and 2% in leave-on formulations.

Glycerin (or glycerol) is a compound naturally found in your skin. It's a powerhouse humectant that pulls water into the stratum corneum.

Topically, glycerin does several things at once:

Your skin makes glycerin on its own (mostly from sebaceous oil breakdown) and shuttles it to your outermost layer of skin, or your epidermis, via aquaporin-3.

Aquaporin-3 is a transporter that is essential for normal skin hydration, elasticity, and repair. Interestingly, mice lacking in AQP3 have dry and less elastic skin that can be fully corrected with glycerin.

This ingredient is non-irritating, plays well with almost every ingredient, and works across all skin types. Typical use is anywhere between 3-10% but can go up to 79% in some leave-on products.

Just know very high concentrations (>40%) can feel tacky in low humidity.

Glycerin is the name for this ingredient in American English. British English uses Glycerol/Glycerine.

Glyceryl Stearate is made by reacting glycerin with stearic acid (typically sourced from plant oils like palm or coconut). It's an emulsifier, emollient, and mild occlusive.

Emulsifiers help ingredients like oil and water stay mixed so your formula stays nicely blended and uniform in texture.

This ingredient is typically used in concentrations between 1-10%. Studies have found it to be non-sensitizing, non-phototoxic, and non-photoallergenic.

A close cousin of this ingredient is Glyceryl Stearate SE ("self-emulsifying"). This just has a small amount of sodium or potassium stearate added so it can emulsify without a co-emulsifier.

Since this ingredient is an ester of a C18 fatty acid, it may not be fungal acne safe. The Malassezia yeast can potentially metabolize within the C11-C24 range.

Fun fact: The human body also creates Glyceryl Stearate naturally.

Hexylene Glycol is a multitasker ingredient that works as a solvent, humectant, emulsifier, viscosity reducer, and preservative booster.

It is able to dissolve both water and oil-soluble ingredients to stabilize tricky actives and make products spread more easily.

As a humectant, it pulls water into the skin. But it's a pretty minor moisturizing ingredient compared to other humectants, like glycerin.

Interestingly, it can act as a mild penetration enhancer. One in vitro study on human skin found a 12% concentration upped the absorption of mometasone furoate (a medicinal ingredient used to treat inflammatory skin conditions) up to 7%.

This ingredient is typically used at levels of 0.1-10% depending on the role it's playing.

A patch test study on eczema patients didn't find a significant increase in irritation versus the control group, but the potential for irritation rises at higher concentrations.

Mica is a naturally occurring mineral used to add shimmer and color in cosmetics. It can also help improve the texture of a product or give it an opaque, white/silver color.

Serecite is the name for very fine but ragged grains of mica.

This ingredient is often coated with metal oxides like titanium dioxide. Trace amounts of heavy metals may be found in mica, but these metals are not harmful in our personal products.

Mica has been used since prehistoric times throughout the world. Ancient Egyptian, Indian, Greek, Roman, Aztec, and Chinese civilizations have used mica.

Peg-100 Stearate is an emollient and emulsifier. As an emollient, it helps keep skin soft by trapping moisture in. On the other hand, emulsifiers help prevent oil and water from separating in a product.

PEGS are a hydrophilic polyether compound . There are 100 ethylene oxide monomers in Peg-100 Stearate. Peg-100 Stearate is polyethylene glycol ester of stearic acid.

Phenoxyethanol is one of the most widely used preservatives in skincare (and for good reason!).

It has a large spectrum of antimicrobial activity and especially effective bacteria, yeast, and mold while only having a weak effect on your skin's natural microbiome.

On a cellular level, it disrupts the cell membranes of microbes by poking holes that make the cell leak. This shuts down the chemical reactions the microbe needs to make energy so it can no longer survive.

Another perk of this ingredient is that it stays functional across a wide pH range (3-10).

You'll often see it paired with boosters like Ethylhexylglycerin; one study showed that a 1:9 ratio of Ethylhexylglycerin to Phenoxyethanol damages bacterial membranes as effectively as doubling the Phenoxyethanol concentration on its own.

Typical use concentrations range from 0.3-1% depending on the formula, and this ingredient is capped at 1% int the EU.

Safety-wise, the fear mongering does not hold up to the evidence. The EU's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety and FDA consider it safe as a preservative at up to 1%, including for children of all ages.

Adverse systemic effects only showed up in animal studies at exposures roughly 200x higher than what people get from cosmetics. And despite its very widespread use, this ingredient is a rare sensitizer and allergic reactions are uncommon.

Potassium Sorbate is a preservative used to prevent yeast and mold in products. It is commonly found in both cosmetic and food products.

This ingredient comes from potassium salt derived from sorbic acid. Sorbic acid is a natural antibiotic and effective against fungus.

Both potassium sorbate and sorbic acid can be found in baked goods, cheeses, dried meats, dried fruit, ice cream, pickles, wine, yogurt, and more.

You'll often find this ingredient used with other preservatives.

Sodium Hyaluronate is the salt form of hyaluronic acid. It is a long sugar chain that is naturally found in your skin, joints, and connective tissue that maintains hydration and elasticity.

In skincare, it works as a humectant. It pulls water from the environment and deeper layers of skin and binds it to the surface.

Interestingly, the size of the molecule affects its behavior:

Some clinical evidence links low molecular weight versions to improved wrinkle depth, elasticity, anti-inflammatory effects, and barrier repair.

Many serums use a blend of both weights so you can get surface hydration plus longer-lasting and deeper effects.

You'll typically see concentrations between 0.1-2% for this ingredient.

Sodium Hydroxide is also known as lye or caustic soda. It is used to adjust the pH of products; many ingredients require a specific pH to be effective.

In small amounts, sodium hydroxide is considered safe to use. However, large amounts may cause chemical burns due to its high alkaline.

Your skin has a natural pH and acid mantle. This acid mantle helps prevent harmful bacteria from breaking through. The acid mantle also helps keep your skin hydrated.

"Alkaline" refers to a high pH level. A low pH level would be considered acidic.

Tocopheryl Acetate is a stable, shelf-friendly form of vitamin E.

Formulators love it because plain vitamin E oxidizes quickly once it hits air. This acetate version stays stable and resists going off, helping to extend a product's shelf life.

It's actually inactive on its own and works like a slow-release "storage" form; the enzymes in your skin called esterases gradually convert it into active vitamin E over time.

One in vivo study showed 5% of the acetate in the living layer of the epidermis converted to vitamin E after 5 days of application. This study also found the skin gained protection against UV damage even though the conversion was slow and small.

Once converted, vitamin E acts as a skin's main fat-soluble antioxidant that fights free radicals to protect skin from damage.

Topical vitamin E generally boosts the skin's photoprotection, and it reduced UV-damage in animal models.

This ingredient has some brightening potential but it's more of a prevention ingredient than spot-fader. Cell studies show it can slow down melanin production but it's worth noting that it's not the most powerful brightener out there.

Overall, it has a pretty solid safety profile and has been found to be non-irritating and non-comedogenic. Allergic reactions may happen but stay rare due to how widely the ingredient gets used.

The concentration will vary depending on the formula; industry data shows 0.1% in baby lotions, 3% in lipsticks, and 5% in foot powders. You can also find this ingredient at 100% in a pure vitamin E oil.

Most leave-on skincare keeps it at the lower end, often between 0.5-1%.

Water. It's the most common cosmetic ingredient of all. You'll usually see it at the top of ingredient lists, meaning that it makes up the largest part of the product.

So why is it so popular? Water most often acts as a solvent - this means that it helps dissolve other ingredients into the formulation.

You'll also recognize water as that liquid we all need to stay alive. If you see this, drink a glass of water. Remember to stay hydrated!

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