IMAGE skincare The Max Eye Crème Versus Paula's Choice Resist Anti-Aging Eye Gel

IMAGE skincare The Max Eye Crème Versus Paula's Choice Resist Anti-Aging Eye Gel

This anti-aging eye moisturizer is formulated around Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38 and Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 to soften the look of wrinkles.

This anti-aging eye moisturizer is formulated around Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38 and Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5 to soften the look of wrinkles and refine skin texture.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Glycerin

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride

Cyclopentasiloxane

Sucrose Palmitate

Dimethicone

Cetearyl Olivate

Hydrogenated Olive Oil

Sorbitan Olivate

Glyceryl Linoleate

Tocopheryl Acetate

Olea Europaea Fruit Oil

Phenoxyethanol

Isomalt

Citrus Grandis Peel Oil

Limonene

Albizia Julibrissin Bark Extract

Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract

Bisabolol

Brassica Campestris/Aleurites Fordi Oil Copolymer

Butyrospermum Parkii Butter

Pullulan

Olea Europaea Oil Unsaponifiables

Steareth-20

Allantoin

Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate

Malus Domestica Fruit Cell Culture Extract

Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate

Polyacrylamide

Carbomer

Sodium Benzoate

C13-14 Isoparaffin

Hesperidin Methyl Chalcone

Ethylhexylglycerin

Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Extract

Glycine Soja Sterols

Linoleic Acid

Nannochloropsis Oculata Extract

Phospholipids

Potassium Sorbate

Citric Acid

Sodium Hyaluronate

Xanthan Gum

Farnesol

Leontopodium Alpinum Meristem Cell Culture

Sodium Hydroxide

Laureth-7

Sodium Citrate

Chlorhexidine Digluconate

Lecithin

Echinacea Angustifolia Extract

N-Hydroxysuccinimide

Dipeptide Diaminobutyroyl Benzylamide Diacetate

Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin

Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38

Vitis Vinifera Fruit Cell Extract

Caprylyl Glycol

Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract

Dipeptide-2

Argania Spinosa Callus Culture Extract

Citral

Darutoside

Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7

Acetyl Hexapeptide-8

Tocopherol

Chrysin

Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1

Acetyl Octapeptide-3

Biotin

Water, Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cyclopentasiloxane, Sucrose Palmitate, Dimethicone, Cetearyl Olivate, Hydrogenated Olive Oil, Sorbitan Olivate, Glyceryl Linoleate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Olea Europaea Fruit Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Isomalt, Citrus Grandis Peel Oil, Limonene, Albizia Julibrissin Bark Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Bisabolol, Brassica Campestris/Aleurites Fordi Oil Copolymer, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Pullulan, Olea Europaea Oil Unsaponifiables, Steareth-20, Allantoin, Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate, Malus Domestica Fruit Cell Culture Extract, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Polyacrylamide, Carbomer, Sodium Benzoate, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Hesperidin Methyl Chalcone, Ethylhexylglycerin, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Extract, Glycine Soja Sterols, Linoleic Acid, Nannochloropsis Oculata Extract, Phospholipids, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid, Sodium Hyaluronate, Xanthan Gum, Farnesol, Leontopodium Alpinum Meristem Cell Culture, Sodium Hydroxide, Laureth-7, Sodium Citrate, Chlorhexidine Digluconate, Lecithin, Echinacea Angustifolia Extract, N-Hydroxysuccinimide, Dipeptide Diaminobutyroyl Benzylamide Diacetate, Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38, Vitis Vinifera Fruit Cell Extract, Caprylyl Glycol, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Dipeptide-2, Argania Spinosa Callus Culture Extract, Citral, Darutoside, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, Tocopherol, Chrysin, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Acetyl Octapeptide-3, Biotin

Butylene Glycol

Pentylene Glycol

Tapioca Starch

Methyl Gluceth-20 Benzoate

Cyclohexasiloxane

Polysilicone-11

Caprooyl Tetrapeptide-3

Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5

Niacinamide

Hyaluronic Acid

Vitis Vinifera Seed Extract

Panthenol

Salix Alba Extract

Adenosine

Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract

Pisum Sativum Extract

Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6

Dunaliella Salina Extract

Dextran

Polysorbate 20

Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/Vp Copolymer

Disodium EDTA

Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Butylene Glycol, Pentylene Glycol, Tapioca Starch, Methyl Gluceth-20 Benzoate, Glycerin, Dimethicone, Cyclohexasiloxane, Polysilicone-11, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38, Caprooyl Tetrapeptide-3, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5, Niacinamide, Phospholipids, Hyaluronic Acid, Sodium Hyaluronate, Vitis Vinifera Seed Extract, Panthenol, Salix Alba Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Adenosine, Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract, Pisum Sativum Extract, Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6, Dunaliella Salina Extract, Hydroxypropyl Cyclodextrin, Dextran, Polysorbate 20, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/Vp Copolymer, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol

Alternatives

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

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

Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract (tea extract) is one of the most well-researched plant extracts in skincare with an impressive resume.

Black tea, green tea, and oolong tea are all harvested from the Camellia Sinensis plant.

Studies show green tea extract and its catechins (like epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)) help your skin cells product energy more efficiently and reducing the number of free-radicals that can damage your skin from the inside.

In lab-grown skin models, this translated to younger, healthier, and stronger skin.

There's also good sun protection data; researchers saw less DNA damage and redness on human skin when green tea was applied before UVB exposure. And the more they applied, the better the protection.

Needless to say, this ingredient shouldn't replace your sunscreen. But it is a great supportive ingredient that you can already find in many sunscreens and antioxidant serums.

A 2009 study found a 2% green tea lotion was effective for mild-to-moderate acne thanks to its anti-inflammatory and mild antimicrobial activity.

The quality of the extract matters a lot here:

Good extracts contain 50-90% catechins while lower quality ones are mostly there for marketing. We recommend reaching out to the brand if you have questions about the quality or source of their ingredients.

Human Repeated Insult Patch Testing showed no irritation or sensitization at use concentrations (0.86% in leave-on products and up to 30% as leaf water).

Cyclopentasiloxane (D5) is a lightweight silicone that mostly acts as an emollient and solvent in cosmetics. Its the reason your products feel silky, fast-spreading, and non-greasy.

Since D5 is volatile, it does its thing and then evaporates off the skin quickly.

The safety profile of this ingredient is reassuring; the US CIR Expert Panel concluded D5 is safe as used in cosmetics and Health Canada concluded that D5 is not harmful to human health or the environment as currently used in cosmetics

There's a study that people mention about D5 in a rat study showing tumors. This study is related to long-term inhalation of high D5 levels.

Regulatory bodies have judged this study to be not applicable in topical skincare since skin absorption of D5 is very low and we're not really inhaling huge amounts of D5.

The only restriction for this ingredient is environmental. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) restricted D5 in wash-off cosmetics at or above 0.1% due to their persistence in water.

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.

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.

This ingredient is used in skincare as a delivery system.

It works by "encapsulating" active ingredients with its unique ring shape that is water-loving on the outside and oil-loving on the inside. This improves the stability and absorption of the product into the skin.

According to a manufacturer, it also offer some moisturizing effects.

This synthetic, signal peptide has unique skin conditioning properties in that is a matrikine-mimetic compound.

First of all, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-38 is a signal peptide; signal peptides tell the body to create more collagen.

What is a matrikine-mimetic compound?

This peptide has the ability to mimic matrikines in skin. Our skin created matrikines by breaking down matrix proteins into peptides.

Matrikines play a role in:

Though further research is needed, this ingredient seems pretty promising. In one study, women over the age of 40 with visible photoaging used a vitamin C serum with this ingredient for 56 days (15% ascorbid acid, 5 ppm palmitoyl tripeptide‐38). The results found improvement in skin roughness and skin tone.

This peptide is also part of the famous Matrixyl synthe’6, a blend of ingredients that also includes glycerin, water, and hydroxypropyl cyclodextrin.

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.

Phospholipids are a family of skin-identical lipids that makeup the structural backbone of every cell membrane in your body.

In cosmetics, they function as skin conditioning agents with emulsifier and surfactant properties. They're typically sourced from soybean or sunflower lecithin (or sometimes egg yolk or marine sources).

Because they mirror the lipids naturally found in the deeper layers of your skin, topical phospholipids help reinforce the lipid matrix, reduce transepidermal water loss, and leave skin feeling conditioned.

They're also used to form liposomes, or tiny self-assembling vesible used to stabilize actives like vitamin c or retinol. This helps these ingredients integrate into the upper layers of skin more easily.

Phospholipids are compatible with everything and the CIR Expert Panel has concluded them to be safe at current use levels.

Some types of phospholipids include:

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.

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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