(Malin+Goetz) Revitalizing Eye Cream Versus I Dew Care Glow-key Brightening Vitamin C Eye Cream

(Malin+Goetz) Revitalizing Eye Cream Versus I Dew Care Glow-key Brightening Vitamin C Eye Cream

This anti-aging eye moisturizer is formulated around Squalane and Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate to soften the look of wrinkles and hydrate skin.

This brightening eye moisturizer is formulated around Niacinamide and Ascorbic Acid to brighten dull-looking skin and soften the look of wrinkles.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

PPG-3 Benzyl Ether Myristate

Squalane

Coco-Caprylate/Caprate

Glycerin

Cetearyl Alcohol

Pentylene Glycol

Dimethicone

Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil

Vitis Vinifera Seed Oil

Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Glycerides

Octyldodecanol

Glyceryl Behenate

Glyceryl Stearate

PEG-100 Stearate

Xylitylglucoside

Betaine

Butyrospermum Parkii Butter

Polysorbate 60

Trehalose

Anhydroxylitol

Phenoxyethanol

Sorbitol

Panthenol

Xylitol

Caprylyl Glycol

Echium Plantagineum Seed Oil

Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides

Carbomer

Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid

Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate

Xanthan Gum

Steareth-20

Asparagopsis Armata Extract

Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil Unsaponifiables

Disodium EDTA

Dunaliella Salina Extract

Glucose

Ascophyllum Nodosum Extract

Sodium Hydroxide

Cardiospermum Halicacabum Flower/Leaf/Vine Extract

Citric Acid

Ethylhexylglycerin

Palmitoyl Dipeptide-5 Diaminobutyroyl Hydroxythreonine

Palmitoyl Dipeptide-5 Diaminohydroxybutyrate

Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5

Sodium Benzoate

Sodium Hyaluronate

N-Hydroxysuccinimide

Pantolactone

Potassium Sorbate

Chrysin

Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1

Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7

Water, PPG-3 Benzyl Ether Myristate, Squalane, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Pentylene Glycol, Dimethicone, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, Vitis Vinifera Seed Oil, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Glycerides, Octyldodecanol, Glyceryl Behenate, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Xylitylglucoside, Betaine, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Polysorbate 60, Trehalose, Anhydroxylitol, Phenoxyethanol, Sorbitol, Panthenol, Xylitol, Caprylyl Glycol, Echium Plantagineum Seed Oil, Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides, Carbomer, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Xanthan Gum, Steareth-20, Asparagopsis Armata Extract, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil Unsaponifiables, Disodium EDTA, Dunaliella Salina Extract, Glucose, Ascophyllum Nodosum Extract, Sodium Hydroxide, Cardiospermum Halicacabum Flower/Leaf/Vine Extract, Citric Acid, Ethylhexylglycerin, Palmitoyl Dipeptide-5 Diaminobutyroyl Hydroxythreonine, Palmitoyl Dipeptide-5 Diaminohydroxybutyrate, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Hyaluronate, N-Hydroxysuccinimide, Pantolactone, Potassium Sorbate, Chrysin, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7

Diisostearyl Malate

Hydrogenated Poly(C6-14 Olefin)

1,2-Hexanediol

Ethylhexyl Palmitate

Limnanthes Alba Seed Oil

Niacinamide

Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate

Polymethylsilsesquioxane

Myristyl Myristate

PEG-150 Distearate

Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate

CI 77891

Hydrogenated Olive Oil Lauryl Esters

Euphrasia Officinalis Extract

Ascorbic Acid

Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract

Luffa Cylindrica Fruit Extract

Psidium Guajava Fruit Extract

Psidium Guajava Leaf Extract

Tocopherol

Cyanocobalamin

Coffea Arabica Seed Extract

Hydrogenated Lecithin

Mica

Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer

Copernicia Cerifera Wax

Theobroma Grandiflorum Seed Butter

Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride

Behenic Acid

Silica

Synthetic Fluorphlogopite

Stearic Acid

Behenyl Alcohol

Stearyl Alcohol

Hydrogenated Olive Oil Unsaponifiables

Parfum

Adenosine

Polyglyceryl-10 Stearate

Myristic Acid

Melia Azadirachta Flower Extract

Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract

Curcuma Longa Root Extract

Ocimum Sanctum Leaf Extract

Butylene Glycol

Corallina Officinalis Extract

Allium Sativum Bulb Extract

Water, Glycerin, Diisostearyl Malate, Hydrogenated Poly(C6-14 Olefin), 1,2-Hexanediol, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Limnanthes Alba Seed Oil, Niacinamide, Pentaerythrityl Tetraethylhexanoate, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Myristyl Myristate, PEG-150 Distearate, Polyglyceryl-3 Methylglucose Distearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, CI 77891, Hydrogenated Olive Oil Lauryl Esters, Pentylene Glycol, Squalane, Euphrasia Officinalis Extract, Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Luffa Cylindrica Fruit Extract, Psidium Guajava Fruit Extract, Psidium Guajava Leaf Extract, Tocopherol, Cyanocobalamin, Coffea Arabica Seed Extract, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Glyceryl Stearate, Mica, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Copernicia Cerifera Wax, Theobroma Grandiflorum Seed Butter, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Caprylyl Glycol, Behenic Acid, Silica, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Stearic Acid, Behenyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Hydrogenated Olive Oil Unsaponifiables, Xanthan Gum, Parfum, Ethylhexylglycerin, Adenosine, Polyglyceryl-10 Stearate, Myristic Acid, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Melia Azadirachta Flower Extract, Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract, Curcuma Longa Root Extract, Ocimum Sanctum Leaf Extract, Butylene Glycol, Corallina Officinalis Extract, Allium Sativum Bulb Extract

Alternatives

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

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

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).

Cetearyl alcohol is a waxy mixture of two fatty alcohols: cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol. It is an emollient and emulsifier.

Despite having "alcohol" in its name, it has nothing to do with drying solvent alcohols; the FDA also allows "alcohol-free" products to contain fatty alcohols like this ingredient.

It plays several roles in a formula:

Typical use levels for this ingredient sit around 1-10% and the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel has affirmed safety at concentrations up to 25% in leave-on products.

Multiple assessments have found it to be non-irritating and non-sensitizing to most people.

However, there have been some cases of allergic contact dermatitis in patients with chronically compromised skin barriers.

Cetearyl alcohol has a comedogenic rating of 2 and irritancy rating of 1. Both of these numbers come from the 1989 study that used rabbit ears; a "2" means mildly comedogenic and a "1" means low irritancy.

Here's the catch: rabbit skin is more sensitive than human skin and throws a lot of false positives. A 1996 reappraisal found that ingredients rated 1-2 in the rabbit ear tests are generally safe for humans.

Remember comedogenic ratings are unable to assess the entire formula of a product or how it will react on your skin. Just be sure to patch test if you are unsure about certain ingredients.

This ingredient is not fungal acne safe. Cetearyl alcohol is a fatty alcohol with chain lengths that fall within the range that Malassezia can metabolize.

A 2019 study has also observed Malassezia growth in the presence of this ingredient, confirming it to be not-fungal acne safe.

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.

Hydrolyzed Hyaluronic Acid is hyaluronic acid (HA) that is broken down into lower molecular weight fragments.

It's a humectant that pulls and holds water in the skin to help with hydration, plumpness, and reduce transepidermal water loss.

Because hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid is smaller in size, it can slip past your outermost layer of skin more easily than full-sized HA.

Most formulations will combine all sizes to get the best of both worlds.

Typical usage levels range from 0.01-1%. Any percentage higher than 2% might become goopy and tacky.

Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5 is a synthetic signal lipopeptide. This just means it is a three amino acid chain bolted onto a palmitic acid tail so it can slip through the skin's lipid barrier.

This peptide has a "build more, lose less" approach.

It's designed to mimic the collagen-stimulating activity in your skin by copying a snippet of one of your skin's own matrix proteins. This nudges fibroblasts into making more collagen while inhibiting the enzyme that breaks down skin protein.

The manufacturer's in vivo study of 45 volunteers found 1% and 2.5% reduced the appearance of wrinkles by 7% and 12% respectively, after using it twice daily for 84 days.

This is in the expected range for peptides; they're slow and cumulative actives and not overnight fixers.

Typical use levels range from 1-3% and this ingredient gets along with pretty much everything.

On the fungal acne front: Although palmitic acid sits in the chain length that Malassezia can feed on, this ingredient has it locked in an amine bond. This makes it hard for Malassezia to access as a source of food, and therefore fungal acne safe.

Pentylene Glycol (1,2-pentanediol) is a multitasking little diol with three main roles in a formula:

Research on alkanediols (the family pentylene glycol belongs to) show they work by disrupting microbial cell membranes. This disruption helps the primary preservative system in a product work more effectively at lower doses.

On the safety side, the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel has concluded this ingredient to be safe as used in current cosmetic practices + concentrations.

Typical use levels in a formula run about 1-5%.

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.

Squalane is the hydrogenated and shelf-stable form of squalene (a lipid that naturally occurs in human sebum).

It is an emollient and skin conditioning agent that is able to integrate seamlessly into the skin's lipid barrier without clogging pores.

This is due to how structurally similar it is to what your skin already produces.

Though it is mostly an emollient that helps soften and hydrate skin, it also has some humectant and occlusive action. Humectants help the skin retain moisture while occlusives seal it in, making squalane a triple-threat moisturizer.

Research shows it has antioxidant capabilities that help protect against stressors like UV exposure, specifically UVA induced oxidative stress. This study also found that it supports collagen biosynthesis in human dermal fibroblasts.

No clinical study has reported significant adverse effects and irritation reactions are very rare from this ingredient (even at 100% concentration).

Overall, it's a fantastic ingredient for hydration and is suitable for all skin types.

This depends on the source. Squalane can be derived from both plants and animals. Most squalane used in skincare comes from plants.

Please note: the source of squalane is only known if disclosed by the brand. We recommend reaching out to the brand if you have any questions about their squalane.

Read more about squalene with an "e".

Though squalane is often called an oil, it’s technically not one. It is a hydrocarbon, meaning it is only made of carbon and hydrogen. True oils are triglycerides and made of fatty acids and glycerol.

The term “oil-free” isn’t regulated so companies can define it however they want. Some exclude all oils, while others just avoid mineral oil or comedogenic oils.

Squalane has a comedogenic rating of 1 from the original 1972 study that tested raw ingredients under occlusion on rabbit ears. This system is not standardized or peer-reviewed, and using the raw ingredients is very different from how diluted cosmetic formulations are used on human skin.

A comedogenic rating of 1 means it is "unlikely to clog pores" according to the original rating system.

The overall formula of a product matters more than the individual ingredients on whether or not it will cause clogged pores.

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!

Xanthan gum is used as a stabilizer and thickener within cosmetic products. It helps give products a sticky, thick feeling - preventing them from being too runny.

On the technical side of things, xanthan gum is a polysaccharide - a combination consisting of multiple sugar molecules bonded together.

Xanthan gum is a pretty common and great ingredient. It is a natural, non-toxic, non-irritating ingredient that is also commonly used in food products.

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