Pacifica Vegan Ceramide Barrier Eye Cream Versus Paula's Choice Ceramide-Enriched Firming Eye Cream

Pacifica Vegan Ceramide Barrier Eye Cream Versus Paula's Choice Ceramide-Enriched Firming Eye Cream

This barrier-repair eye moisturizer is formulated around Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5 and Squalane to strengthen the skin barrier and hydrate skin.

This anti-aging eye moisturizer is formulated around Ceramide Ns and Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5 to soften the look of wrinkles and strengthen the skin barrier.

What's inside

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

Water

Glycerin

Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5

Cetyl Alcohol

Squalane

Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil

Tocopheryl Acetate

Stearyl Alcohol

Glycolipids

Glyceryl Stearate Citrate

Glyceryl Laurate

Ceramide NP

Ceramide AP

Ceramide EOP

Phytosphingosine

Cholesterol

Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate

Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract

Althaea Officinalis Root Extract

Caffeine

Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice

Tocopherol

Sorbitan Sesquioleate

Allantoin

Panthenol

Xanthan Gum

Glyceryl Stearate

Phenoxyethanol

Ethylhexylglycerin

Water, Glycerin, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5, Cetyl Alcohol, Squalane, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Stearyl Alcohol, Glycolipids, Glyceryl Stearate Citrate, Glyceryl Laurate, Ceramide NP, Ceramide AP, Ceramide EOP, Phytosphingosine, Cholesterol, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Althaea Officinalis Root Extract, Caffeine, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Tocopherol, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Allantoin, Panthenol, Xanthan Gum, Glyceryl Stearate, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin

Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate

Butylene Glycol

PEG-100 Stearate

Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/Vp Copolymer

Ascorbyl Glucoside

Potassium Cetyl Phosphate

Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate

Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2

Polyglyceryl-10 Dioleate

Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate

Ceramide Ns

Ceramide Eos

Acetyl Tetrapeptide-5

Caprooyl Phytosphingosine

Caprooyl Sphingosine

Retinol

Vitis Vinifera Seed Extract

Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract

Punica Granatum Fruit Extract

Dunaliella Salina Extract

Pongamia Glabra Seed Oil

Bisabolol

Carnosine

Sodium PCA

Pullulan

Glyceryl Ascorbate

Behenic Acid

Dimethicone

Sodium Citrate

Sodium Polyacrylate

Caprylyl Glycol

Ethylhexyl Stearate

Ceteareth-25

Sodium Hydroxide

Trideceth-6

Propyl Gallate

Polysorbate 20

Disodium EDTA

Mica

Chlorphenesin

Sodium Benzoate

Water, Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate, Cetyl Alcohol, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/Vp Copolymer, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Polyglyceryl-10 Dioleate, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Ceramide Ns, Ceramide EOP, Ceramide AP, Ceramide Eos, Ceramide NP, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5, Acetyl Tetrapeptide-5, Caprooyl Phytosphingosine, Caprooyl Sphingosine, Cholesterol, Squalane, Retinol, Vitis Vinifera Seed Extract, Glycyrrhiza Glabra Root Extract, Punica Granatum Fruit Extract, Dunaliella Salina Extract, Pongamia Glabra Seed Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate, Allantoin, Bisabolol, Carnosine, Panthenol, Sodium PCA, Pullulan, Glyceryl Ascorbate, Behenic Acid, Dimethicone, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Polyacrylate, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexyl Stearate, Ceteareth-25, Sodium Hydroxide, Trideceth-6, Propyl Gallate, Polysorbate 20, Disodium EDTA, Mica, Phenoxyethanol, Chlorphenesin, Sodium Benzoate

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Alternatives

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

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

Allantoin is a soothing ingredient known for its protective and moisturizing properties; it's basically a quiet workhorse ingredient you can find in a huge range of cosmetics.

Though it can be derived from the comfrey plant, allantoin is produced synthetically for cosmetic products to ensure purity.

Research shows it can encourage your skin cells to turn over and renew by stimulating keratinocyte and fibroblast proliferation.

It also has mild keratolytic properties to help loosen and shed dead skin cells without being harsh.

Studies also suggest allantoin can help calm inflammation by dialing down some of the chemical signals your skin sends out when it is irritated.

This ingredient is typically used in the 0.1-0.5% range, and the FDA recognizes it as a skin protectant in OTC products up to 2%.

Overall, allantoin is a wonderful addition to most routines; it is stable across a wide pH range (~4-8), works well with other ingredients, and is considered non-sensitizing/non-irritating.

Fun fact: Allantoin is naturally occurring in comfrey root, beets, chamomile, and wheat sprouts. Our bodies even produce it as a byproduct of uric acid metabolism.

Ceramide AP is is a skin-identical lipid that mimics what your skin already makes naturally. Ceramides help maintain epidermal integrity and barrier function.

You'll often see this ingredient paired with other ceramides (like ceramide NP), cholesterol, or fatty acids because this combination best mimics the natural lipid mix your skin already has.

The skin's ability to produce ceramides gets disrupted in skin conditions like eczema. This in turn weakens the skin barrier and applying ceramides topically has been shown to replenish what's been lost to restore barrier function.

Most of the studies with Ceramide AP test it as part of a multi-ceramide complex; studies reinforce ceramide AP's role in rebalancing ceramides in skin and improving skin hydration.

Ceramide EOP is formally known as Ceramide 1.

It is naturally found in skin and part of the intercellular "mortar" holding everything together in your outermost layer.

EOP stands for a linked Ester fatty acid, a linked Omega hydroxy fatty acid, and the Phytosphingosine base.

What makes Ceramide EOP special is its ultra-long fatty acid chain; this unique structure allows it to bridge the lipid layers in your skin barrier to prevent water loss (something no other ceramide can do).

Low levels of Ceramide EOP have been found in people with eczema and psoriasis.

Using it together with other ceramides, cholesterol, and linoleic acid have been shown to meaningfully improve hydration and reduce water loss.

In one clinical study, a regimen using Ceramide EOP, NP, and AP led to significant symptom improvements in patients with eczema, psoriasis, and dry skin in just 4 weeks.

You'll usually see concentrations between 0.1-0.5% in formulations. Overall, this is a well-tolerated and safe ingredient for cosmetic use.

Ceramide NP (formerly known as Ceramide 3) is one of the skin's naturally occurring lipids.

Since ceramides are the major lipid components of the skin, they are crucial for maintaining skin barrier and hydration. Ceramide NP most closely mirrors the dominant kind in human skin amongst ceramide subtypes.

This ceramide works by slotting into gaps within the stratum corneum's lipid matrix to limit trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL) and shield the skin against external irritants.

A study with 312 patients found that using a ceramide-containing routine for 4 weeks reduced the severity of atopic dermatitis by over 61%.

Another clinical study in subjects aged 60 and older found that a ceramide body wash and moisturizer improved skin dryness and itchy skin in 15 days.

Overall, ceramides are considered non-irritating and safety tests have found little to no observable adverse effects from using this ingredient.

Ceramide NP is usually sourced from plants (like soybean or rice bran), or produced synthetically.

Cetyl Alcohol is a fatty alcohol. Fatty Alcohols are most often used as an emollient or to thicken a product.

Its main roles are:

Though it has "alcohol" in the name, it is not related to denatured alcohol or ethyl alcohol.

The FDA allows products labeled "alcohol-free" to have fatty alcohols.

This ingredient may not be fungal acne safe. It is a primary fatty alcohol with a chain length above 12 carbons. A study from 2019 show Malassezia can feed on fatty alcohols in this range, so it may trigger fungal acne in those prone to it.

Cholesterol is a lipid that is naturally found in human skin and is one of the three key components of your skin barrier. In skincare, it is an emollient and barrier-repairing ingredient.

It works by fitting directly into the lipid layers of skin to help restore structure and reduce transepidermal water loss (TEWL).

This is a great ingredient for dry, compromised, or aging skin; our skin starts to produce less cholesterol with age.

Research shows cholesterol works best in combination with ceramides and fatty acids, the other two major components in your skin barrier.

Cholesterol is also a well-establish penetration enhancer and can help other actives absorb more effectively.

Cosmetic-grade cholesterol is usually derived from lanolin but plant and synthetic options also exist. We recommend reaching out to the brand if you have questions about their source of cholesterol.

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.

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.

Panthenol is a common ingredient that helps hydrate and soothe the skin. It is found naturally in our skin and hair.

There are two forms of panthenol: D and L.

D-panthenol is also known as dexpanthenol. Most cosmetics use dexpanthenol or a mixture of D and L-panthenol.

Panthenol is famous due to its ability to go deeper into the skin's layers. Using this ingredient has numerous pros (and no cons):

Like hyaluronic acid, panthenol is a humectant. Humectants are able to bind and hold large amounts of water to keep skin hydrated.

This ingredient works well for wound healing. It works by increasing tissue in the wound and helps close open wounds.

Once oxidized, panthenol converts to pantothenic acid. Panthothenic acid is found in all living cells.

This ingredient is also referred to as pro-vitamin B5.

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.

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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