Enriched with caffeine and green tea extracts, this eye contour serum revitalizes and brightens your eye area. It provides a young and vigorous appearance by reducing the symptoms of fatigue around the eyes.
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Ingredients overview
Aqua, Caffeine, Niacinamide, Pentylene Glycol, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Panthenol, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Polysorbate 20, Allantoin, Tetrasodium EDTA, Lactic Acid
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Highlights
#alcohol-free #fragrance & essentialoil-free
Alcohol Free
Fragrance and Essential Oil Free
Key Ingredients
Anti-acne: Niacinamide
Antioxidant: Caffeine, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract
Cell-communicating ingredient: Niacinamide
Exfoliant: Lactic Acid
Skin brightening: Niacinamide
Soothing: Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Panthenol, Allantoin
Other Ingredients
Buffering: Lactic Acid
Chelating: Tetrasodium EDTA
Emulsifying: Polysorbate 20
Moisturizer/humectant: Niacinamide, Pentylene Glycol, Panthenol, Lactic Acid
Perfuming: Caffeine
Preservative: Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin
Solvent: Aqua, Pentylene Glycol
Surfactant/cleansing: Polysorbate 20
Viscosity controlling: Hydroxyethylcellulose
Skim through
| Ingredient name | what-it-does | irr., com. | ID-Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aqua | solvent | ||
| Caffeine | antioxidant, perfuming | goodie | |
| Niacinamide | cell-communicating ingredient, skin brightening, anti-acne, moisturizer/humectant | superstar | |
| Pentylene Glycol | solvent, moisturizer/humectant | ||
| Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract | antioxidant, soothing | goodie | |
| Panthenol | soothing, moisturizer/humectant | 0, 0 | goodie |
| Phenoxyethanol | preservative | ||
| Ethylhexylglycerin | preservative | ||
| Hydroxyethylcellulose | viscosity controlling | ||
| Polysorbate 20 | emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing | 0, 0 | |
| Allantoin | soothing | 0, 0 | goodie |
| Tetrasodium EDTA | chelating | ||
| Lactic Acid | exfoliant, moisturizer/humectant, buffering | superstar |
the NewLab. Caffeine 5% + Green Tea Eye Contour Serum
Ingredients explainedAqua
Also-called: Water | What-it-does: solvent
Good old water, aka H2O. The most common skincare ingredient of all. You can usually find it right in the very first spot of the ingredient list, meaning it’s the biggest thing out of all the stuff that makes up the product.
It’s mainly a solvent for ingredients that do not like to dissolve in oils but rather in water.
Once inside the skin, it hydrates, but not from the outside - putting pure water on the skin (hello long baths!) is drying.
One more thing: the water used in cosmetics is purified and deionized (it means that almost all of the mineral ions inside it is removed). Like this, the products can stay more stable over time.
Caffeine - goodie
What-it-does: antioxidant, perfuming
Hello, our favorite molecule that helps us wake up in the morning and then keeps us going through the day. As a super well-known stimulant from coffee, tea and plenty of other soft drinks,Caffeine needs no introduction. So we will skip right to the part where we talk about what the hell it does in so-so many cosmetic products.
Looking at the research, we were surprised to find how versatile Caffeine is. It is a small, water-loving molecule with pretty good skin penetration abilties. Once in the skin, it has nice antioxidant properties, meaning that it reduces the formation of evil free radicals and it mighteven be useful in preventing UV-induced skin cancers.
A well-known thing about Caffeine isthat it improves the microcirculation of the blood vessels. Though conventional wisdom and anecdotal evidence says that this property is helpful for dark under-eye circles and puffy eyes, we have to mention that the double-blind research we have found about a 3% caffeine gel concluded that "the overall efficacy of the selected caffeine gel in reducing puffy eyes was not significantly different from that of its gel base." But you know, the proof is in the pudding.
Another thing Caffeine is used for in body care products is its anti-cellulite effects. In theory, it can speed up the lipolysis process (the "fat burning" by our cells) andstimulate the draining lymph system that might lead to the improvement of cellulite. But here again, the evidence that it actually makes a measurable, let alone visible, improvement on actualhuman beings is limited (we could find only some animal skin studies or caffeine being combined with other actives).
Last, but not least, we have to write about caffeine and hair growth. The theory is that it can inhibitthe activity of the 5-α-reductase enzyme that plays an important role in hair lossand allows a renewed growth phase of the hair. We have found some recent and promising research to back this up. A 2017 study compared a 0.2% caffeine liquid with a 5%Minoxidil (an FDA approved active to treat baldness) solution and found that "a caffeine-based topical liquid should be considered as not inferior to minoxidil 5% solution in men with androgenetic alopecia", or English translation means that the caffeine liquid was pretty much as good as the FDA-approvedMinoxidil stuff. Not bad!
Overall, we think that caffeine is a very versatile and biologically activeingredient. Even though some of its effects are more hyped up than backed up, it is still a nice tohave on many ingredient lists.
Niacinamide - superstar
Also-called: vitamin B3, nicotinamide | What-it-does: cell-communicating ingredient, skin brightening, anti-acne, moisturizer/humectant
- A multi-functional skincare superstar with several proven benefits for the skin
- Great anti-aging, wrinkle smoothing ingredient used at 4-5% concentration
- Fades brown spots alone or in combination with amino sugar, acetyl glucosamine
- Increases ceramide synthesis that results in a stronger, healthier skin barrier and better skin hydration
- Can help to improve several skin conditions including acne, rosacea, and atopic dermatitis
Read all the geeky details about Niacinamide here >>
Pentylene Glycol
What-it-does: solvent, moisturizer/humectant
A multi-functional, silky feeling helper ingredient that can do quite many things. It's used as anemulsion stabilizer, solvent and a broad spectrum antimicrobial. According to manufacturer info, it's also amoisturizer and helps to make the product feel great on the skin. It works synergistically with preservatives and helps to improvewater-resistance of sunscreens.
Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract - goodie
Also-called: Green Tea | What-it-does: antioxidant, soothing
- Green tea is one of the most researched natural ingredients
- The active parts are called polyphenols, or more precisely catechins (EGCG being the most abundant and most active catechin)
- There can be huge quality differences between green tea extracts. The good ones contain 50-90% catechins (and often make the product brown and give it a distinctive smell)
- Green tea is proven to be a great antioxidant, UV protectant, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic and antimicrobial
- Because of these awesome properties green tea is a great choice for anti-aging and also for skin diseases including rosacea, acne and atopic dermatitis
Read all the geeky details about Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract here >>
Panthenol - goodie
Also-called: Pro-Vitamin B5 | What-it-does: soothing, moisturizer/humectant | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
An easy-to-formulate, commonly used, nice to have ingredient that’s also called pro-vitamin B5. As you might guess from the “pro” part, it’s a precursor to vitamin B5 (whose fancy name is pantothenic acid).
Its main job in skincare products is to moisturise the skin. It’s a humectant meaning that it can help the skin to attract water and then hold onto it. There is also research showing that panthenol can help our skin to produce more lovely lipids that are important for a strong and healthy skin barrier.
Another great thing about panthenol is that it has anti-inflammatory and skin protecting abilities. A study shows that it can reduce the irritation caused by less-nice other ingredients (e.g. fragrance, preservatives or chemical sunscreens) in the product.
Research also shows that it might be useful for wound healing as it promotes fibroblast (nice type of cells in our skin that produce skin-firming collagen) proliferation.
If that wasn’t enough panthenol is also useful in nail and hair care products. A study shows that a nail treatment liquide with 2% panthenol could effectively get into the nail and significantly increase the hydration of it.
As for the hair the hydration effect is also true there. Panthenol might make your hair softer, more elastic and helps to comb your hair more easily.
Phenoxyethanol
What-it-does: preservative
It’s pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, but even more importantly, it’s not a feared-by-everyone-mostly-without-scientific-reason paraben.
It’s not something new: it was introduced around 1950 and today it can be used up to 1% worldwide. It can be found in nature - in green tea - but the version used in cosmetics is synthetic.
Other than having a good safety profile and being quite gentle to the skin it has some other advantages too. It can be used in many types of formulations as it has great thermal stability (can be heated up to 85°C) and works on a wide range of pH levels (ph 3-10).
It’s often used together with ethylhexylglycerin as it nicely improves the preservative activity of phenoxyethanol.
Ethylhexylglycerin
What-it-does: preservative, deodorant
If you have spottedethylhexylglycerinon the ingredient list, most probably you will see there also the current IT-preservative,phenoxyethanol. They are good friends becauseethylhexylglycerincan boost the effectiveness of phenoxyethanol (and other preservatives) and as an added bonus it feels nice on the skin too.
Also,it's an effective deodorant and a medium spreadingemollient.
Hydroxyethylcellulose
Also-called: HEC | What-it-does: viscosity controlling, emulsion stabilising
A nice little helper ingredient that can thicken up cosmetic products and create beautifulgel formulas. It's derived from cellulose, the major component ofthe cell wall of green plants. It is compatible with most co-ingredients and gives a very good slip to the formulas.
Polysorbate 20
What-it-does: emulsifying, surfactant/cleansing | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
It's a common little helper ingredient that helps water and oil to mix together. Also, it can help to increase the solubility of some other ingredients in the formula.
Allantoin - goodie
What-it-does: soothing | Irritancy: 0 | Comedogenicity: 0
Super common soothing ingredient. It can be found naturally in the roots & leaves of the comfrey plant, but more often than not what's in the cosmeticproductsis produced synthetically.
It's not only soothing but it' also skin-softening and protecting and can promote wound healing.
Tetrasodium EDTA
What-it-does: chelating
A handy helper ingredient thathelps products to remain nice and stable for a longer time.It does so by neutralizing the metal ions in the formula (that usually get into there from water) that would otherwise cause some not so nice changes.
Lactic Acid - superstar
What-it-does: exfoliant, moisturizer/humectant, buffering
- It’s the second most researched AHA after glycolic acid
- It gently lifts off dead skin cells to reveal newer, fresher, smoother skin
- It also has amazing skin hydrating properties
- In higher concentration (10% and up) it improves skin firmness, thickness and wrinkles
- Choose a product where you know the concentration and pH value because these two greatly influence effectiveness
- Don’t forget to use your sunscreen (in any case but especially so next to an AHA product)
Read all the geeky details about Lactic Acid here >>
You may also want to take a look at...
Normal (well kind of - it's purified and deionized) water. Usually the main solvent in cosmetic products. [more] The well-known stimulant from coffee. It has nice antioxidant properties and can improve the microcirculation. Might be helpful for dark circles, puffy eyes, as well as cellulite and hair loss. [more] A multi-functional skincare superstar that has clinically proven anti-aging, skin lightening, anti-inflammatory and barrier repair properties. [more] A multi-functional, silky feeling helper ingredient that can do quite many things. It's used as anemulsion stabilizer, solvent, and a broad spectrum antimicrobial. [more] Green Tea - one of the most researched natural ingredients that contains the superstar actives called catechins. It has proven antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and anticarcinogenic properties. [more] Pro-Vitamin B5 is a goodie that moisturises the skin, has anti-inflammatory, skin protecting and wound healing properties. [more] Pretty much the current IT-preservative. It’s safe and gentle, and can be used up to 1% worldwide. [more] It can boost the effectiveness of phenoxyethanol (and other preservatives) and as an added bonus it feels nice on the skin too. [more] A nice little helper ingredient that can thicken up cosmetic products and create beautifulgel formulas. It's derived from cellulose, the major component ofthe cell wall of green plants. [more] It's a common little helper ingredient that helps water and oil to mix together. Also, it can help to increase the solubility of some other ingredients in the formula. Super common soothing ingredient. It can be found naturally in the roots & leaves of the comfrey plant, but more often than not what's in the cosmeticproductsis produced synthetically.It's not only soothing but it' [more] A helper ingredient that helps to neutralize the metal ions in the formula (that usually get into there from water) that would otherwise cause some not so nice changes. A superstar AHA that not only exfoliates skin but is also a very good moisturizer. In higher concentration (10% and up) it can even improve skin firmness, thickness, and wrinkles. [more] what‑it‑does solvent what‑it‑does antioxidant | perfuming what‑it‑does cell-communicating ingredient | skin brightening | anti-acne | moisturizer/humectant what‑it‑does solvent | moisturizer/humectant what‑it‑does antioxidant | soothing what‑it‑does soothing | moisturizer/humectant irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does preservative what‑it‑does preservative what‑it‑does viscosity controlling what‑it‑does emulsifying | surfactant/cleansing irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does soothing irritancy,com. 0, 0 what‑it‑does chelating what‑it‑does exfoliant | moisturizer/humectant | buffering
