Niod Fractionated Eye Contour Concentrate Serum Versus Geek & Gorgeous Power Peptides Serum

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.

As a targeting peptide, it sits on the outer shell of an encapsulated ingredient system and seeks out receptors on collagen and elastin producing cells in skin.

Once it binds, the cell internalizes the capsule and releases the active payload inside; it essentially acts as a GPS guiding ingredients to the right place.

It also mimicks the skin's natural growth factors to support skin firmness by upping production of collagen, elastin, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs).

Most of the evidence for this ingredient comes from manufacturer in vitro data, so independent clinical trials are still limited. However, the underlying mechanism is well-supported by the broader cosmetic peptide literature.

Fungal acne note:
Usually a palmitic acid component can feed Malassezia in unbound form, but here is is covalently bonded to the peptide. This means it is very difficult for Malassezia to access, and therefore very unlikely to cause fungal acne.

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

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.

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.

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%.

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.

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!