This brightening eye moisturizer is formulated around Tranexamic Acid and Caffeine to fade the look of dark spots and soften the look of wrinkles.
This brightening eye moisturizer is formulated around Caffeine and Tranexamic Acid to fade the look of dark spots and soften the look of wrinkles.
What's inside
What's inside
Key Ingredients
Benefits
Concerns
Ingredients Side-by-side
Water
Skin ConditioningButylene Glycol
Humectant
Tranexamic Acid
Astringent
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative
Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6
Emulsion StabilisingGlycerin
Humectant
Caffeine
Skin Conditioning
Titanium Dioxide
Cosmetic Colorant
Mica
Cosmetic ColorantCitric Acid
Buffering
Sodium Gluconate
ChelatingSteareth-20
CleansingEthylhexylglycerin
Skin ConditioningSiloxanetriol Alginate
Skin ConditioningBiosaccharide Gum-1
Humectant
T-Butyl Alcohol
Perfuming
Sodium Levulinate
Skin ConditioningGlutathione
Sodium Hydroxide
BufferingGlyceryl Caprylate
EmollientN-Hydroxysuccinimide
Skin ConditioningChlorhexidine Digluconate
Antimicrobial
Sodium Anisate
AntimicrobialSodium Citrate
BufferingPalmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7
Skin Conditioning
Chrysin
Skin ConditioningPalmitoyl Tripeptide-1
Skin Conditioning
Potassium Sorbate
Preservative
Biotin
AntiseborrhoeicWater, Butylene Glycol, Tranexamic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6, Glycerin, Caffeine, Titanium Dioxide, Mica, Citric Acid, Sodium Gluconate, Steareth-20, Ethylhexylglycerin, Siloxanetriol Alginate, Biosaccharide Gum-1, T-Butyl Alcohol, Sodium Levulinate, Glutathione, Sodium Hydroxide, Glyceryl Caprylate, N-Hydroxysuccinimide, Chlorhexidine Digluconate, Sodium Anisate, Sodium Citrate, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Chrysin, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1, Potassium Sorbate, Biotin
Reviews
Ingredients Explained
These ingredients are found in both products.
Ingredients higher up in an ingredient list are typically present in a larger amount.
Caffeine is a naturally occurring plant compound found in coffee beans, tea leaves, cocoa pods, and guarana.
As an antioxidant, caffeine protects your skin from free radical damage caused by UV exposure and envionrmnetal stressors.
Early research also shows that caffeine can help calm redness, soothe irritated skin, and support hair growth by stimulating microcirculation in the scalp.
You might have seen eye creams marketing caffeine as a depuffing ingredient. This is because it is a vasoconstrictor meaning it can temporarily constrict blood vessels, though clinical evidence for this specific use is still limited.
Most skincare products contain this ingredient at concentrations between 1-6%. It is able to penetrate skin easily regardless of skin type or thickness.
Just so you know, a very small number of case reports describe caffeine-induced allergy. This ingredient is generally well-tolerated, non-irritating, and non-sensitizing for the majority of people.
Learn more about CaffeinePhenoxyethanol 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.
Learn more about PhenoxyethanolSodium Gluconate is the sodium salt of gluconic acid. In skincare, its main job is as a chelator.
Chelators grab onto stray metal ions like iron and copper that sneak in through water, raw materials, or manufacturing equipment. This stops them from triggering reactions that cause oils to go rancid, formulas to change color, and actives like vitamin C to fall apart.
This ingredient is often chosen as a biodegradable, gentler-sounding alternative to EDTA. It also pulls double duty as a mild humectant and pH buffer.
Typical use levels sit around 0.1-1% and supplier documents list up to 10% as an acceptable ceiling. Industry data found this ingredient family is mostly used well below 1% in leave on products.
Allergy risk is very low; animal testing has found it to be non-irritating to skin and eyes, mutagenicity assays came back negative, and there are no published reports of allergic contact dermatitis to it.
Learn more about Sodium GluconateSodium Hydroxide is also known as lye or caustic soda. It is used to adjust the pH of products; many ingredients require a specific pH to be effective.
In small amounts, sodium hydroxide is considered safe to use. However, large amounts may cause chemical burns due to its high alkaline.
Your skin has a natural pH and acid mantle. This acid mantle helps prevent harmful bacteria from breaking through. The acid mantle also helps keep your skin hydrated.
"Alkaline" refers to a high pH level. A low pH level would be considered acidic.
Learn more about Sodium HydroxideTranexamic Acid (TXA) is a synthetic lysine derivative that is becoming one of the most exciting brightening ingredients in skincare.
Originally used in medicine as an anti-hemorrhagic agent, its skin brightening potential was discovered by accident; patients taking it orally started noticing their melasma was fading.
Unlike most brighteners that target tyrosinase (the enzyme that synthesizes melanin), TXA works further upstream. It basically blocks your cells from receiving the signal to produce pigment.
This makes it one of the rare actives that works on three pathways at once:
This makes it effective for treating melasma, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH), and sun-induced dark spots.
The most effective cosmetic concentration sits between 2-5% and going higher doesn't boost results.
Side effects are generally mild; occasional irritation, flaking, or dryness have been reported at the start of use. Overall, this ingredient is pretty well tolerated, even by sensitive skin types.
Another perk of this ingredient is that it does not cause photosensitivity, so it's safe to use in the AM and PM.
"Does it actually penetrate?" is the part that gets argued about online and the honest answer from research + clinical trials at this time is "yes, but not easily."
TXA is a small molecule that loves water and carries both a positive and negative charge at the same time. Skin's outer layer is oily so a water-loving molecule like this has a hard time getting through it. Liu et al. 2021 showed that it doesn't really stick around well in the deeper layer where pigment-making cells actually live.
A 2025 paper puts it simply: penetration is poor and it depends heavily on how the product is formulated (Winn et al., J Cosmet Dermatol).
But "poor" isn't "none" and the research is fairly clear that topical TXA does something. A 2026 review that pooled results from multiple studies found it helped with moderate melasma but it didn't outperform hydroquinone. Some individual studies at 3% and 5% went head to head with hydroquinone and help up well.
So the fair takeaway is that it works, it's just slower and fussier about formulation than other actives (how the serum is built matters a lot).
There's real evidence here and it's not just clinic marketing. Reviews of microneedling plus TXA report less pigmentation, less melanin, and less redness (Zhang et al., Chinese Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 2024).
The most useful study compared 42 patients getting microneedling plus TXA against microneedling on its own; the group that got the acid saw much bigger improvement. This suggests the acid is pulling its weight and the needling isn't doing all the work.
Just two things worth flagging here:
Oral TXA also works well for melasma and gets used in clinics. However, it is a systemic drug with clotting-related risks and needs a prescription. Injections into the skin have also been studied with good results.
Neither is something a cosmetic product can do, but they help explain why so much attention goes into getting the topical version right.
Learn more about Tranexamic AcidWater. 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!
Learn more about Water
