Versus

The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG Versus CeraVe Eye Repair Cream

Serum
Eye Moisturizer
Canadian Brand Canada
American Brand United States

Updated on February 03, 2025

Overview

What they are

These products are both reef safe . They have a total of 7 ingredients in common

Cool Features

They both contain hyaluronic acid

Suited For

They're both likely to be good for anti aging, dry skin, brightening skin, oily skin, reducing pores, scar healing and dark spots

Free From

They both do not contain any parabens

We independently verify ingredients, and our claims are backed by peer-reviewed research. Spot a product that needs an update? Let us know.

Ingredient Info

Click any item below to learn more and see relevant ingredients

About this product

About this product

At a glance

Click on any of the items below to learn more

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Key Ingredients

Benefits

Concerns

Ingredients Side-by-side

found in both products
Eye Repair Cream

Ingredients Explained

These ingredients are found in both products.

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

Skin Conditioning, Solvent

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. Stay hydrated!

Learn more about Water
Absorbent, Emulsion Stabilising, Skin Conditioning

Maltodextrin is a polysaccharide. It is derived from starch such as rice, corn, wheat, or potato starch.

In food, Maltodextrin is used to improve the texture and thicken a product. Due to its structure, it can help create a gel texture. As an emulsion stabilizer, it helps keep the ingredients in a product together.

As a polysaccharide, Maltodextrin has moisturizing properties. Polysaccharides are a type of carbohydrate. The top layer of skin uses polysaccharides to retain water, keeping the skin hydrated.

Maltodextrin is water soluble and has a sweet taste.

Learn more about Maltodextrin
Humectant, Skin Conditioning, Skin Protecting

Glycerin is already naturally found in your skin. It helps moisturize and protect your skin.

A study from 2016 found glycerin to be more effective as a humectant than AHAs and hyaluronic acid.

As a humectant, it helps the skin stay hydrated by pulling moisture to your skin. The low molecular weight of glycerin allows it to pull moisture into the deeper layers of your skin.

Hydrated skin improves your skin barrier; Your skin barrier helps protect against irritants and bacteria.

Glycerin has also been found to have antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Due to these properties, glycerin is often used in wound and burn treatments.

In cosmetics, glycerin is usually derived from plants such as soybean or palm. However, it can also be sourced from animals, such as tallow or animal fat.

This ingredient is organic, colorless, odorless, and non-toxic.

Glycerin is the name for this ingredient in American English. British English uses Glycerol/Glycerine.

Learn more about Glycerin
Solvent

Propanediol is an all-star ingredient. It softens, hydrates, and smooths the skin. 

It’s often used to:

Propanediol is not likely to cause sensitivity and considered safe to use. It is derived from corn or petroleum with a clear color and no scent.

Learn more about Propanediol
Emulsifying, Emulsion Stabilising, Gel Forming

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.

Learn more about Xanthan Gum
Skin Conditioning

Ethylhexylglycerin (we can't pronounce this either) is commonly used as a preservative and skin softener. It is derived from glyceryl.

You might see Ethylhexylglycerin often paired with other preservatives such as phenoxyethanol. Ethylhexylglycerin has been found to increase the effectiveness of these other preservatives.

Preservative

Phenoxyethanol is a preservative that has germicide, antimicrobial, and aromatic properties. Studies show that phenoxyethanol can prevent microbial growth. By itself, it has a scent that is similar to that of a rose.

It's often used in formulations along with Caprylyl Glycol to preserve the shelf life of products.

When to use

1,007 Routines
56% use in am
44% use in pm
95% use every day
When to use See routines that use it ->
1,515 Routines
46% use in am
54% use in pm
97% use every day
When to use See routines that use it ->

Reviews

Here's what our community thinks

The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG 25 ingredients

2.4 /5
from 12 ratings
Hydrating (4) Doesn't Work (4) No Scent (4)
fawns's avatar

🐾

10 months ago
Review

♡︎
- 𝗐𝗈𝗇'𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝗉𝗎𝗋𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗌𝖾, 𝗀𝗈𝗍 𝗍𝗐𝗈 𝗂𝗇 𝖺 𝗉𝖺𝖼𝗄 𝗌𝗈 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝗂𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗆 𝗎𝗉
- 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖽𝗈𝖾𝗌 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗄 𝖺𝗍 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗂'𝗏𝖾 𝖻𝖾𝖾𝗇 𝗅𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗈 𝗆𝗒𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖿 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗌𝖺𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗂𝗍 𝖽𝗈𝖾𝗌
- 𝗂 𝖽𝗈 𝖺𝗉𝗉𝗅𝗒 𝗂𝗍 𝗈𝖿𝗍𝖾𝗇 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗌𝗈 𝗂 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝖿𝖾𝖾𝗅 𝖿𝖺𝗇𝖼𝗒 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝗂𝗌𝗁 𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗆𝗒 𝖻𝗈𝗍𝗍𝗅𝖾𝗌
- 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽𝗇'𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗇𝖽

#great value
#light
#absorbs well
#no scent
ThomasvV's avatar

Thomas VV

21 days ago
Review

A mistake a lot of people make is that they think this eye serum is made for the long term. It's not, it's a great depuff serum in the morning. So if you're prone to puffiness, then this is a great first step in your routine to depuff your eyebags before applying a more rich eye cream.

I hate the fact that the bottle gets a bit dirty because of the crystalization of the caffeine, but that's Show more

#great value
#absorbs well
#no scent
#works well

CeraVe Eye Repair Cream 41 ingredients

2.5 /5
from 11 ratings
No Scent (4) Irritating (4) Hydrating (3)
PatriciaTh's avatar

PatriciaTh

1 year ago
Review

I guess it improved my under eyes a bit, but not nearly enough to make me repurchase it. I get watery eyes when I get tired and it stung my eyes every night so I would have to dry it of with a paper towel and I would even feel it the next night too even though I didn't use it that day.

#great value
#hydrating
#irritating
ClaireEstelle's avatar

Claire L.

12 months ago
Review

This was a bust - I usually like CeraVe products but this consistently stung my eyes when I used it. I had to toss it, it never got better. Two stars for hydrating the eye area once the stinging stopped.

#irritating
#no scent