Name: Expert Eyes Moisturizing Eye Makeup Remover
Brand: Maybelline

What's inside

Ingredients Explained

Emollient, Skin Protecting, Solvent

Paraffinum Liquidum is a highly-refined cosmetic-grade mineral oil. It is also known as liquid paraffin.

Despite its controversial reputation, the science is pretty clear: it's one of the most well-studied and effective moisturizing ingredients out there.

As an occlusive, it forms a protective layer on the skin that locks in moisture and prevents transepidermal water loss (TEWL). This makes it especially great for compromised skin barriers.

The "it clogs your pores" myth has been around for decades; a study found that industrial-grade mineral oil may be comedogenic but cosmetic-grade mineral oil is not (these two are very, very different).

A 2017 review concluded that cosmetic use of mineral oils and waxes does not present a risk to consumers due to absorption.

Mineral oil got a bad rap from the old rabbit ear studies. When tested on actual human skin, cosmetic-grade mineral oil showed no comedogenic activity. The rating of 0 is a correction of outdated science.

Mineral oil is an inert substance with no fatty acids so there's nothing to feed Malassezia. This ingredient is fungal acne safe.

Learn more about Paraffinum Liquidum

Isopropyl Palmitate

Emollient, Masking

Isopropyl Palmitate is a lightweight emollient made by combining isopropyl alcohol and palmitic acid.

It is an emollient that leaves skin feeling smooth and silky without leaving a greasy feel.

Typical usage concentrations range from 1-5%.

Human testing shows it's non-irritating and non-sensitizing, and the EU Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) has cleared it at very high levels (79% in leave-on products).

The one thing worth knowing about its comedogenic score of 3-4 is to keep it in perspective: these ratings come from old rabbit-ear tests using 100% of pure ingredient and doesn't reflect how it behaves at low levels in a finished product.

Because it is an ester of palmitic acid (C16), it falls into the range that the Malassezia yeast can feed on and is considered not fungal acne safe.

Learn more about Isopropyl Palmitate

Lanolin Oil

Emollient

Lanolin oil is the liquid part of lanolin, or the waxy grease that sheep product to waterproof their wool.

Raw lanolin is a thick, sticky solid so manufactures chill and fractionate it to separate the hard waxy part from the pourable oil portion.

What's left is lanolin oil, and it's a light, non-greasy emollient that sits on skin, slows water loss, and softens rough patches.

Chemically, it's mostly wax esters plus some fatty acids where the majority are branched (making it structurally closer to human sebum than most plant oils).

A 2022 industry survey found lanolin oil has the highest maximum-leave on concentration of any lanolin ingredients (47% in lipsticks and the permitted range for lanolin in US OTC producrts is 12.5-50%).

The concentrations are much lower in actual face products, often between 1-10%.

Lanolin ingredients are found safe at current use levels by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel.

Lanolin has a reputation as pore clogging but that comes almost entirely from rabbit ear testing done decades ago (and that model has aged badly).

This ingredient does have a comedogenic rating of 0-1; the tests state this score means the ingredient has low or non-existent chance of clogging your pores.

Keep in mind that the authors of the rabbit ear test proposed that a material needs to score consistently above 3 in the rabbit assay before it means anything for real skin.

A separate review found the model has serious performance problems and no correlation with human experience. Concentration matters a lot too: in one study, Acetylated Lanolin Alcohol scored 4 to 5 at full strength but dropped to a 1 when diluted to 2.5%, and finished products containing "comedogenic" ingredients didn't raise microcomedone counts in people.

Since this ingredient is build with exactly the esters that Malassezia yeasts can synthesize, this ingredient may not be fungal acne safe.

Learn more about Lanolin Oil

Butylparaben

Masking, Preservative

Butylparaben is a preservative, is a paraben, and is not reef safe. It can worsen eczema.

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