As longtime FutureDerm readers know, Your Best Face CORRECT Eye Cream is one of my all-time favorite products. Its ingredients have been shown to brighten and firm undereye skin (Eyeseryl®), reduce undereye puffiness (caffeine), and take down dark circles caused by hyperpigmentation or blood pooling (Haloxyl®). I’ve been a longtime super fan, to say the least.
So when Darrell Owens, the co-founder of Your Best Face, recently contacted me that they were updating the formulation, I was simultaneously enthused and a little worried. Now, Your Best Face regularly updates their formulas, with Correct being updated five times since the product’s inception in 2004. The last Correct formula overhaul in 2012 (which was a great thing). Thankfully, a quick perusal of the ingredients list revealed that the product is exactly the same as the 2012 version, with five additional ingredients added:
- Uplevity™(water, acetyl tetrapeptide-2, caprylyl glycol), ethylhexyl palmitate)
- Matrixyl® synthe’6™ (glycerin, water, hydroxypropyl cyclodextrin, palmitoyl tripeptide-38)
- Cupuacu butter
- Aspen bark extract
- Quercetin dihydrate
For more on these ingredients, as well as my review of the new Your Best Face CORRECT Eye Cream, read on!
Uplevity™(water, acetyl tetrapeptide-2, caprylyl glycol, ethylhexyl palmitate) may increase cellular turnover, cellular immunity
I swear, I feel like I’m reviewing a new peptide everyday! But with good reason: Peptides have been shown to do everything from fighting fine lines and wrinkles to preventing skin sagging to stimulating immune function within the skin (Clinics in Dermatology, 2009).
Acetyl tetrapeptide-2 is no exception to the remarkable peptide bandwagon, being suggested to stimulate the regeneration and growth of skin cells and to reinforce the skin’s immune defenses in early studies (Clinics in Dermatology, 2009; Skin Care Ingredient Glossary, accessed 2014). Though the studies are limited, one study that used a serum with acetyl octapeptide-3, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and acetyl tetrapeptide-2 as three of the active ingredients noted that the forty-five subjects had an average reduction in skin redness of 32% after 28 days (Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2012).
In Your Best Face CORRECT Eye Cream, Uplevity™may increase the rate of cellular turnover with the delicate undereye skin, resulting in firmer, stronger skin overall.
Matrixyl® synthe’6™ (glycerin, water, hydroxypropyl cyclodextrin, palmitoyl tripeptide-38) may fight fine lines and wrinkles
A fancy name for a complex that includes the active component palmitoyl tripeptide-38, Matrixyl Synthe’6 was designed by Sederma to stimulate collagen production by stimulating the six major constituents of the skin matrix, as well as the dermal–epidermal junction (DEJ) (Sederma, 2012). In-house studies have shown definitively promotes the synthesis of three different fibers in the skin (collagen types 1 and 4 and fibronectin) (Sederma). In the company’s tests, this resulted in reduced the depth, volume, and appearance of crow’s feet and forehead wrinkles after two months of twice-daily use.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find independent studies on this peptide, but consider the research backing one of the company’s previous peptides, Matrixyl-3000, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more supportive studies pop up for this one (Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 2009).
In Your Best Face CORRECT Eye Cream, Matrixyl® synthe’6™ may reduce crow’s feet and other wrinkles when used on a twice-daily basis.
Cupuacu butter: Deeply Hydrating, Penetrates the Skin Well
Cupuacu Butter can be thought of as “Not Your Mother’s Cocoa Butter.” Also known as Theobroma grandiflorum seed butter, Cupuacu butter is derived from a tree of the same name found in Northern Brazil, deep within the Amazonian rain forest. The pulp of the fruit on the tree provides cupuacu butter (Journal of the American College for Clinical Wound Specialists, 2012).
Like shea butter, Cupuacu butter has been shown to have skin-softening, hydrating properties. However, unlike shea butter, Cupaucu butter penetrates the skin exceptionally well, getting deep into the layers of skin to have a deeply-hydrating, almost plumping, effect. In fact, Cupaucu butter has been made into biocompatible nanospheres that are capable of penetrating the skin at its deepest layers (Soft Materials, 2010).
In Your Best Face CORRECT Eye Cream, expect the addition of Cupuacu butter to add in a deeply hydrating, almost plumping effect.
Aspen bark extract and Quercetin Dihydrate: Antioxidants to Fight Free Radical-Induced Damage
Both aspen bark extract and quercetin dihydrate have more limited research surrounding their application in skin care. One study found aspen bark extract to be a natural antioxidant (Wood Science and Technology, 2009). Its effects in skin care have not been measured in a study to date (at least not one I could find).
Derived from onions, quercetin is an antioxidant that has been shown to have protective effects in skin care. Quercetin dihydrate has been shown to help prevent UVB-induced skin damage when topically applied to skin before UVB light is applied (European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 2008). Like cupuacu butter, quercetin dihydrate has also been used in applications to increase the penetration of ingredients into the skin (International Journal of Therapeutics, 1998).
In Your Best Face CORRECT Eye Cream, these antioxidants will help to protect the skin from other damage.
Personal Use and Opinions
The overall experience when using Your Best Face CORRECT Eye Cream is the same: The formulation is still yellow and opaque, with a custard-yellow color. Instead of being medium thick like the previous iteration of the eye cream, the new Correct is a medium-light, easily spreadable cream that now dispenses easily. It glides across the skin without pulling or tugging. Your Best Face CORRECT Eye Cream absorbs into the skin rather quickly, and is suitable for applying primer or concealer on the area within a minute after a normal application.
Your Best Face CORRECT Eye Cream contains some ingredients like hydrators and vasoconstrictors that will make a difference in your undereye skin quickly, especially if it has significant damage to begin with. However, most of the ingredients in Your Best Face CORRECT Eye Cream will take a full 4-6 weeks of twice-daily use to see a marked difference.
Bottom Line: Still An Ultimate Eye Cream for Fine Lines, Dark Circles, and Puffiness
Your Best Face CORRECT Eye Cream is still one of my all-time favorite products — if anything, it has gotten better after the reformulation. It brightens and firms the undereye skin, and reduces undereye puffiness. It is also likely to somewhat reduce dark circles that are caused by pigmentation with its lightening ingredients, as well as dark circles that are caused by blood pooling. (It’s extremely rare to get both!)
Bottom line: A great product, and I’m proud to pass word about this one along to my readers! Product Rating: 10/10 (High concentration of proven effective ingredients: 3/3. Unique formulation or new technology: 3/3. Value for the money: 3/3. Sunscreen: 0/1, but I gave it a bonus point for overall awesomeness.)
Ingredients: reverse osmosis water, cetearyl olivate (and) sorbitan olivate, Eyeseryl® (water, acetyl tetrapeptide-5),
ceteareth-6 olivate, Haloxyl® (hydroxysuccinimide, chrysin, palmitoyl oligopeptide, palmitoyl tetrapeptide-3), Leucidal®
(leuconostoc/radish root ferment filtrate), licorice root ex-tract, Syn®-Hycan (tetradecyl aminobutyroylvalylaminobut-
yric urea trifluoroacetate, magneisum chloride, glycerin),Uplevity™(water, acetyl tetrapeptide-2, caprylyl glycol), eth-
ylhexyl palmitate, Syn®-Tacks (glycerin, palmitoyl dipeptide-5 diaminobutyroyl hydroxythreonine, palmitoyl dipeptide-5
diaminohydroxybutyrate), Matrixyl® synthe’6™ (glycerin, water, hydroxypropyl cyclodextrin, palmitoyl tripeptide-38),
Tego® Pep 4-17 (tetrapeptide-21, glycerin, butylene glycol, water), dimethicone/vinyl dimethicone crosspolymer (and)
silica, ethoxydiglycol, alpha arbutin, Matrixyl™ 3000 (glycerin, butylene glycol, carbomer, polysorbate-20, palmitoyl
oligopeptide, palmitoyl tripeptide-3), Renovage (triglyceride, teprenone), olive leaf extract, Relistase™(glycerin, acetyl-
arginyltryptophyl diphenylglycine), polyquaternium-10, caffeine, cupuacu butter, aspen bark extract, spin trap
(phenyl butyl nitrone), Homeostatine® (enteromorpha compressa extract, caesalpina gum), sorbitan olivate, trans res-
veratrol, tetrahydrodiferyloylmethane, Sepilift DPHP (dipalmitoyl hydroxyproline), vitamin e, lipochroman-6
(dimethylmethoxy chromanol), dimethyl isosorbide, co-enzyme Q10, vitamin B5, quercetin dihydrate, alpha
bisabolol, alpha lipoic acid (R-lipoic acid), violet leaf absolute, oakmoss absolute