When I was five or six years old, I was interested in skin care. My mother wasn’t really sure what to do about that, so I got a jar of Noxzema. When I was thirteen, I was allowed to go to the Clinique counter, where I indulged in the 3-Step System, one of my first lifetime purchases that wasn’t, like, a bag of candy.
And when I was sixteen, I started to try other brands, including Shiseido. I was really excited about that — the brand seemed very grown-up. I was always drawn to their refined, elegant Asian style. I swore by the Shiseido The Skincare Day Moisture Protection SPF 15 everyday for years. The Shiseido Benefiance Wrinkle Resist 24 Intensive Eye Contour Cream is no exception, as an ultrarich, age-defying cream. Designed to visibly improve the appearance of all types of eye area wrinkles, especially inner corner creases, crow’s feet, and lid creases, it promises to reduce wrinkles over time.
I’m impressed with the temporary aesthetic properties of this product for deep wrinkles, but I’m not blown away by the effects for long-term wrinkle reduction. I give it a #MAYBE_TRY. For more, read on!
Improves Wrinkles Instantly
Shiseido Benefiance Wrinkle Resist 24 Intensive Eye Contour Cream contains a delightful mix of wrinkle-filling ingredients like mineral oil and petrolatum, plus hydrators like glycerin, squalane, and beeswax. Butylene glycol increases the penetration of all of these ingredients so they can actually get into the skin in the first place. These thick, highly moisturizing ingredients will fill in hard-to-target areas like inner corner eye creases and crow’s feet instantly.
So if you’re looking for a great cosmetic treatment, Shiseido Benefiance Wrinkle Resist 24 Intensive Eye Contour Cream will fit the bill. Simply apply, let dry for about 30 seconds, and then follow with your favorite primer and/or foundation.
Not Impressed with the Anti-Aging Ingredients, Except Hyaluronic Acid
Shiseido Benefiance Wrinkle Resist 24 Intensive Eye Contour Cream contains burnet extract, which the company claims will revitalize cells and counteract a loss of firmness.
Burnet plants (Sanguisorba officinalis L.) have been found in studies to exhibit excellent hair growth inhibition (Source). The leaves have a number of beneficial skin ingredients, including antioxidant catechins (like in green tea), quercetin (like in grape seed extract), and tannins (like in wines). For the skin, burnet leaves have been reported to be astringent, refining, refreshing, and smoothing the skin.
But compared to the “big six” anti-aging ingredients I recommend for the skin — retinoids, vitamins C and E, niacinamide, peptides, amino acids, and sunscreen — there isn’t nearly as much research out there substantiating that burnet plants will improve the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. If Shiseido has this information in their laboratories, that’s great, but they need to release it into peer-reviewed research journals before the beauty editors, journalists, bloggers, and other reviewers are even going to begin to think of it as an alternative to any of the “big six” anti-aging ingredients.
Proline has been found to fight wrinkles, but only when used in conjunction with leucine and glycine (European Journal of Dermatology, 2013). Interestingly, many peptides are comprised of sequences including proline, including the firming palmitoyl oligopeptide, which has the sequence valine-glycine-valine-alanine-proline-glycine. A 2007 study in Dermatologic Therapy suggests that this significantly stimulates human skin collagen production in fibroblasts, which may slow the degradation of collagen over time. But Shiseido Benefiance Wrinkle Resist 24 Intensive Eye Contour Cream contains hydroxyproline, not a combination or sequence of amino acids. So I’m not that impressed.
Bottom Line
Shiseido Benefiance Wrinkle Resist 24 Intensive Eye Contour Cream can be thought of as an excellent “cosmetic” product, but the truth of the matter is, there are far better anti-agers on the market for long-term benefits. I give this one a #MAYBE_TRY.
Ingredients:
Water, Hydrogenated Polydecene, Mineral Oil, Glycerin, Petrolatum, Butylene Gylcol, Paraffin, Polyglyceryl-2 Diisostearate, Squalane, Glyceryl Oleate, Sodium Glutamate, Sodium PCA, Dipropylene Glycol, Beeswax, Microcrystalline Wax, Polyethyene, Methylparaben, Phytosteryl/Octydodecyl Lauroyl Glutamate, Fragrance, Trisodium EDTA, Tocopheryl Acetate, Alcohol, Tocopherol, Iron Oxides (CI 77492), Butyphenyl Methylpropional, Sapindus Mukurossi Peel Extract, Limonene, Linalool, Citronellol, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Geraniol, Unicaria Gambir Extract, Benzyl Benzoate, Hexyl Cinnamal, Sanguisorba Officinalis Root Extract, Sodium Acetylated Hyaluronate, Hydroxyproline, Iron Oxides (CI 77491), Chlorella Vulgaris Extract, BHT