This paper concerns two methods for reducing large systems of chemical kinetics equations, namely, the method of intrinsic low-dimensional manifolds (ILDMs) due to Maas and Pope [Combust. Flame 88 (1992) Chem. Phys. 93 (1990) 1072. Both methods exploit the separation of fast and slow reaction time scales to find low-dimensional manifolds in the space of species concentrations where the long-term dynamics are played out. The asymptotic expansions of these manifolds (ε ↓ 0, where ε measures the ratio of the reaction time scales) are compared with the asymptotic expansion of M ε , the slow manifold given by geometric singular perturbation theory. It is shown that the expansions of the ILDM and M ε agree up to and including terms of O(ε); the former has an error at O(ε 2 ) that is proportional to the local curvature of M 0 . The error vanishes if and only if the curvature is zero everywhere. The iterative method generates, term by term, the asymptotic expansion of M ε . Starting from M 0 , the ith application of the algorithm yields the correct expansion coefficient at O(ε i ), while leaving the lower-order coefficients invariant. Thus, after applications, the expansion is accurate up to and including the terms of O(ε ). The analytical results are illustrated on a planar system from enzyme kinetics (Michaelis-Menten-Henri) and a model planar system due to Davis and Skodje.