How to Find the Best Eye Cream

The eye area is one of the first places where you’ll see signs of ageing. So, it follows that many will start looking for an eye cream to address concerns like fine lines, wrinkles, loss of firmness, under eye darkness, and puffiness. We want to make sure you’re using the best eye cream for your needs, so we put together a list of tips to make your search easier — and help you avoid disappointment.

Tips for Finding the Best Eye Cream for You

Whether they’re caused by working long hours or staying up late, improving the appearance of your skin in the eye area requires a good eye skincare product. Choosing the right one for you is crucial in achieving desired results. These tips can help you select the right eye cream to address your skin ageing woes:

• Look for eye creams that contain a mix of the types of anti-ageing ingredients that everyone’s skin needs: antioxidants, skin-replenishing ingredients, and skin-restoring ingredients. Examples include glycerin, sodium hyaluronate, ceramides, non-fragrant plant extracts, butters and oils, vitamins, peptides, retinol, omega fatty acids, and triglycerides.
   
• Any eye cream you use should be fragrance-free. Whether natural (like essential oils) or synthetic, fragrance is a strong source of sensitising and allergic reactions. It’s also a big no-no for eye care products you apply so close to the eye itself.
   
• Keep expectations realistic: No eye cream is going to completely eliminate wrinkles, lift sagging skin, erase puffy eyes, or remove dark eye circles. A great eye cream will treat dehydrated skin and smoothen skin texture. It will also visibly firm, brighten and diminish the look of lines, bags under the eyes, dark eye circles, puffy eyes, and wrinkles — and that’s exciting!
  
  
• Avoid purchasing eye cream packaged in a jar. Jar packaging allows brilliant anti-ageing ingredients, like retinol, plant oils, and antioxidants to begin deteriorating the moment you open the jar. In addition, there’s the issue of hygiene each time you dip your finger (or spatula) into the jar.

• For daytime, look for an eye cream that offers broad-spectrum sun protection and is rated SPF 30 or greater. If you can’t find one you like, apply a thin layer of your regular eye cream, and follow with your daytime moisturizer with sunscreen – make sure it’s fragrance-free.
   
• Many people like to use different products for morning and night. The ideal eye cream for normal skin might actually be an eye gel that provides lightweight hydration, relief from certain kinds of puffiness, and works well under sunscreen and makeup for daytime use. At night, a rich, emollient moisturizer with a balm-like texture can serve as an eye mask to deliver results while you sleep.

• For advanced signs of ageing, the best eye cream for crow’s feet is fortified with ingredients like brightening vitamin C, anti-ageing retinol, and targeted peptides. If you need an eye cream for sensitive skin, look for ones containing soothing omega fatty acids and ceramides to strengthen the skin's barrier.

• Surprise! Not everyone needs eye cream. If the moisturizer and/or serum you use are well formulated and fragrance-free, you can use them around the eyes, too. The exception is if the facial moisturizer and serum you use aren’t emollient or enriched enough for your eye area. Eye area skin that’s drier, shows a loss of firmness, and shows dark circles requires a more luxurious, enhanced formula for optimum visible improvement—that’s where the best eye cream excels.

A variety of eye care products are available, which is why selecting one can be a bit challenging. Antioxidant serums containing skin-restoring ingredients such as ceramides, niacinamide, peptides, and more are helpful in providing the skin with the protection it needs from environmental stressors that lead to skin ageing. Vitamin C for skin brightening aids in boosting the skin’s radiance, while a retinol eye serum works great in smoothing out the skin’s texture and reducing the appearance of wrinkles, dark circles, and fine lines. You need to choose an eye cream that contains the necessary ingredients that can effectively work on your skin concerns.

Learn more about eye cream and other eye care products online here.

Shop our eye care products for brighter, younger-looking undereye.

References for this information:

Aging Research Reviews, January 2015, pages 8–21
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, July 2014, pages 177–184
Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, July 2014, ePublication
Dermatoendocrinology, July 2012, pages 253–258
British Journal of Dermatology, March 2010, pages 647–654