Whether you currently embrace a multistep skin-care routine or aim to keep things simple, there’s one product dermatologists say you shouldn’t be ruling out: eye cream.
The delicate skin surrounding our eyes tends to be one of the first areas of our face to show signs of aging, photodamage, and stress (including lack of sleep), and eye creams can be an effective reparative and/or preventive option, to address a number of different concerns. “The skin around our eyes is the thinnest skin on our body and prone to early signs of aging, so everyone is a candidate for an eye cream,” says Dr. Jessie Cheung, a board-certified dermatologist in Willowbrook, Illinois. “You can start using an eye cream in your 20s, for extra protection from the sun and environmental pollution causing collagen loss.”
But how do you know which eye cream is best for you? According to Dr. Cheung, a good eye cream should function as more than just a simple moisturizer. Like a face serum, eye creams (and eye serums and eye treatments) can target specific skin concerns and will contain the right combination of ingredients in order to be most effective. So, even if you’re a cleanser-moisturizer-sunscreen-and-nothing-else kind of person, it could definitely be beneficial to incorporate an eye cream into your skin-care lineup.
Ahead, experts share their go-to ingredients and treatments for targeting five of the most common skin-related eye concerns.
Dark circles
Whether you’ve been burning the midnight oil or just have genetics to blame, dark circles can age us and make us look exhausted, no matter how well-rested we may be. To help brighten under-eye skin over time, Dr. Cheung recommends reaching for eye creams with nonirritating lightening ingredients, to halt excess pigmentation production and create a more lively appearance.
According to both Dr. Cheung and NYC board-certified dermatologist Dr. Joshua Zeichner, one of the best ingredients for addressing this concern is vitamin C. This potent antioxidant will help slow down the production of abnormal pigmentation under the eye in order to brighten it, explains Dr. Zeichner. Plus it offers an array of other youth-boosting benefits, like improving the appearance of dark spots, lines, and wrinkles and boosting collagen production. And because it’s such a powerful antioxidant, it’ll also protect your skin from UV ray–induced sun damage. (But don’t forget your sunscreen!)
Of course, vitamin C isn’t the only brightening powerhouse out there. Dr. Cheung also recommends reaching for ingredients like niacinamide, which lightens bothersome circles and spots by preventing pigment transfer within the skin, as well as soy, kojic acid, azelaic acid, and licorice, all of which block the enzyme tyrosinase, preventing the production of excess pigment.
BeautyStat Universal C Eye Perfector ($65)
This antioxidant-rich eye treatment—think of it as a cream-serum hybrid—is formulated with 5% stabilized vitamin C and green tea extract (EGCG), to refresh and brighten the eye area, helping to lighten dark circles over time as it improves signs of aging. The formula also contains anti-inflammatory ingredients like caffeine, which is great for targeting puffiness, and hyaluronic acid, which helps to hydrate and plump the look of lines and wrinkles.
Mutha Up All Night Eye Cream ($90)
Dr. Cheung recommends this luminous eye cream for providing both instant and long-term results. “It instantly brightens with pearl powder but also targets dark circles with niacinamide, licorice, antioxidants, and repairing botanical extracts,” she says. Additionally, it contains a blend of hyaluronic acid, kefiran, and a rice peptide to protect, hydrate, and repair tired skin. Plus it layers nicely under makeup, making it a great base for concealer when you’re faking a full night’s sleep.
Puffiness
Other common eye concerns that leave us looking depleted are puffiness and under-eye bags, which can be caused by a number of factors, from an actual lack of sleep to allergies, water retention from a poor diet, and age-related volume loss. Fortunately, there are some ingredients commonly found in eye creams that help remedy these concerns, both instantly and over time.
For a quick fix, turn to caffeine. Much like our morning cup of coffee gives us that necessary jolt, to feel more alert and awake, topical caffeine has anti-inflammatory properties that can help us appear more awake. “It helps constrict blood vessels, which provides a de-puffing effect to the under-eye area,” explains Dr. Zeichner.
If puffiness is more of a consistent concern, there are skin-care solutions that can help improve it over time. Dr. Cheung says that by improving the quality of our skin with collagen-boosting ingredients like retinols, peptides, and antioxidants, we can help prevent a puffy appearance in the long run, so long as it’s related to skin and volume and not caused by something like allergies or a poor diet.
Expert tip? Try keeping your eye cream in the refrigerator and then massaging it in with your fingertips or smoothing it in with a chilled roller tool, to amp up the puffiness-reducing benefits. Cold temperatures can also constrict blood vessels, providing a de-puffing effect, while light pressure encourages lymphatic drainage of the fluid collecting under your eyes.
The INKEY List Caffeine Eye Cream ($9.99)
When it comes to zapping away eye bags and puffiness instantly, both derms recommend reaching for an eye cream with the anti-inflammatory superstar caffeine. This affordable cream works double duty, thanks to added peptides with collagen-boosting effects.
Senté Illuminé Eye Cream ($99)
This multitasking eye cream targets puffy eye bags while improving the appearance of dark circles, fine lines, and redness. While it counts skin-strengthening and hydrating heparan sulfate analog (HSA) as its key ingredient, it’s also packed with niacinamide—which, being a potent antioxidant, can also help to improve puffiness and eye bags over time.
Fine lines, wrinkles, and crepey skin
If you’re trying to treat such signs of aging as fine lines, wrinkles, and crepey skin around the eye zone, no cream can achieve results as dramatic or quick as those from a cosmetic procedure or injectables. But if you’re not yet ready to take the plunge, there are some ingredients that can provide noticeable gradual improvements.
For starters, turn to retinol, the gold standard of anti-aging ingredients. “It’s the best-studied ingredient we have, to stimulate collagen, strengthen the skin, and improve the appearance of wrinkles,” says Dr. Zeichner. Eye creams are typically formulated with a lower concentration of retinol than that of face serums and moisturizers, to avoid being too harsh, but if you’re extra-sensitive to retinol, you can opt for gentler derivatives of vitamin A like retinyl palmitate or alternatives like bakuchiol.
Dr. Cheung is also a fan of targeting signs of aging with growth factors, particularly those derived from humans. “Growth factors are signaling proteins that function as communicators between cells, and skin-specific growth factors support cell turnover and collagen production,” thus helping to improve the appearance of crow’s-feet, crepey skin, and other eye-related signs of aging. Phyto growth factors (meaning they’re derived from plants, not humans or animals) are also available in eye treatment formulas, but most experts believe bio-derived to be more effective.
Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Ferulic + Retinol Eye Cream ($69)
This nourishing eye cream features a potent blend of retinol, retinol-boosting antioxidant ferulic acid, and a special complex of amino acids and actives, to revitalize the skin surrounding the eyes. The formula not only improves the look of lines and wrinkles but also firms the skin while strengthening its natural moisture barrier.
Omni Bioceutical Innovations TaC Daily Restorative Eye Serum with M-007 ($114)
This daily serum is Dr. Cheung’s top pick in the growth-factor category. “It delivers human growth factor proteins below the skin’s surface, to boost collagen production and tighten and smooth the skin,” she says. It also contains peptides and botanical extracts, to protect and improve the overall appearance of the eye area.
Skin laxity
As we age, we may start to notice a loss in firmness and sagging of the skin—otherwise known as skin laxity—around our eyes. While this can be caused by a number of factors, including genetics and overexposure to the sun, the natural degradation of the collagen, elastin, proteins, and hyaluronic acid in our skin as we age is a major contributor. Again, no eye cream will yield the same results as a cosmetic procedure, but there are specific ingredients that can certainly make an improvement.
Dr. Cheung recommends using eye creams formulated with peptides, which boost collagen and elastin production. “Collagen gives firmness to the skin, while elastin reduces sagging,” she explains, so incorporating peptides into your eye-care routine can help to tighten and lift skin in this area. Another ingredient to reach for is hyaluronic acid, which Dr. Zeichner says can plump the skin and improve the appearance of hollow under-eyes caused by sagging skin. HA is also great for temporarily plumping and smoothing out the look of fine lines and wrinkles, so it’ll target multiple concerns at once.
Embryolisse Smoothing Eye Contour Care ($25)
As Dr. Zeichner mentioned, hyaluronic acid is great for addressing sagging skin around the eyes, due to its plumping effect, which can reduce the “hollow” look. This gentle eye cream from Embryolisse is packed with HA, while a blend of plant extracts takes it a step further, helping to fade dark circles and reduce puffiness.
Alastin Skincare Restorative Eye Treatment ($85)
Dr. Cheung recommends this eye treatment for treating sagging skin around the eyes. Because it contains peptides that stimulate collagen and elastin production, she says, it can help restore firmness to the delicate, thin skin of this area. “It also has niacinamide and botanical extracts, to brighten,” she adds, making it an effective option for dark circles too.
Sun damage
Antioxidants are key for protecting against damaging UV rays and preventing and reversing signs of sun damage around the eyes. We mentioned vitamin C and retinol, but vitamin E and resveratrol are two other ingredients to know. Vitamin E, on its own, protects against photodamage while nourishing the skin, but it becomes all the more powerful when paired with vitamin C. Resveratrol, on the other hand, has been proven in studies to have cancer-preventive properties that protect skin cells from both UVA and UVB rays.
Furtuna Skin Porte Per La Vitalità Face & Eye Serum ($185)
This serum’s antioxidant-heavy formula is powered by nutrient-dense plants, including Anchusa azurea, chicory, asparagus, beets, and mallow. In addition to protecting the skin from free radical damage caused by the sun and other environmental stressors, it helps to firm, lift, reduce puffiness, and correct uneven skin tone.
Caudalie Resveratrol-Lift Eye Firming Gel Cream ($59)
Resveratrol, a potent antioxidant for preventing and reversing the signs of photodamage, is the star of this formula; it also includes hyaluronic acid and mahogany bark extract (a vegan collagen alternative) in order to firm, depuff, and reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles, while peptides smooth and redefine the contours of the eyes.
