Eye Creams. Controversial and yet so appealing. Expensive, small sizes of promises in a bottle for lines, dark circles and puffiness. Check my post about dark circles HERE if you want to know more on that subject. While I totally agree you don't need a separate eye cream, I happen to personally love them. Yes they're overpriced for their small size but there are a few that actually really do wonders. Everyone always asks what my favorite eye cream is. I narrowed it down to three for you. This list always changes based on new discoveries. Keep in mind I'm almost 42, I have dark circles, fines lines & wrinkles plus occasional puffiness. I am a perfect candidate for an eye cream that has more treatment benefits versus just hydration to plump fine lines.
A few years back I discovered African Botanics Resurrection Eye Cream. This is one of my favorite luxury eye creams. African Botanics is eco luxe. They have stellar ingredient lists, textures and they're effective. This was reformulated a little while back. It's now in a pump and the texture is slightly thinner but still hydrating enough for my dry under eyes. It has resurrection plant which I love, peptides from rice protein, lupine, algae, vitamin C & E, niacinamide, hibiscus (natural AHA), green coffee (antioxidant, anti-aging), caffein, cucumber, arnica, licorice and several oils.
This eye cream manages to not only hydrate and plump fine lines away, it really firms and makes the skin around the eye area more taut. Trust me when you have the ability to notice taut in your under eye skin you'll notice when an eye cream can give it to you. It has a great texture, it works for what I need it to and I'm on bottle number three, despite the price. My last bottle I used nightly for almost six months. It lasted forever. I have dry under eyes so I really need a moderately hydrating eye cream, a light one won't do it for me. This manages to hydrate, plump, firm and tighten well. It helps with puffiness and moderately with dark circles. Read my post above why I don't care if an eye cream does dark circles (I'm not the best candidate to test for dark circles due to heredity). This will easily be one I repurchase time and time again. Review HERE.
When Drunk Elephant launched C-Tango Multivitamin Eye Cream I was quickly smitten. This eye cream has a hydrating texture. It's not rich and super emollient as in greasy or heavy, but it's creamy and pretty hydrating. It you have drier under eyes you'll love it. It's packaged in an airless pump and is the most affordable of the eye creams I listed today. This has five forms of vitamin C which brightens and stimulates collagen production plus eight peptides to help reduce fine lines & wrinkles. It's also got soothing & depuffing cucumber extract. You won't find a better eye cream for the price that actually tackles issues. It brightens a touch on me (again hereditary), firms, hydrates, plumps and reduces lines and wrinkles. I don't get quite as taut skin with this one as I do African Botanics but it's a great day cream for me. I'm on number three as well and will continue to repurchase. It's the most affordable eye cream rec you'll get from me because it actually works beyond just plumping & hydrating. Review HERE.
My recent eye cream obsession is the Eighth Day Skin Eye Renewal Cream. This has a nice medium weight texture as well that suits my drier eyes overnight during all seasons. It has a good percentage of neuropeptide Dipeptide Diaminobutyroyl Benzylamide Diacetate aka SY-NAKE (synthetic peptide that is made to mimic the one in snake venom). It helps relax facial muscles therefore reducing lines. This eye cream also has growth factors, peptides and a fair amount of great ingredients like beta glucan, niacinamide, Hesperidin Methyl Chalcone & arnica (reduce dark circles), brightening alpha arbutin & kojic acid, multiple forms of vitamin C & hyaluronic acid, goji & bilberry. It was great at giving that same taut feeling to my under eye skin as African Botanics, plus it reduces fine lines & wrinkles with moderate brightening (for me and again not my main eye cream focus). It's very pricey but it's effective. I just bought bottle number two. Review HERE.
If your concerns are fine lines and wrinkles, desires increased firmness and taut skin under the eyes plus want a moderate level of hydration and plumping—all of these will do that for you. They all brighten to some degree as well depending on your predisposition to dark circles. While they're all pretty hydrating enough to suit drier under eyes they're also not too heavy or emollient. They're not greasy at all so they should suit most. However if you have oily skin around the eyes you may look for a sample first to see. I never get milia with these creams.
Drunk Elephant would be my recommendation for both younger and older eyes (obviously as that’s me). It’s more affordable for the younger budget as well. I don’t think younger eyes need to spend that much on the Eighth Day Skin or African Botanics. Those two are really great for 35+ who will notice the benefits of a well done eye cream more so it’s more worth the splurge. In general young to mid 20s can get away with just a simple plumping eye cream or even your face cream. It really depends on your eye issues. I prefer an eye cream because they’re formulated with gentler eye safe actives so I don’t have to think about it when I apply.
There have been a few others that deserve a mention here as well. Omorovicza Blue Diamond Eye Cream used to be in my top 3. It firms the eye area really well and I think it's a great one still. Neocutis Lumiere I think will become another top favorite but I'm waiting until I'm fully finished with it. In my 20s I loved Clinique All About Eyes which is a great eye cream for plumping that’s affordable and really all I needed at that age.
Top to Bottom-Drunk Elephant, African Botanics, Eighth Day Skin:
*Drunk Elephant gifted but I purchased my first and all thoughts are still my own.
