Do You Actually Need Eye Cream?
There is the team "absolutely they are needed" and the team "they are expensive moisturizers in tiny jars” or “eye creams are a gimmick.”
Before I worked in product formulation development, I believed eye products were a nice luxury to have. I didn't think it was a necessity, and one could just hydrate their eye area with the same moisturizer they were using on the rest of their face. Then, when I learned about how eye creams are formulated, it changed my mind.
While I agree most eye creams contain many similar and overlapping ingredients as moisturizers, they are, for the most part, formulated differently. One would not necessarily know this by simply looking at the ingredient list. There are three main differences I have seen...
Overall, eye creams are formulated to be gentler with percentages of less active ingredients since the skin is significantly thinner and more delicate around the eye area. Think about it, would you want a face product to have the same percentages of retinol for your thin eye area? It's not a great idea.
Have you noticed eye creams are almost always fragrance-free? Synthetic fragrance can be irritating around the delicate eye area.
You may see some ingredients appear in an eye cream that you won't commonly see in a moisturizer, like caffeine. This powerhouse ingredient helps to constrict blood vessels and de-puff the eye area.
The bottom line, if you are looking for some basic hydration for your eye area, then rock on with your face moisturizer. If you are looking to treat specific eye area concerns or you are sensitive, I would recommend an eye cream formulated for such. I also don't think you need to shell out hundreds of dollars either, as there are many great affordable options. It's entirely up to you, and this is just my two cents. As always, I am just here to provide you with the info to make informed decisions. 😘
Eye Cream Picks
ALASTIN Skincare Restorative Eye Treatment - If you have crepy skin (particularly, on your eyelids) holy moly this eye cream is amazing.
100% Pure Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream - Amazing for dark circles and puffiness because of the caffeine. I also love their eye masks, 100% Pure Bright Eye Masks
I LOVE the DIEUX Forever Eye Masks - they are a reusable eye patch that you can apply any eye cream or eye serum under to maximize the benefits of. (Here is Harley modeling them! 😆)
SkinCeuticals A.G.E Eye Complex
If you’re looking for an eye cream with SPF I love the SUPERGOOP! Bright-Eyed 100% Mineral Eye Cream SPF 40
Retinol eye creams - ROC Retinol Correxion Eye Cream and Multi-Vitamin + Antioxidants PM Eye Treatment - It has retinol, CoQ10, vitamin C, E, and D.
Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Eye Crème
Alpyn Beauty Plantgenius Line-Filling Eye Balm
If you are a #babeonabudget Cerave Eye Repair Cream, Versed Zero-G Smoothing Eye Cream, or Mad Hippie Eye Cream are great options.
If you struggle with an extremely dry eye area the Peter Thomas Roth Mega Rich Intensive Anti-Aging Cellular Eye Cream is super moisturizing and balmy.
