As you’ve probably noticed, your eye area tends to be pretty revealing about your lifestyle choices. Enjoy a wild night out, for example, and you might end up with some puffiness and dark circles under your eyes the next morning.
Using the best eye cream can be a major help when it comes to keeping that thin, delicate skin around your peepers looking bright and smooth. Plus, using the right eye cream as part of your natural skincare routine can keep you looking younger, longer.
Knowing how to pick the best eye cream, however, can be a challenge. We’re here to help with a breakdown of the best eye cream for dark circles, the best eye cream for wrinkles, the best eye cream for bags and puffiness, the best anti-aging eye cream, and the best eye cream for sensitive skin.
IN A NUTSHELL
Main Takeaways: When choosing an eye cream, look for ingredients that target your eye area concern. If your main concern is dark circles, look for brightening ingredients. If it’s wrinkles, look for hydrating ingredients; and if it’s bags or puffiness, look for soothing antioxidants.
Good to Know: As we age, the skin makes less of key proteins elastin and collagen, causing it to lose plumpness and show wrinkles. The eye area is the first to show these signs of aging, so it’s best to start using an eye cream before this happens.
Recommended Products: Eyes Eyes Baby Anti-Aging Eye Cream.
Best Anti Aging Eye Cream
As we age, the skin makes less of key proteins elastin and collagen, causing it to lose the plump, supple look it had when we’re younger. That can be even more obvious around the eye area, where the skin is thin and delicate. If you’re concerned about aging skin around the eyes, look for an eye cream designed to combat exactly that.
The best eye cream ingredients to look for are:
Aloe — This soothing, hydrating plant helps the area around the eyes retain moisture, minimizing the look of fine lines and wrinkles.
Sunflower Oil — This gentle moisturizing oil is rich in antioxidants and helps diminish the signs of aging.
Jojoba — Much like the skin’s sebum (oil), jojoba adds hydration and keeps skin looking firm and plump.
Glycerin — This natural moisturizer softens, smooths, and helps keep signs of aging at bay.
Green tea — An antioxidant powerhouse that adds nutrients to skin, helping it stay younger looking, longer.
Vitamin C — A skin brightening antioxidant that also helps to retain skin’s texture and keep it looking youthful and smooth.
Fleur & Bee: Eyes Eyes Baby Anti-Aging Eye Cream
This soothing, hydrating eye cream uses ingredients like vitamin B3, caffeine, vitamin E and squalane to help minimize the look of fine lines and wrinkles, prevent damage, and decrease the appearance of dark circles and tired-looking eyes.
Best Eye Cream for Dark Circles
If you’re dealing with dark circles, you need ingredients that help to brighten the area around your eyes and make ‘em pop. Truth be told, dark circles can be one of the hardest things to treat, so under eye concealer will also be your friend. An eye cream that combines both might be your best bet for a daytime eye cream.
To find the best eye cream to minimize the look of dark circles, look for the following ingredients:
Coffee — More than just your a.m. pick-me-up, coffee also perks up your skin. Its antioxidant quotient can boost nutrients and help your skin feel refreshed and renewed.
Caffeine — This wonder ingredient actually helps to reduce the appearance of puffiness, smooth and brighten your skin.
Green tea — A powerful antioxidant, green tea can reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
Hyaluronic Acid — This naturally occurring substance starts to decrease as we age, but adding it back in helps to plump and revitalize the skin.
Vitamin E — This restorative antioxidant helps to even out skin tone and protect.
Honest Beauty: Bright Eyes Tinted Eye Cream
During the day, opt for an eye cream that does double duty. This tinted eye cream adds an illuminating pearl tint to brighten under your eyes, while hyaluronic acid hydrates and plumps your delicate skin.
Best Eye Cream for Wrinkles
Plagued by wrinkles around your eyes? If those crow’s feet are getting to you, you need an eye cream that addresses the aging process and gives some TLC to the delicate skin around your eye area. When looking for the best eye cream to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, seek out these ingredients:
Gotu Kola — This ancient plant has been used for thousands of years to restore a youthful appearance and reduce the look of fine lines and wrinkles.
Glycerin — This natural moisturizer helps to attract water, keeping the skin around your eyes plump and soft.
Aloe — Soothing and hydrating, aloe helps to minimize the signs of aging.
Hyaluronic Acid — This natural substance, created by our own skin, helps to plump and firm.
Squalane — Squalane mimics our skin’s own sebum, or oil, helping it to look firm and plump.
Jojoba — Much like squalane, jojoba resembles sebum and does an excellent job of retaining moisture and helping skin stay youthful.
Evening Primrose Seed Oil — Rich in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, this oil nourishes and helps soften the look of fine lines.
Willow Bark Extract — Known for its soothing properties, willow bark extract is the natural form of salicylic acid. It revitalizes and rejuvenates skin.
Tata Harper: Restorative Eye Creme
This splurge worthy eye cream utilizes natural ingredients like aloe, gotu kola and willow bark extract to address fine lines and help restore a youthful look.
Best Eye Cream for Bags and Puffiness
Bags and puffiness can be a bummer, and if you’ve had one too many all-night Netflix sessions or salty foods, it can easily show around your eyes. Luckily, there are eye creams designed specifically to address this area.
When you’re buying the best eye cream to minimize the look of bags and puffiness, look for the following ingredients:
Peptides — These little amino acids make up proteins like collagen and elastin that keep your skin plump and youthful.
Cucumber — Long known for its soothing effect on the eyes, cucumber helps reduce the look of puffiness.
Vitamin E — This protective antioxidant adds nutrients and rejuvenates the area around the eyes, minimizing the look of bags.
Caffeine — This energizing ingredient helps to perk up the delicate eye area.
Glycerin — This natural hydrator brings life back to your skin, helping to diminish the look of bags and puffiness.
Vitamin C — This all-powerful skin care ingredient can help to even out skin tone and minimize the look of any puffiness.
Drunk Elephant: C-Tango™ Multivitamin Eye Cream
Featuring an eight-peptide blend, cucumber, and a five vitamin C blend, this nutrient-packed eye cream is designed to revitalize and depuff the delicate eye area.
Best Eye Cream for Sensitive Skin
If you’re dealing with sensitive skin, you’re probably particularly so around the eye area, where skin is thinner and more delicate. You need an eye cream that’s formulated with gentle ingredients that can soothe and protect.
The best eye creams for sensitive skin include the following ingredients:
Vegan Ceramides — Restore your skin’s protective barrier and hydrate the skin.
Vitamin E — This antioxidant adds a protective layer, helping to defend sensitive skin.
Jojoba Oil — This gentle moisturizer mimics the body’s own oils, hydrating sensitive skin.
Squalane — Another soothing moisturizer, squalane hydrates similarly to sebum.
Calendula — Derived from a pretty orange flower, calendula is rich in antioxidants that help to firm the skin. It also has anti-inflammatory properties to soothe the skin around the eyes.
Since your skin is sensitive, you’ll want to avoid the following ingredients:
Parabens — These synthetic preservatives can cause irritation to the eye area.
Retinols — While retinols (a form of vitamin A) can be beneficial for anti-aging, they can cause dry eye and irritation when used too close to the eye area.
Nickel and Chrome — These heavy metals can cause allergic reactions.
Pacifica: Vegan Ceramide Barrier Eye Cream
Restore your skin’s natural protective barrier with vegan ceramides and soothe any sensitivities with marshmallow root and calendula extract.
Finding the Best Eye Creams
When you’re looking for the best under eye cream, make sure you take your specific needs into account and find one that works best for you. From bags to wrinkles, there are solutions to all your eye area issues. And now that you know the best eye cream options, you can shop smarter and keep that gorgeous gaze!
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