Think you’re too young to use eye cream? Think again! The delicate area around your eyes is one of the first parts of your face to develop fine lines and wrinkles, which means you can’t start protecting it soon enough. The best way to do that is with a great eye cream; which is why in this article, we’re discussing when to start using eye cream, how to use eye cream, and some of the best vegan eye creams on the market.
IN A NUTSHELL
Main Takeaways: The delicate area around your eyes doesn't produce as much oil as the rest of your skin and therefore ages faster. For that reason, the earlier you start using eye cream, the better.
Good to Know: When applying eye cream, use your ring finger for a gentle touch on this delicate area of your face.
Recommended Products: Eyes Eyes Baby Anti-Aging Eye Cream.
What Age Should I Start Using Eye Cream?
If you’re even just slightly into skincare, you’ve probably asked yourself this question. Unlike many other skincare conundrums, there is actually a one-size-fits-all answer to this: yesterday! The truth is, no matter what your skin type, no matter how old you are, no matter what ethnicity you are, if you are an adult, you cannot start using eye cream soon enough. Why is that?
Well, the skin around the eye area is incredibly delicate because it’s much, much thinner than the skin on the rest of your face. That means it ages much faster. Also, the skin around the eye area doesn’t produce as much oil as the rest of the skin on your face. That means it dries out more easily which causes wrinkles and fine lines.
When it comes to keeping your skin looking young and staying healthy, prevention is key, especially around the eyes. To delay any unwanted signs of aging, it is advisable to begin using an eye cream as early as your 20s. While your skin is likely still plump and firm at this age, lifestyle and environmental factors, such as lack of sleep and sun damage, can stress your skin and result in unsightly puffiness and dark circles. Your body then begins to produce less collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid after the age of 30, which leads to all the other typically unwanted signs of aging we previously mentioned. That being said, no matter what age you are currently, if you haven’t added eye cream to your daily skincare routine, we highly recommend starting now!
How to Use Eye Cream
Using an eye cream is a super simple part of a great skincare routine. Once you’ve gone through your usual skincare routine — cleansed, toned, applied serum, and used a moisturizer — take your eye cream and apply it gently with your ring finger. Without tugging, dot the eye cream over your eye area, going up and out towards your temples. Make sure you get the entire eye area - you can include your eyelids, if needed–and make sure you don’t get it in your eyes! Use eye cream morning and evening for best results.
Now that you know how and when to use eye cream, here’s a selection of seven of our favorites:
1. Best Overall Eye Cream
Fleur & Bee: Eyes Eyes Baby Anti-Aging Eye Cream
If you’re looking for an overall performer that covers dark circles, wrinkles, and puffiness, it’s all but impossible to beat Fleur & Bee’s Eyes Eyes Baby eye cream. Made with 18 nourishing actives- including aloe vera leaf juice, organic sunflower seed oil, squalane, and green tea leaf extract this firming, anti-aging cream is made for all skin types.
2. Best Brightening Eye Cream
boscia: Indigo Eye Cream
One of the biggest problems caused by the thin, delicate skin around the eye area is dullness–that part of the face often doesn’t look as healthy and vibrant as the rest of the face. boscia’s indigo eye cream is the perfect solution for helping revive the skin around the eyes and restoring its vibrance.
3. Best Eye Cream for Dark Circles
grace & stella: Brightening & Moisturizing Eye Cream
If you’re like a lot of us, there’s a good chance you might wake up in the morning with big dark circles when you’ve had little sleep or had a little too much alcohol the night before. Unfortunately, it’s not a cute look - which is why we love grace & stella’s eye repair cream. It gets to work on dark circles so no one will even know you’ve been up all night.
4. Best Eye Cream for Sensitive Skin
human+kind: 3-In-1 Face Cream
Just as the skin on the rest of your face can be sensitive to certain products, the environment, medication or anything else, the skin around your eyes can be incredibly sensitive which is why it’s super important to choose an eye cream that won’t irritate them further. This eye cream from human + kind (it’s called face cream, but it works as an eye cream) is well-known for being non-irritating on sensitive skin.
5. Best Stick Eye Cream
Peace Out: Retinol Eye Stick
Although it’s really pretty easy to apply eye cream, for some people, an eye stick is a better choice. For them, we recommend Peace Out’s Retinol Eye Stick. Made with retinol and peptides, it’s a great choice for repairing skin–just remember, though, since it uses retinol, it’s a good idea to start with using it just once or twice a week as your skin adjusts.
6. Best Anti-Aging Eye Cream
Pacifica Beauty: Vegan Collagen Recovery Eye Cream
If the area around your eyes is looking a bit older than you’d like, Pacifica Beauty’s eye cream is a great way to get that skin back in shape. In addition to caffeine for de-puffing your eyes, it also contains hyaluronic acid to hydrate them. And at just $16, it’s a great bargain!
7. Best Smoothing Eye Cream
Good Faith: Smoothing Eye Cream with Caffeine
The skin around the eye area is one of the first parts of your face where skin can start looking really rough and uneven. To help smooth it out, apply an eye cream like Good Faith smoothing eye cream with caffeine. And we know we’re not including a “Best Packaging” category this time, but if we did, this would be a strong contender!
Hopefully, this article has convinced you to start using eye cream as soon as it’s possible. Although you may not notice much of a difference right now, we promise you’ll be thanking us in a few years!
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