Which eye cream is best? Our pick of the cutting-edge new crop
Whether for dark circles, itchy eyes or hooded lids, Beauty Director Ingeborg van Lotringen picks the best eye creams for every budget
Any products in this article have been selected editorially, however if you buy something we mention, we may earn commission
Your eye area – with the skin up to ten times thinner than the rest of your face (“as thin as 0.37mm in places,” says oculoplastic surgeon Sabrina Shah-Desai), few oil glands, and no supportive fat padding – is inevitably going to show signs of decline before the rest of your face does. So it makes sense to look after it from a young age. But whether you need a separate, expensive eye cream for that is a contentious subject – and with so many issues, and so, so many different types of eye creams offering a solution, where do you even begin? Here, is where.
Do you need an eye cream?
With skin this thin and prone to irritation, just slapping any face cream onto it is going to get you into trouble, so experts often say the eye area needs products that are ‘specially formulated’ for it. Also, you would do well to pay your eyes regular attention from an early age, and a dedicated eye cream can help you focus on that.
But at the same time, what the skin here needs most is efficient hydration and protection, delivered in most cases not directly onto the eyelid, but patted around it, onto the ‘orbital bone.’ Just enough oils and humectants will travel, or seep, from here onto the lids, without overwhelming the paper-thin skin and causing puffiness.
That means that if your face cream ticks the following boxes, you can use it around the eye area quite safely.
- It is not too heavy and loaded with occlusive ingredients such as petrolatum, shea butter or silicones.
- It doesn’t contain potent cell turnover boosters such as AHAs, salicylic acid, retinol or the acidic form of vitamin C, ascorbic acid (these will inflame eye skin if not in a dedicated formula).
- It is free from universal irritants such as fragrance and alcohol.
It’s worth noting that often your sunscreens can be used as an eye cream, as long as it’s unscented and you don’t smear it onto the lids. No-nonsense ‘cosmetics cop’ Paula Begoun of Paula’s Choice Skincare, who obviously has an interest in selling her products, is an avowed believer that many face products work fine for the eye area and says she only added eye creams to her range because her customers “kept asking for them”.
Reasons to pay for an eye cream
On the other hand, if your eye skin is in trouble and you want to bring out the ‘big guns’, then the safe way to do it is to invest in a dedicated eye cream. That is because firming and brightening agents, and wrinkle busters such as high-strength vitamin C, tranexamic acid and retinoids can only be used on super-delicate eye skin in specially-formulated eye creams and serums.
These ingredients need to be encapsulated, micro-dosed and formulated with compatible ingredients in a light lotion or serum texture to be suitable for the eye area while being potent enough to make a difference, and that’s a delicate high-wire act that is worth spending money on.
Alternatively, you might want to quell inflammation and irritation – highly damaging for the eye area, causing puffiness, dark circles and wrinkles – with gentle barrier-boosting ingredients such as ceramides, lipids, niacinamide and peptides, formulated in a serum light enough to use on the lids itself. Again, here it is worth considering a dedicated eye product.
Do you need different eye creams for different issues?
Most eye area issues are related and have common causes, so it’s often best to find a formula that tackles most of these at the root. Wrinkles and crepiness are due to dehydration, collagen loss and a damaged skin barrier, requiring effective moisturisation with non-irritating collagen boosters and protective antioxidants. Dark circles and puffiness are caused by inflammation and vascular congestion (bad circulation) and need circulation-improving and brightening ingredients that won’t cause further irritation – alongside healing moisturising agents and anti-inflammatories. And protection against UV rays, which cause dryness, collagen loss, irritation and pigmented, dark under-eyes, should always be incorporated.
It’s no mean feat for any product. Your best bet is probably to invest in a problem-solving light eye cream or serum, and a future damage-blocker in the shape of an SPF product formulated for the eyes. These are designed not to migrate too much (so can be used closer to the eye than a regular SPF) and offer the best possible protection. If you have the money to invest, the Dr Sabrina Dark Circle Corrector System, £150, kills those two birds with one very cleverly formulated stone with an anti-ageing serum and separate SPF lotion.
The best new eye creams
Best for screen addicts
Dr Jart+ Ceramidin Skin Barrier Moisturising Eye Cream, £32
Buttery but not heavy, this is perfect for those who are skin barrier-obsessed (and who isn’t these days?) and always glued to their screens (and, er, who isn’t these days?). Dr Jart’s ever-popular ceramide and panthenol complex soothes, plumps and protects, while an antioxidant cocoa seed extract christened ‘Blumilight’ is purported to fight fine lines caused by UV and blue light damage.
Buy nowBest eye cream on a budget
Biovene Retinol Eyes, £4.45 (regular price £9.95)
If your eyes aren’t particularly sensitive, this cream packs a punch for little money. It has solid wrinkle-busting retinol alongside lauded skin vitamins C and B3, plus brightening caffeine and soothing and hydrating agents to off-set irritation. Bargain. Please note, it is fragranced though.
Buy nowBest for saggy lids
Trinny London Take Back Time Miniprotein Eye Treatment, £65
Drooping upper eyelids are among the most vexing signs of ageing, and skincare can do precious little about it. But Trinny’s pot of silky ‘miniproteins’ (a promising new category of peptide-like age-busters) has some impressive claims, claiming a fast (we’re talking weeks) and visible difference not only to wrinkles and dark circles – it helps to incrementally lift upper eye lids as well. And it effectively hydrates long-term to boot, which is helpful if you’re of a certain age.
Buy nowBest for puffy undereyes
Iraye Deeptox Eye Revive Cream with Lymphactive, £86
Poor lymphatic drainage is a major undereye bags-and-dark circles culprit, so thank heavens for this light, serum-like eye cream featuring a unique ‘lymphactive’ complex by specialist lymphatic skincare brand Iraye. Infuriatingly, they won’t say what’s in it, but the idea is that the ingredient blend revs up microcirculation and the gently ‘pumping’ ability of the undereye lymph system to flush out toxins and stagnant fluids. Tighter, brighter undereyes are the result, also thanks to caffeine, vitamin C and retinol-mimicking plant Bidens Pilosa.
Buy nowBest for tired eyes
Dr Sam’s Flawless Brightly Eye Serum, £40
This peachy priming cream with optical brighteners minimises dark circles straight away, then goes to work providing eye skin with the fuel to get rid of toxins, stagnant fluids, redness, pigmentation and lines. A first-of its kind power trio of ectoin, milk thistle extract and sunflower shoot extract re-energises skin cell batteries, tackling the many issues that cause tired-looking eyes at the very root.
Buy nowBest weightless all-over eye serum
Niod Fractionated Eye Contour Concentrate, £50
For eyes that require fast perking-up as well as long-term firming and brightening, this water-light serum that can be applied all over the lids delivers. At least ten different peptides work together to plump out lines, carry away pigment cells and firm tissues while also helping to ferry antioxidants and hydrators deep into the skin. It’s hardcore age-busting without being hard on delicate skin.
Buy nowBest for dark circles
Tatcha The Brightening Eye Cream, £64
Time-release vitamin C, niacinamide, Japanese plum and a glutathione-booster quench skin with powerful dark circle-busting antioxidants, without causing irritation. The pot and its micro-spatula are adorbs as per usual, and you’ll enjoy applying this dreamy potion for a twice-daily ‘me’-moment.
Buy nowBest for luminous eyes
Mac Hyper Real Serumizer Eye, £45
If a makeup brand ventures into skincare, you’d expect products that instantly make you look better, and so it is with this weightless, velvety serum that leaves fine lines blurred and the whole eye area softly gleaming, as if bathed in golden candlelight. Over time, it goes to work with vitamin C, niacinamide, peptides and a Japanese peony extract to brighten your eyes.
Buy nowBest for bleary eyes
Dose by VH Vitamin C Eye Cream, £29
Powered by a super-effective but non-irritating lipid form of vitamin C, this light cream, which can be smoothed on with the cooling massage tip on the tube (it’ll improve drainage to minimise undereye circles) also has powerful antioxidant ergothioneine, puff, line and sagginess-reducing peptides, and dark circle-brightening caffeine. Multifunctional value for money.
Buy nowBest for menopausal eyes
Augustinus Bader The Rich Eye Cream, £160
Peptides are absolutely everywhere right now, and Bader was ahead of the curve with his proprietary skin-repairing peptide blend. Gentle but effective, the complex is the driving force in this eye cream as it is in all Bader products, ‘training’ skin to function more effectively. It will tackle lines, slackness, puffiness, dark circles – any eye concern, basically. It’s richer than the original eye cream to cater for those times in life when skin is relentlessly dry (menopause being one of them), but without overloading the thin eye skin too much.
Buy nowBest for massage-assisted brightening
Skin W1 London i-Shine Eye Cream, £105
Cosmetic doctor Rabia Malik is passionate about efficiency without aggression when it comes to skin, and her eye serum is a blend of circulation boosters and anti-inflammatory agents to calm and stimulate the eye area in order to take down bloat and restore radiance. It’s helped along by a cooling and vibrating (!) applicator tip that mimics pro lymph drainage, which is one of the best ways to get rid of puffiness.
Buy nowBest for firming
Reome Firming Eye Treatment, £115
Boasting a delicious sorbet-like texture and a cutting-edge new biotech plant flavonoid proven to inhibit glycation (the hardening and sagging of skin tissues) and inflammation, this feels cooling and sumptuous and will leave eyes perkier. It is (beautifully) scented though, so beware if your skin doesn’t agree with fragrance.
Buy nowBest for fast crow’s feet smoothing
Not one to hide her light under a bushel, Caroline Hirons has, in her own words, “created an icon” with her first eye cream. Balmy and cushiony, it protects and cossets the eye area with omegas and phytosterols while peptides and algae go to work on crow’s feet and puff. There’s also illuminating diamond powder and an immediately smoothing texture for that all-important instant satisfaction.
Buy nowBest healing for ultra-fragile skin
By Sarah Miracle Eye Cream, £40
Developed for skin under cancer treatment, the challenge was natural ingredients only and no known irritants (even the preservatives are food-based) that would nourish and calm but also effectively warn off signs of ageing. This delicate lotion has penty of essential fatty acid-rich plant oil, gentle humecants and botanical antioxidants, but no essential oils or anything remotely harsh, and can even tackle eczema.
Buy now
