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The best products for puffy eyes
Sleep seems to evade the majority of us these days, with the signs of fatigue, stress and exhaustion proving hard to disguise. Puffy eyes can be a particularly problematic area to target and while eye products aren’t a substitute for a full 8 hours, there are some that can help when going back to bed isn’t a viable option. Which ones work for us? From high street to high end, cream to gel and tool, here are the de-puffing products that deliver.
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Botanics All Bright Refreshing Eye Roll-on, £8.99 for 15ml
A bit like an ice cold drink on a hot day, this budget beauty pick provides instant relief to tired eyes courtesy of its cooling rollerball applicator. Containing brightening hibiscus, its water-like fluid glides easily onto bags to keep pulling and tugging to a minimum and offers welcome hydration when a poor night’s sleep’s left your under eye areas parched.
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Clinique Pep-start Eye Cream, £22.50 for 15ml
Zesty and refreshing, this early morning peeper pick-me-up is effective in tackling the effects of stress, fatigue and lack of sleep both in the short and long-term. Formulated with seven peptides, it contains skin goodies such as caffeine, soothing algae extract and whey and soybean proteins to help stimulate collagen and elastin production, as well as reduce discolouration that can lead to dark circles. Simply snap the spherical applicator up and pop its lightweight cream on, to de-puff and re-energise tired eyes during sleep-sparse times.
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Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels, £25 for 8
If you have a little more time on your hands, these cooling under eye patches work as the ideal pampering treat. Containing blood flow-boosting ginkgo biloba leaf extract (a real joy to say), antioxidant Coenzyme Q10, a fine line fighting peptide, omega fatty acid rich oils and molecular oxygen for greater ‘glow’ factor, just pop a pair on while you’re catching up on the TV you missed during the working week and take them off during the ad break to relieve stress in more ways than one.
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Hayo’u Beauty Restorer, £35
Our Editor Victoria counts this as one of her go-to tools for relieving the signs of stress from all areas of the face. Made of cooling jade, it works by improving microcirculation and lymphatic drainage to help clear congestion and relax any other areas of tightness. Use it for one-minute a day to reap maximum benefits.
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Jalue Ice Therapy, £39
If you’re looking for something a little bit different, this kit containing four tea infusions that you heat, cool and freeze overnight in a silicone cone could be for you. They’re more than your average ice cubes though, which while effective in their own right, can’t say to contain the same soothing properties that chamomile, sage, nettle, rose and oak bark do. Our tester, contributor Jane Druker, was overall impressed. There’s a real ritual-feel about them. “First, you pluck one of the four teabags and steep it in boiling hot water to release the infusion,” she explains. “You then leave it to cool before putting it inside the cone to freeze overnight. In the morning you de-puff by applying the cone to your eyes, face, neck and decolletage in circular motions.
“I actually took out the ice cube from the cone itself and applied it directly to puffy morning eyes. It instantly soothed and shrunk them. On my face, the remarkable immediate brightening effect of bringing blood to the surface made the rude awakening worth it. I simply applied serum and foundation straight after and looked ready to face the world.” Sounds like a glowing review to us.
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Alpha-H Liquid Gold Firming Eye Cream, £52 for 15ml
Containing skin nourishing ingredients such as peptides, exfoliating AHAs, skin barrier-boosting niacinamide and illuminating diamond particles, this sophisticatedly formulated eye cream addresses a wide range of under eye concerns. From wrinkles to pigmentation and fatigue, it stimulates cell turnover and when applied with its cool-touch nozzle, it provides both short and long-term refreshment to tired eyes.
Launches exclusively to QVC on the 10th of February.
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Aurelia Probiotic Skincare Eye Revitalising Duo, £90 for two products (10ml and 15ml)
This blowout puffy eye remedy provides a double act of day and night eye products that work together to leave eyes looking brighter and more rested. The first, the Revitalise & Brighten Eye Dew, is our Art Editor Sarah’s favourite, with its cooling rollerball and skin brightening ingredients helping to calm and smooth. The second, the Illuminate & Smooth Puff Reduction Eye Cream, works while you sleep, helping the under eye areas rest, recover and repair. Formulated to reduce inflammation, fine lines and dark circles, the kit’s expensive, but the fact that you’re getting two helps to slightly lessen the blow to your bank account.
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Orveda Eye Contour Botanical Gel, £140 for 15ml + a Zamak pro tool
The most expensive product in our edit, this is the type of beauty buy that requires some serious saving for, but we can report that it actually delivers on its promises (and for that price it should). Having been tried and tested by our Editor Victoria, she highlights the Zamak massage tool as pivotal to its drainage and decongesting capabilities. Combined with a gel that contains a high concentration of actives, the two prove effective in tackling puffiness, dark circles and wrinkles with continued use to leave eye contours more defined and under eye areas smoother and better hydrated too.