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The best SPF eye creams to hydrate, smooth, depuff and protect
The skin around your eyes is the thinnest of any on your body, and it’s partly for that reason that you’ll notice fine lines, loss of tone and sensitivity spring up around your eye area before anywhere else. The same follows for sun damage.
Although many argue that don’t you actually need a designated eye cream at all (taking your serum or moisturiser up to your eye area can work as well), using a more emollient formulation than you might need for the rest of your face, and a gentler form of SPF for daytime, can serve to benefit the delicate eye area, especially if you are a using a retinol eye cream at night, which can make you more sun-sensitive. Team an SPF eye cream with shades and you’re golden all year round. Here’s our pick of the eye cream knights in SPF armour…
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Sarah Chapman Eye Insurance SPF 30, £48
Great for: A hint of colour
This dewy under-eye tint protects the delicate skin from UV, infrared and environmental damage, lifting and firming while the tinted hue disguises under-eye bags to make you look instantly refreshed. It's unscented so doesn't irritate your peepers and includes a whole host of high-performing ingredients including hyaluronic acid for hydration.
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Dermalogica Total Eye Care SPF 15, £40.50 for 15ml
Great for: lightweight wear
The delicate skin under your eyes is susceptible to a lot of wear and tear, especially if you need to vigorously rub in an overly thick cream. This Dermalogica offering glides on the skin and sinks in with no rubbing or tugging. Hydroxy acids and SPF come together with optical light diffusers to lessen the appearance of dark circles while protecting the skin.
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Skinceuticals Mineral Eye UV Defence SPF 30, £28 for 30ml
Great for: wearing under makeup.
Providing a high level of protection in a mineral formulation that’s less likely to irritate your eye area than a chemical sunscreen might, this light, tinted, fragrance-free formula instantly brightens and can even be taken to your eyelids for ‘belt and braces’ sun defence. It makes a brilliantly smooth base for concealer and won’t migrate into your eyes with the mere hint of sweat/ humidity/ emotion.
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Clinique Superdefense Age Defence Eye Cream SPF 20, £31.50 for 15ml
Great for: sensitive skin.
A fragrance-free physical sunscreen specifically formulated to combat crepiness and dehydration, this hydrating eye cream is ideal for eyes that suffer seasonally, either due to heat, hayfever or a delightful fusion of the two (that would be me). If you’ve tried almost every eye cream on the planet and still sting, this should put out the tiny eye fires, with additional SPF benefits.
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Kiehl’s Clearly Corrective™ Dark Circle Perfector SPF 30, £30 for 15ml
Great for: minimising dark shadows.
Lightly pigmented, this fragrance-free mineral sunscreen helps to bounce away dark circles- coverage is sheer but makes a real difference on those days when even an IV drip of coffee wouldn’t cut it. This also contains vitamin C for a more long-term brightening effect and to help to prevent any sun or lifestyle induced pigmentation. Texture wise, it’s smooth and light, so glides on nicely under makeup, although you may not even need it such are its undereye light bulb effects.
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Ultrasun SPF 30 Eye Cream, £18 for 15ml
Great for: dry skin.
Thicker than other SPF eye creams in this edit, this mineral sunscreen provides a good level of protection from the sun’s rays and helps to bolster the skin barrier and plump out fine lines triggered by dehydration. It's also fragrance, preservative and silicone-free and is a goer if you’re a contact lens wearer. If you suffer with crepiness around your eyes and require targeted moisture alongside sun defence, this could be it.
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Murad Essential-C Eye Cream SPF 15, £60 for 15ml
Great for: long-term firming.
This eye cream throws the kitchen skin at skin rejuvenation: from retinol to vitamin C to moisture magnet amino acids, it looks to be a smoothing, plumping powerhouse, and has serious potential, although the chemical sunscreen and potent actives could prove problematic for sensitive skin. Go easy and don’t veer too near to the lash line, but as collagen stimulation goes, the forecast looks bright if used regularly.