Beauty
24 Jun 2020

Are Eye Creams REALLY Necessary?

One question that comes up a lot in the skincare community is: Do I really need to use an eye cream? The short answer: it depends. Keep reading to learn about the benefits of eye creams and what they can actually do for you before you purchase one for yourself!

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, they’re marked with 💰. If you use them to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. I only link to products I genuinely love to use, and not because of the commission. Whether or not you decide to buy something using my affiliate links is completely up to you.

Issues that can affect your eye

The skin under your eyes is much thinner than the rest of your face, so it’s one of the first places issues may arise. External issues could be causing undereye changes, but internal issues could too:

  • sunkenness, hollow looking undereyes, darkness, dullness – possibly from poor diet, dehydration, sickness
  • darkness and/or puffiness – could be from lack of sleep or allergies

  • yellowing of eyeballs – might be actual health issues (liver/kidney) Don’t just buy a new product, go to a doctor

  • dryness, crepey looking skin, new spots – could be sun damage

Two Key points

  1. No matter what issue you’re looking to improve, eye creams are just a TEMPORARY fix. It’ll never be a permanent change, no matter what anyone tells you! Once you stop using it, you’ll stop seeing the results. Look into fillers or other procedures if you want a more permanent fix, but please do your research first and go to a doctor
  2. No eye cream will change your genetics!! If you look at old pictures of yourself and see darkness or puffiness, or other members of your family deal with the same concerns, that’s something you’ve inherited and it won’t go away with a simple cream. I know I’ve got some darkness that’s genetic, so I just look for good concealers instead

You might want an eye cream if…

  • You had some undereye darkness pop up that isn’t normal for you. Think of your baseline darkness (how dark your undereyes are when you’ve had enough sleep and water) and go from there; if it’s worse than your baseline, an eye cream might help
  • You’ve got some extra puffiness after a long night or feeling stressed. I’ll talk about ingredients later on, but you could put your eye cream in the fridge for a few minutes to give it a chill and it’ll help take down the puffiness faster. It doesn’t need to be stored in the fridge as long as it’s been formulated with effective preservatives (which most creams should be). A cold spoon held over your eye can help too
  • You’re dehydrated/sick. Maybe your skin is feeling more dry than normal and it’s showing in your eyes. A hydrating and nourishing eye cream might help

Good Eye Cream Ingredients

  • Hyaluronic acid (HA) and/or squalane: both hydrating and very lightweight. Different sizes of HA can penetrate to deeper layers of your skin and can make it look more plumped, which is nice for drier skin that’s starting to show lines.
  • Vitamin C: great for brightening dark circles (remember, it won’t fix genetics!) Look for a product that comes in airtight and light-protected packaging due to how quickly vitamin C can degrade. There are different derivatives of vitamin C, some more stable than others, but it’s still a good idea to keep it as protected as possible so it stays effective. Vitamin C is also a great antioxidant that’ll protect your skin
  • Caffeine: helps with puffiness and dark circles. The same way caffeine can wake you up in the morning, it can help “wake up” your eyes too! Caffeine works by constricting the blood vessels, lessening the look of dark circles. It also works to push away excess water, which is helpful for puffiness.
  • Retinol: included in some eye creams, retinol is marketed as an anti-aging ingredient. It helps increase cell turnover and the amount of collagen your skin makes, which is great for fine lines, wrinkles, and dryness caused from losing collagen and hydration in your skin. When using any type of retinol products, remember to USE A SUNSCREEN! I prefer to use retinol products at night since they make your skin more sensitive to the sun

You also want to find a good texture for your skin: stick to lighter textures instead of heavier ones unless you know your skin can take it. The skin under your eyes is very thin and may react differently than the rest of your face. I’ve tried richer creams that didn’t irritate my face, but caused dryness, crepey-looking skin, and small bumps to pop up under my eyes, so I stick to lightweight creams or gels instead.

How to apply eye cream

Take a small amount of eye cream, about the size of a grain of rice (some people can use that amount for both eyes, some might need a grain of rice for each eye). On clean skin, use your ring finger (or gently use your middle and ring fingertips together) and gently pat in the cream. Work around your full orbital area- up to your brow bone, the sides of your nose, and underneath your eye. Don’t tug or pull! That skin is very delicate so be gentle.

Eye creams should go on cleansed skin BEFORE your moisturizers or serums or other skincare products. You want all the goodness from the product to go on while your skin is ready to absorb it. If you try to layer it over your moisturizer or other products, that thin skin may not be able to absorb any more product and the eye cream may not be able to do it’s job.

Final thoughts

Some people have good results by bringing their serums and moisturizer up to their undereyes and don’t feel the need for an eye cream at all. Personally, I like using a separate eye cream that’ll work on those specific issues I’m dealing with, and are made with the right texture I need. At the end of the day, everyone’s skin is unique so you just have to figure out what works for you. Try bringing your moisturizer higher and see if that works before you start looking for eye creams to purchase. If you can get samples of eye creams or pick up minis to try first, I’d recommend that before you get a full size that might not be best for your skin.

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