These Are The Eye Creams That Actually Work - The Gloss Magazine

These Are The Eye Creams That Actually Work

Here’s our no-nonsense guide to eye-opening buys that can help you look less tired. Discover more than ten we’ve tried out and really rate, from under €7 …

There’s been a lot of talk about our newfound passion for skincare. And we’d argue that eye cream in particular has become way more important, since we’re looking more tired and stressed, with poor sleep. We’re not the only ones conscious of those between-the-brows lines on every Zoom call; research by Boots No7 found that 58 per cent of women have noticed more lines and wrinkles while being in lockdown, most commonly around the eye area. Last year, Bobbi Brown’s UK website saw an increase of searches for eye creams of 224 per cent. Look, an eye cream or serum is only a surface solution, but the best ones can make us feel and look just a bit brighter and less exhausted, and we could do with a bit of that.

Why do we need an eye cream? Warren Dowdall, Senior Pro Artist for Bobbi Brown, notes: “The skin under our eyes behaves a little differently to the skin elsewhere on our face – it’s naturally thinner and more fragile – this means it’s normally the first area of the face to show signs of tiredness and visible fine lines which is why we get darker circles round this delicate area. It’s not great at keeping itself hydrated as there are fewer oil glands around the eyes. It’s also more sensitive and prone to fluid build-up which can cause the look of puffiness and dark circles.”

Not all eye creams are equal, of course, and there’s absolutely no need to spend a fortune on one. If you get into the habit of reading ingredients lists, you’ll find that they’re mostly made of similar things, such as glycerine and caffeine (always good for pepping up the skin), while the best ones will feature peptides and defensive antioxidants, such as vitamin C (found in Bobbi Brown’s Vitamin Enriched Eye Base, €43).

Other ingredients to keep an eye out for? Most eye products go big on glycerine; this safe humectant (attracting moisture to the skin) tends to be overshadowed by hyaluronic acid as an ingredient, but has been a reliable mainstay in beauty products for aeons as an effective moisturiser that helps to support the skin barrier. It might sound unglamorous, but it does the job, and you’ll find it’s a star player in everything from Charlotte’s Magic Cream to La Mer’s Eye Concentrate.

Keep your eye cream somewhere you’ll remember to apply it, such as your desk and coat pocket. I like a cooling one, as it feels more de-puffing, and tend to avoid anything too rich or greasy around the eye area. If all else fails, of course, take the advice of one of our The GLOSSiest beauty panellists, Zoe, who raves about Ayu’s under-eye concealer as being brilliant for covering up dark shadows.

UNDER €15

You don’t need to get hyper on espresso in order to look wide awake. The Ordinary is famed for its caffeine-concentrated Solution (€6.70 at Arnotts) with antioxidants (sourced from green tea) so that you get eye-opening effects in one super-light sweep. No wonder it’s an eternal bestseller. We also point you to CeraVe Eye Repair Cream, €13, with niacinamide high up on the ingredients list – a proven star pupil for supporting the skin barrier, brightening and helping to even skin tone.

UNDER €25

Embryolisse Radiant Eye stick is so neat to use and beautifully soothing and cooling. €22.60, www.embryolisse.ie. No7 Laboratories Line Correcting Booster Serum helps to uncrease the face generally, and can be used under the eyes, as well as on the forehead, crow’s feet and round the lips. Currently half-price at www.Boots.ie, €24.50.

UNDER €30

Neovadiol Rose Platinium Eye cream is part of the Vichy range designed for menopausal skin, so is ideal for dry and sensitised skin. I like the rose extract and pigments to brighten the eye area, and it offers good defence, while being gentle on more sensitive skin. €29, at pharmacies nationwide.

UNDER €40

We mention Pestle & Mortar Recover Eye Cream because it’s Irish, silicone-free, lightweight and comes in a great air-tight pump dispenser. €38, at pharmacies nationwide.

UNDER €60

L’Occitane’s brand-new Immortelle Divine Lip & Eye (€59, from March 15) is lovely to use, and it makes sense to use it round the lips, too. I like that rose centifolia flower water is the main ingredient, and that there’s a garden’s-worth of other flower and plant oils in there too, along with creamy shea butter. For nighttime, I firmly recommend their Immortelle Overnight Reset Eye Serum, a lovely light gel, €55.

UNDER €70

The shiny red bottle of Clarins Total Eye Lift is always on my desk. It’s a robust cream that really seems to bolster up the bags; I tap it onto the browbone area too. Its floral scent is subtle. This is one for those of us who choose not to go down the old injectables route. €68, at counters nationwide. To try some trusty Clarins on a lower budget, choose the Multi-Active Eye Care, €42, with its cooling applicator. Sunday Riley wins the best-name award for Auto Correct, an eye contour cream. It’s more supportive than a light gel, and definitely brightens around the eye area – a good one for more mature skin. €69, at www.Arnotts.ie.

UNDER €100

The ultra fancy French brand Biologique Recherche features in the bathroom of every chic Parisian celeb – I’d lay money that everyone starring in Call My Agent uses this – and it does a peerless Eye and Lip Contour Cream (€91) that’s brilliant for smoothing lines, if you’re inclined to do so. It’s my desert island eye cream pick. Find it at www.Floraison.ie and www.facialist.ie; the Institute of Dermatologists’ Megan Byrne is the brand’s national trainer and you can book in with her for an online skin consultations. If I were in the market for spending this much on an eye cream, I might consider stretching to Sisley’s Black Rose Eye Contour Fluid (€116) as it’s gorgeously decadent, with a cooling ceramic applicator.

BLOW THE BUDGET

Make-up artist Leonard Daly recommends: “There are only a handful of brands that I am willing to spend a lot of money on for skincare – in reality you can get great skincare at affordable prices – but I’ve never not used a La Mer product right to the very end (and will happily break off pumps to get the final bits of a bottle with a cotton bud). This relaunched Eye Concentrate has a new improved formula that works brilliantly. With a price tag of €200, you’d want to be sure that this delivers results and you are not just buying hype. I have been trying it out for about six weeks and have noticed a difference in how the skin under my eyes feels, and reduced dark shadows – at a time where I am getting minimal sleep that is quite the result. It is packed with Lime Tea Concentrate, a powerful antioxidant which helps prevent further damage and comes with a metal applicator; when I am really tired, I put mine in the fridge for ten minutes before using and the coldness really refreshes you. I noticed visible results in about four weeks.”

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