The eye area is one of the first places where you’ll see signs of aging. So, it follows that many will start looking for an eye cream to address concerns like fine lines, wrinkles, loss of firmness, undereye darkness, and puffiness. We want to make sure you’re using the best eye cream for your needs, so we put together a list of tips to make your search easier—and help you avoid disappointment.
Of course, you can always count on Paula’s Choice Skincare to formulate eye-area products that check off every positive on the list below, plus our facial moisturizers and serums are great for use around the eyes, too.
- Look for eye creams that contain a mix of the types of anti-aging ingredients that everyone’s skin needs: antioxidants, skin-replenishing ingredients, and skin-restoring ingredients. Examples include glycerin, sodium hyaluronate, ceramides, non-fragrant plant extracts, butters and oils, vitamins, peptides, retinol, fatty acids, and triglycerides.
- Any eye cream you use should be fragrance free. Whether natural (like essential oils) or synthetic, fragrance is a strong source of sensitizing and allergic reactions. It’s also a big no-no for products you apply so close to the eye itself.
- Keep expectations realistic: No eye cream is going to eliminate wrinkles, lift sagging skin, or erase puffiness and dark circles. A great eye cream will hydrate, smooth skin texture, and visibly firm, brighten, and diminish the look of lines, circles, some types of puffiness, and wrinkles—and that’s exciting!
- Don’t buy an eye cream packaged in a jar. Jar packaging allows brilliant anti-aging ingredients, like retinol, plant oils, and antioxidants, to begin deteriorating the moment you open the jar; plus there’s the hygiene issue each time you dip your finger (or spatula) into the jar.
- For daytime, look for an eye cream that offers broad-spectrum sun protection and is rated SPF 30 or greater. If you can’t find one you like, apply a thin layer of your regular eye cream, and follow with your daytime moisturizer with sunscreen, being sure it’s fragrance free.
- Many people like to use an eye gel in the morning (they work great under makeup) and a rich, balm-like eye cream at night. That’s the approach Paula’s Choice Skincare took with our two specialized eye products, RESIST Anti-Aging Eye Gel and RESIST Anti-Aging Eye Cream—but you can apply either one morning or evening.
- Surprise: Not everyone needs an eye cream! If the moisturizer and/or serum you use are well formulated and fragrance free, you can use them around the eyes, too. The exception is if the facial moisturizer and serum you use aren’t emollient or enriched enough for your eye area. Eye area skin that’s drier, shows a loss of firmness, and shows dark circles requires a more luxurious, enhanced formula for optimum visible improvement—that’s where the best eye creams excel.
References for this information:
Aging Research Reviews, January 2015, pages 8–21
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, July 2014, pages 177–184
Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, July 2014, ePublication
Dermatoendocrinology, July 2012, pages 253–258
British Journal of Dermatology, March 2010, pages 647–654
