Is Eye Cream Necessary? How To Pick A Good Eye Cream

By Daisy Jing

Everyone seems to have an opinion on if eye creams are worth it. Some think they're just repackaged moisturizer, while others praise eye creams and can't go without it.

In this article, we review through studies and some professional opinions to determine if eye creams are worth it and what to look for when buying an eye cream. 

What's Eye Cream?

Eye creams are types of moisturizers that are formulated specifically to be used around the sensitive eye area. Be careful not to apply eye cream too close to your lash lines. 

Eye creams contain a more gentle concentration of potent skin benefiting ingredients to make them safe around the eye. 

Difference Between Skin Around The Eyes Vs The Face

For those of us who have acne prone skin, we may very well know that skin on different parts of the body are different than on other parts. 

The skin around the eyes are:

• Thinner
• More delicate
• Dryer due to fewer oil glands

"Hydration is key around the eyes because the skin in this area is extremely thin and has fewer oil-producing glands. Eye creams should be applied gently with light pressure whilst taking precautions to ensure the cream does not go inside the eye itself" - Hayley Leeman, consultant dermatologist

The skin around the eyes tend to be the first place where signs of aging skin appear such as fine lines, discoloration and sagging. 

General facial products made to address those issues shouldn't be used around the eyes because they can be too strong and may irritate the skin around the eyes making matters worse. 

Imagine getting retinol burn around the under eyes? Ouch! 

When to use an eye cream? 

Eye creams should be used if you have specific concerns like eye bags, sagging, puffiness, dark circles, or an increase in fine lines.  

But is an eye cream necessary? In short, no if you don't have any under eye concerns, you don't need to use an eye cream. 

Applying your facial moisturizer without any 'active' ingredients can be used around the eyes to keep the area hydrated. 

What to look for in an eye cream?

Different ingredients are good for different under eye issues. 

Some eye creams have a more complex formula with several ingredients that can tackle many issues, while some formulas are more simple and are only good for 1 to 2 undereye issues. 

Puffiness 

Puffy eyes are usually due to fluid build up around the eyes.   Products that contain caffeine or green tea are good at depuffing the eyes and can also firm the undereye area. Witch hazel can also control bags by tightening the blood vessels of skin. 

• caffeine
• green tea
• Witch hazel

Undereye Bags

If you have bags under your eyes, or notice your eyes are becoming more droopy, this is usually due to loss of collagen around the eye area.   

Look for ingredients like

•  Peptides ( matrixyl 3000 ) 
• Niacinamide ( vitamin B3 ) 

Wrinkles + Fine Lines

Fine lines occur as a natural sign of aging when we lose collagen and elasticity around the eye area so focus on ingredients that can stimulate collagen to smooth out the fine lines. 

Look for an eye cream that contains retinol as an ingredient.  Retinol is one of the best collagen increasing ingredients for well-aging.  

Peptides are good for multiple skin concerns like smoothing out fine lines.  

MSM is also shown to enhance collagen in the skin to tackle and reduce wrinkles.

Some eye creams may even have AHAs like lactic acid in them to help stimulate collagen.

Ingredients to look for:

• Retinol ( low concentrations ) 
• Hyalauronic Acid
• Vitamin C
• peptides
• MSM
• Lactic Acid

Dark Circles

Dark circles around the eye is another major concern that we hear quite often. 

If you are dealing with dark circles, look for ingredients known to brighten and even out discoloration such as:

•  Vitamin C
•  Licorice Extract
• AHAs ( lactic acid, glycolic acid ) 
• Arbutin 
• Niacinamide

Vitamin C and Licorice extract are shown to prevent and reverse hyperpigmentation to combat dark undereye circles.  They are also potent antioxidants on their own. 

AHA's like Lactic and glycolic acid can also help brighten hyperpigmentation. 

Moisturizing

A good eye cream should also have moisturizing ingredients in them so you don't need a separate moisturizer. 

Moisturizing ingredients may include:

• oils
• glycerin
• hyalauronic acid
• ceramides
• squalane

Eye cream recommendation

If you want a solid eye cream that provides 

• Depuffing
• Hydration
• collagen boosting to reduce fine lines
• Brightening for dark circles 

Then the Banish Instant Lift brightening eye creme is a great choice especially if you want a formula that is cruelty-free and focuses on more natural ingredients. 

How To Use Eye Cream?

Follow the instructions that come with your eye cream. 

To apply eye cream, use a pea sized and split it in half to be used for both eyes.

You can dab a few dots around both under eyes and up to under your brow to spread it evenly. 

Gently tap the product in with your ring finger and you should apply the eye cream all around the eye area, to right below the brows.   You can use your orbital bone as a guide. 

If you have an applicator with your eye cream, you can use that just be careful of the amount of pressure you put on your eye area.  You want to be gentle and delicate. 

Avoid getting too close to your lower or upper lashline to make sure you don't get product into the eyes. 

Is An Eye Cream Worth It?

The conclusion is that if you have undereye concerns and issues, then yes an eye cream is very much worth it.   Eye creams are formulated specifically for the thinner and more sensitive under eyes compared to facial products. 

However, if you don't have any undereye concerns, then an eye cream isn't necessary for you.  

Do you use eye creams? Let us know in the comments if you think they are worth it!

References:

Cosmeceuticals for Hyperpigmentation: What is  Available? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3663177/

Effects of Oral Supplementation With Methylsulfonylmethane on Skin Health and Wrinkle Reduction  https://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/journal/effects-oral-supplementation-methylsulfonylmethane-skin-health-and-wrinkle-reduction

Anti-Wrinkle Benefits of Peptides Complex Stimulating Skin Basement Membrane Proteins Expression https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6981886/