There’s an ongoing argument about eye creams within the beauty world; some believe them to be utterly pointless and instead of making the separate investment simply employ their existing facial serum and moisturiser right up to and around the eye area. Others (me included) like to use a separate cream and wholeheartedly advocate it.
I have two reasons for using a separate eye cream and also the first is that I’m the type of person who has to be told to behave in quite a regimented way in order for me to actually do it. So, for instance, if someone asked me to – I dunno – clean my car (HA! Chance will be a fine thing!) then I would without doubt take a bucket of soapy water and splosh it all over with my sponge, regularly wasting the dirty water and replacing it with clean, rinsing the whole thing at the end to make sure that the soap was all off. I’d also splosh water over the wheels, over the front grill bit and also over the windscreen and back window, using my sponge to get them clean.
Now this might sound pretty thorough for you, if you’re like me and indifferent when it comes to car-cleaning, but to the seasoned valet it might be an abomination. Because (apparently) you will find separate cleansers for different areas of the car – black stuff to create your tyres all black and glossy (who has the time?!), glass cleaner, polish for the dashboard and other bits and bobs for those who have leather seats, or carpets that need a refresh, or chrome trim in your gearstick knob (lol) and door handles. You will find all of these different products because there are all of these different materials, which all need to be treated in a different way.
And so, with what must possibly be the world’s worst ever skincare analogy, we obtain back to the eye area on the face, that is thinner and drier that the skin on the rest of the face. I absolutely do see tiredness and stress a lot more in the eye area – and faster – than I actually do elsewhere on my face and many moisturisers that I use all over just don’t work around my eyes. Or else they do, and they're beautifully rich, but the oil gets into my eyes overnight and I wake up thinking I’ve developed a terrible problem with my sight. Or, to throw another scenario in to the mix, I’m caning it with my exfoliating acids and I don’t want to take them too near to my eyes because they feel a bit burny there, especially on my little red patch I sporadically get.
So yes: I actually do like different products for various areas, mainly the lips (Clinique’s Pout Restoring Night Mask would be far too greasy to use elsewhere evidently but is an absolute treat on the lips) and the eyes (it must be rich, nourishing but not too greasy) and, at a push, a separate product for the T-Zone if skin is massively different there towards the rest of the face.
And to go back to my crap car analogy, the other reason that I use an eye cream is when I have dedicated products to execute a dedicated area then I actually use them and apply them properly. Basically was given a bucket of water to clean my car, however also next to that there was a can of the black tyre stuff (seriously, that has the time?) and some window cleaning spray and a few different cloths with labels with that told me what exactly they were for, then I’m the type of person who would follow the instructions and do an excellent job.
Same with my beauty routines – give me a pot of face cream and I’ll slap it on all over. Give me a face cream along with a separate eye cream and – for reasons already outlined, however crazy they are – I’ll spend the extra time pat-patting the eye cream in and giving myself a pleasant little pep-up massage around the orbital bone.
So I simply wanted to get that little monologue taken care of so that I can refer to it whenever I’m asked whether I think a dedicated eye cream or treatment methods are worth the money. Now there is a caveat and that is, obviously, that it depends on which product it's. Some beauty ranges appear to just plonk an eye cream in for the sake of it and also the ingredients are virtually just like those in the matching face cream (the “matching” part should ring warning bells) however with a higher price-per-ml. I want a product that has been specifically formulated for the eye area, not only a re-potted face cream.
Of course loads of face creams and serums are perfectly brilliant for around the eye area too – my friend Rach swears by La Roche-Posay’s Redermic-R range (retinol, affordable, almost completely magicked away the crease on her forehead) but preferred the standard face treatment around her eyes to the eye cream version. It wasn’t greasy, it wasn’t drying, it was just right. (It’s here* if you want to take a look.)
It comes down to two things, for me, when it comes to finding a good eye cream: the feel must be good – nourishing in feel, but not slidey or greasy – and the formulation must target the sorts of things I’m worried about in the eye area. Wrinkles, mostly, because dark circles could be camouflaged away. (And are notoriously difficult otherwise impossible to tackle with a cream anyway.)
I’m on the bit of an eye cream testing spree at present, so expect some reviews to pop up soon – you can browse my previously reviewed eye creams here. The brand new one from Alpha-H is great and that i must do my full review (see post here) but I’ve just looked through my attention cream category and it’s woefully out of date, with many of my favourites not included. I’ve listed some suggestions below to keep you going, if this post has suddenly made you need to baste your undereyes in something effective!
Affordable-yet-powerful, Hyaluron Filler eye cream from Eucerin is intensely moisturising but not greasy and also has an SPF15 – lb22 from Boots here*
I love Pai skincare’s Echium eye cream for when my undereyes feel sensitive, if I’ve been in a photoshoot for example. I put it on thickly as a mask and then leave it on overnight. It’s lb30 here*
I keep coming back to the Elixir from Elemental Herbology again and again; I get on really well with the texture and it keeps my skin moisturised all day long. It’s lb44 here*
A very affordable one for sensitive skin about the eyes; Sensibio by Bioderma – currently lb9.86 (specific!) at Escentual here*
I saw absolutely brilliant results on my small fine lines with Anne Semonin’s Eye Miracle – it’s very pricey indeed, but if you’re in the market for a bit of an investment piece, it’s lb110 here*
See even the Zelens Triple Action Eye Cream (here*), for any potent answer to many a watch complaint and Aveda’s ultra-hydrating Botanical Kinetics Eye Cream, lb23.80 here*. As I said, lots of others to add, but this should give you some idea if you’re after immediate satisfaction.
