Long story, short
- The skin around your eyes is thinner, drier, and more delicate than the rest of your face — it has fewer sebaceous glands, slower cell turnover, and endures up to 15,000 blinks a day. It needs a specially formulated eye cream, not a repurposed face moisturiser.
- Eye creams address specific concerns: dark circles, puffiness, fine lines and crow’s feet, hyperpigmentation, dryness, and dehydration. Regular use is essential — daily application AM and PM will give the best results.
- Key ingredients to look for: Retinol (speeds up cell turnover, boosts collagen — ideal for fine lines), Ceramides (strengthens barrier, seals in moisture — ideal for dry/sensitive skin), Peptides (collagen-boosting, gentle alternative to Retinol), Ginseng (brightening, de-puffing), and Hyaluronic Acid (deep hydration).
- Face moisturisers are often too heavy or too potent (especially fragranced ones or those with high-concentration Retinol and Vitamin C) for the delicate eye area, risking milia and irritation.
Eyes are a big giveaway when it comes to our age as well as our all-round vitality. If you don’t want them to spill your secrets, you’ll need to invest in an eye cream for their silence.
Why do I need a dedicated eye cream?
The skin around our eyes is quite different from the rest of the skin on our faces. First of all, it’s a lot thinner — and super delicate. Secondly, it doesn’t contain as many sebaceous glands, so there’s less oil on the surface of the skin, which means it’s drier and less able to hold onto moisture. The skin cells around the eye area turn over at a slower rate too, which is why the skin here can appear drier and feel rougher to the touch.
We blink up to 15,000 times in a single day, which puts a constant strain on the skin around the eye. You’re also more likely to rub this area due to allergies and be rougher with your makeup removal here...
Given it can be fragile and lacking in some essential oily goodness, you’d think that the skin on the eyes should be doing as little work as possible – but it’s quite the opposite. We blink up to 15,000 times in a single day, which puts a constant strain on the skin around the eye. You’re also more likely to rub this area due to allergies and be rougher with makeup removal here – especially if you’re trying to persuade waterproof mascara off of your lashes. The eye area is also more prone to puffiness thanks to influxes of water caused by things like crying or moisture pooling if you sleep face down or very flat. And all this, of course, is where the right eye cream comes in.
How are eye creams different from moisturisers?
Thought that eye cream was just an expensive moisturiser in a smaller pot? Think again. The key benefit of an eye cream is that it has been specially formulated for this area, taking all of its unique characteristics (like its delicate nature and tendency to be dehydrated) into account. Eye creams are also made with eye-area concerns in mind, like dark circles, crow’s feet, and puffiness. Often they have light-reflecting particles too, which instantly blur and brighten the area.
Face moisturisers and serums can often be a bit too much for the delicate eye area. Either they’re too heavy (which can clog pores and result in things like milia — those little milky spots) or they’re too punchy, with ingredients like Retinol and Vitamin C at higher concentrations than this delicate skin can handle. They’re also more likely to be fragranced, which can cause problems if you have especially sensitive or easily irritated eyes.
Who will benefit from using an eye cream?
You’ll benefit from using an eye cream if you are concerned about any, all, or a pick-and-mix collection of the following:
Dark circles — When we think of rings beneath the eyes, we think of a lack of sleep, but your genes, age, congestion, and a lack of iron can all contribute to them.
Puffiness — Puffy eyes are caused either by inflammation from allergies or rubbing them, or by an influx of water in the area due to crying or sleeping in a way that doesn’t allow moisture to drain effectively overnight.
Hyperpigmentation — Caused by sun exposure, where the melanocytes go into overdrive and produce more pigment than is needed. It tends to become more prominent as we age and can be more noticeable in some skin tones than others.
Fine lines and crow’s feet — As we age, the levels of collagen in our skin start to deplete, which can lead to a loss of firmness. As our eyes are constantly on the move the lines can be more exaggerated here.
Dryness — The skin around our eyes has fewer sebaceous glands, which means less naturally occurring oil to keep it soft and supple.
Dehydration — No thanks to its lower oil content, the skin around the eyes is less able to seal in hydration.
You’ll notice these are all quite generic concerns – the kind that all of us are susceptible to and likely to experience. They may not be at the top of your priority list every day, but things like changing weather, late nights, periods of stress, crying, or rubbing your eyes will bring them on or amplify them.
What are the different types of eye cream?
Eye creams are normally split into different categories depending on the job they’re aiming to do:
Brightening — to reduce the appearance of dark circles and hyperpigmentation.
Hydrating — to replenish moisture and plump out fine lines.
Firming — by replenishing lost stocks of collagen and elastin so that the skin feels tighter and wrinkles are less noticeable.
Nourishing — dry skin to ensure it has enough oils to stay comfortable and avoid flaking, redness, and irritation.
De-puffing — by soothing sore eyes with cooling ingredients. Keeping your eye cream in the fridge and massaging it in gently with your ring finger to aid lymphatic drainage will also make a real difference to puffiness.
Smoothing — by making sure the area isn’t holding on to old skin cells for too long, reducing the risk of congestion and milia.
Eye creams can be divided by texture too — some are more creamy, while others are lighter and more akin to a gel. The category has branched out into eye serums too, which can be layered underneath your eye cream to supercharge its results, or used as a stand-alone product for anyone who prefers something lighter and more watery.
What ingredients should I look for in an eye cream?
The key ingredients to look for will depend on your particular eye area concern. At Beauty Pie, our favourites include:
Retinol — a gold-star anti-ageing ingredient that speeds up cell turnover to reveal fresher skin and boosts collagen production. Potent and effective for fine lines and wrinkles, though may not be suitable for very sensitive skin.
Ceramides — lipids that help to form the mortar that holds our skin cells together. With Ceramides in place, the skin barrier is boosted and better at holding moisture in. Ideal for dry and sensitive skin around the eye area.
Peptides — chains of amino acids that encourage the production of collagen and elastin, and prevent them from breaking down. More easily tolerated than Retinol, making Peptides a good choice for sensitive skin concerned with fine lines.
Ginseng — an ingredient hailed for its brightening, soothing, and de-puffing qualities, used in Eastern cultures for centuries. A great choice for anyone who feels their eye area looks tired.
Hyaluronic Acid — a hero humectant that can hold up to 1000 times its own weight in water. Hyaluronic Acid draws moisture into the skin and holds it there — best suited to anyone who wants to rehydrate thirsty under-eye skin.
Is it good to apply an eye cream every day?
Skincare is absolutely brilliant and has the potential to really transform your skin – but only if you’re willing to commit. To see real results from any of your products, including your eye cream, you’re going to need to use it every single day.
As we have already mentioned, the skin around our eyes goes through a lot and takes the brunt of a bunch of environmental and mechanical damage. For this reason, it more than deserves a little daily TLC. It’s less hardy than the skin on the rest of your face, so if you ignore it for a couple of days that neglect is going to show.
If you really want to go above and beyond for the eye area, consider making it part of both your daytime and evening routines. Depending on your key concerns, you might want to use the same product twice a day, or bookend with different ones. For example, you might use a Ginseng eye cream in the morning to awaken and brighten, and a Retinol eye cream in the evening to smooth fine lines. If you’re only really worried about hydration, then a Hyaluronic Acid eye cream is perfect for AM and PM.
