All the Eye Creams I’ve Tried

Hello, sweet friends! Happy Thursday (like the day of the week really matters at this point *shrug*) to you! It’s finally a bright, sunny and cool day here in North Carolina and I am excited to have a calm day to end out a calm week.

We are on week three of working from home and I finally feel like I am above water with managing tasks. In case you missed it, I started graduate school this semester and have honestly been feeling like I’m performing a daily juggling act with my full-time job, freelance duties, blogging and school. The first week of working from home went by so fast that I was confused by Saturday on what had even happened. Last week was sooooo long and slow that each day felt like one week of it’s own. It makes absolutely no sense but I am sure we are in the same boat with this.

Now that I’ve found time to  get my entire apartment spring cleaned and organized, I figured it was the perfect time to talk about one of my beauty addictions: eye creams. If you guys have seen me without makeup on Instagram or Twitter, you’ll know that one of my biggest insecurities is my dark circles and eye wrinkles. Trust me, I have tried A TON of topical treatments to fix this. Everything from from here to there from affordable drug store products to $100 serums. So today, I’m sharing the most recent ones I’ve tried, my thoughts and how you can use them moving forward. Let’s get started!

1 | Estee Lauder DayWear Eye – Y’all, this is the best daytime, no make-up, gelly eye cream around. I keep this in my skincare fridge and it seriously smooths, blurs and hydrates under my eyes. Plus, the gel consistent is perfect for medium under eye dryness to give a hint of shine and slickness all while sinking into your skin. This is a lighter gel so if you have extremely dry under eye skin or flaking from eczema, you will need to reapply throughout the day. My favorite part about this eye cream specifically is that there is no harsh scent. Most face products with hard scents break me out and cause my eyes to water throughout the day. Whenever I want to try something new and have the luxury of going into the store, I open the samples to check for scents. I’m 100% that strange lady sniffing the beauty products but it saves me time, money and the health of my skin. I plan on repurchasing this as soon as I’m out.

2 | Kiehl’s Creamy Eye Treatment with Advocado – This is another super hydrating product for those who have dry under eye skin. This formula is a heavier than the day wear eye cream but the heaviness makes the product even more hydrating. If you want an eye cream to wear at night that doesn’t have retinol (I’ll mention with retinol later), then this is the one for you. You can slowly pat the formula into your skin and it leaves your eyes with a light glow. If I pick up too much to put around my eyes, I’ll use eye cream on any dry spots on my face. Plus, Kiehl’s is an extremely sensitive-skin friendly brand. If you don’t like eye patches, you can use this product as an eye mask but applying a more than normal size to your under eyes and letting sit for 5 minutes.

3 | Patchology Rejuvenating Eye Gels – Does wearing eye patches make anyone else feel like they are immediately transferred to a spa…on the ocean…with a gentle breeze? Because that’s exactly how they make me feel. I could also be missing the beach and vacation since I live 1.5 hours from a beach and we can’t leave the house. Who knows, really? Before shoots, I apply a pair of eye patches to refresh my entire eye contour area. Since we usually don’t use eye creams past our immediate under eye, patches are great for brightening up the entire space above your orbital bone. Plus, whatever is left on my skin after removing, I pat into my skin for added moisture. The patches can also be worn on your eye lids.

4 | Tula Cooling & Brightening eye balm (Use LOTSOFSASS for 15% off) – If you’re looking for a visible shine and brightening tint to your eyes, this product is it. I have been hesitant to try this brand because literally every blogger is obsessed with it. And every blogger is obsessed with the word obsessed. They must teach it to us during blogging/influencer school. Usually, I try to stay away from blogger “cult favorites” but I figured trying Tula couldn’t hurt and I could finally know if it worked or not. I can’t talk about the product without giving you a faith disclaimer, so: this product is often seen used on top of your makeup to brighten your eyes throughout the day. However, if you have medium to dark skin, this will discolor your under eye makeup and leave you with a grey shadow. Trust me. Please.

As an alternative, I will use this under my eye makeup when I need a little bright boost. The twist screw applicator makes this product not only easy to use but easy to travel with. I keep this in my skincare fridge and use it solely for all travel so I don’t have to worry about spilling.

5 | Murad Youth Renewal Eye Serum – If you have wrinkles under your eyes and/or crows feet, this is the serum for you. I will say, this serum is much more expensive than all the others in this post but it has been one my favorite nighttime treatments ever. A half of a pump is really all you need for the medium weight formula to cover your entire eye contour. There is a slight scent to this one but it’s totally worth it for results. Because this is a retinol product, I only use this eye cream in the evenings and during long weekends at home. Retinol increases cell turnover in your skin, which helps speed up the lightening process of dark spots and “heal” acne. Because of so, your skin is more sensitive and can easily become undamaged. And because I am spending way more time outside  (where else would I be in the middle of a quarantine?), I am making sure I wash my face thoroughly in the morning and I have ample sunscreen around my eyes. Because I already have dark circles, I don’t want to get burned or have a negative reaction since retinol temporarily makes your skin more sensitive. I definitely notice the softness of lines around my eyes when I use this product consistently in the evenings.

6 | Farmacy Cheer Up Brightening Vitamin C Eye Cream – This was my first Farmacy product and guys, it did not disappoint. WIth this eye cream, my eyes are not only hydrated but I can see the lightening of dark circles due to lack of sleep. Around my eyes is naturally dark but when I am on day 3 with 5 hours of sleep a night, I basically transform into my tethered zombie named A. I’m working on the sleep routine now but on days when I can’t avoid the late nights, this vitamin c eye cream has come to my rescue. There is however a slight cherry scent to this one. It hasn’t caused any irritation on my skin but if you have sensitive skin, I would be cautious when using.

7 | Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Eye Creme – Last, but definitely not least, banana bright eye cream. I was influenced by Grace Atwood from The Stripe to try this product. This is honestly one of my favorite influenced purchases to date because y’all, this eye creme is magic. Whenever I am wearing makeup, this becomes my eye cream of choice. It leaves your eyes extremely bright, not grey, with a light golden tint for glow. This another heavier formula which is perfect if you have dry patches under your eye but still want the suppleness of a brightening eye product. Plus, this eye cream gives my skin a smoothness that makes applying primer and makeup incredibly easy. If you want to try this before purchasing the a full size, I would suggest this Ole Henriken gift set , which is the same price. The entire set should last you 30-60 days and is the perfect introduction to brightening products from Ole Henriksen.

Well friends, that’s all for today! As a reminder, most topical products are only going to give you temporary results based on your consistency of us. Some issues, such as deep set lines and heavy bags, can only seriously be “removed” with fillers or other similar procedures. However, I wanted this post to help you find some easy, affordable and less evasive options to treat common under eye issues. I would love to know in the comments: do you use an eye cream daily? If so, which ones!

As always, you can click on any of the links and be directed straight to the product. Thanks so much for reading! -xo, Azanique <3