The Eyes Have It

Lately, I've been noticing that my eyes have been showing my age a bit more. Puffy, dark circles, under-eye bags, just tired looking. And are those fine lines I'm seeing? Good grief. Anyway, maybe I just need to go bed earlier. Maybe I just need to pop a couple of chilled tea bags on my eyes more regularly. Or, maybe I need to start using some eye cream. ::gasp::

Now hear me out, I'm not entirely convinced that these eye treatments work. While there are some skin experts who believe that additional eye cream is unnecessary, there are some who say that products for the eye area can be beneficial. I know people who use them, however, and they swear up and down that they work. While I am not a beauty expert, I'm in the can't-hurt-to-try-things camp. So, I decided to sample a few eye products for myself.

Kate Somerville CytoCell Dark Circle Corrective Eye Cream

One of the many blogs I follow (but I can't remember now which one) had a favorable review of this product, which is the reason I decided to give it a try. It's a white, thick cream with little to no scent. It says that it contains optical brighteners, but on me it dried matte and didn't seem to give any lightening effect on my dark circles. I didn't notice any reduction in puffiness. It also had a bit of a tacky texture, even after a few minutes. So for me, even if there are any long-term benefits to using this product, the high cost and these initial results means that I am not going to buy this.

Origins GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream (pictured above)

This gets such mixed reviews but I had several personal recommendations for this product so I got a sample to try. It's creamy, salmon-colored, and comes in a little glass jar. It does a have a soft I'm-a-beauty-product scent, but nothing overpowering. It contains coffee-bean-derived caffeine for a little pick-me-up, ginseng, cucumber extract, and some optical brighteners. I like that it doesn't contain a lot of harsh ingredients, parabens, or sulfates. It's soothing and after about five minutes, I feel like it makes a visible difference in the way my eyes look. I know this is probably only cosmetic, but I liked it (and the price) enough to buy it. So there.

Clinique All About Eyes

I think this is one of Clinque's best-selling products. It's a lightweight, silky product that is a cross between a cream and a gel. Reasonably priced for a department-store brand. The silicone in this makes it good for use under makeup. It absorbs quickly, has caffeine in it, and contains soothing things like green tea extract. I do like it, but it contains petroleum-based ingredients which I try to avoid. Clinique also carries an All About Eyes Rich version that I don't think has instead more emollient ingredients like shea butter, but I haven't tried it.

Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Ferulic + Retinol Triple Correction Eye Serum

I have used other products from Dr. Dennis Gross, formerly MD Skincare, and I really like them. When I saw that this NYC-based dermatologist had this eye product, I knew I should give it a try. This gel-like serum comes in a brown glass pump bottle. It's fragrance-free, without parabens or sulfates, lightweight, and absorbs quickly. It contains caffeine and other ingredients meant to reduce puffiness, but it also has retinol and hydroxy acids (AHA and BHA) to reduce fine lines and improve skin tone. It did feel a bit tingly the first couple of times I tried it, but overall it feels really good when I apply it. I'd like to keep using this to see what the long-term results are, but I think I'll likely buy this once my sample runs out. Because of the retinol, I'd rather use this at night before bed.

So, there ya have it. I know there's no magic pill that's going to reverse aging or undo what my hereditary traits have already determined. I'm okay with knowing that I'll have to wear under-eye concealer to really get rid of these dark circles and camouflage whatever else is going on. There's nothing wrong, though, with trying to help undo mother nature just a teeny bit.

Clinique Skin Care · Clinique Eye Makeup · Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Eye Care

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