While some regard eye treatments as anything from unnecessary to moisturiser’s poor cousin, experts agree that, as the area around the eyes is unique, it needs it own specific care.
Not only is the skin there thinner, it’s hypermobile as we are constantly blinking and smiling, while puffiness can be caused by the mildest problems with lymphatic drainage such as hayfever.
“The skin around the eyes is more delicate compared to the rest of our face and this can result in the visible signs of ageing appearing there sooner,” explains Dr Aimee Vyas, leading facial aesthetics doctor and eponymous Mayfair clinic founder. “The skin there is super thin and gets thinner as we age, while levels of collagen and elastin production decrease which can cause it to become loose and saggy in appearance.
“Under eye hollows, known as tear troughs, develop as we get older due to loss of volume in the mid-face and because cheek fat descends as the cheekbones flatten from lack of support. Furthermore, as the skin thins, blood vessels and muscle beneath the skin’s surface also appear more visible contributing to dark circles.”
Moving away from an outdated one-suits-all approach, today’s smart anti-ageing eye creams and serums promise better, targeted results from instant de-puffing to all-day tightening as formulas become more technically advanced and utilize more focused ingredients.â¯
“I encourage clients to first determine what they wish to achieve with an eye product,” suggests Dr Vyas. “With ingredients, look for hyaluronic acid for hydration; antioxidants to brighten and make the skin more resilient; niacinamideâ¯to moisturise, minimise hyperpigmentation and reduce inflammation; caffeine to de-puff; and retinol in low doses for advanced benefits. The most important thing if you want to see benefits is being consistent with your skincare regime. I believe that being gentle and proactively caring for the skin around your eyes can have a huge preventative impact.”
Whether it’s wrinkles or sagging that are top of your anti-ageing priority list, these targeted creams and serums are formulated to help the eye area look fresher, firmer and more youthful using the most luxurious textures and effective ingredients.
Shop the best anti-ageing eye creams below
Best anti-ageing eye creams at a glance:
- Best for a light serum and rollerball applicator: de Mamiel Essential Eye Fix - £95, Space NK
- Best for plumping and strengthening: Shiseido Benefiance Wrinkle Smoothing Eye Cream - £52.80, Boots
- Best for fast action: Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Gel-Crème - £52, Estee Lauder
- Best for temporary but immediate results: Peter Thomas Roth Instant FIRMx Eye - £32, Cult Beauty
- Best for powerful botanicals for sensitive eyes: Dr. Hauschka Regenerating Eye Cream - £44.20, John Lewis
- Best for a luxurious formula: Guerlain Abeille Royale Eye R Repair Serum - £90, lookfantastic
- Best for a bouncy and refreshing texture: Tatcha Silk Peony Eye Cream The Silk Peony - £60, Space NK
- Best for a botox-inspired formula: Kate Somerville KateCeuticals Lifting Eye Cream - £110, Cult Beauty
- Best for tackling fine and deeper lines: Skinician Ageless Peptide Eye Complex - £40, Amazon
- Best for hayfever and dry eye sufferers: Epionce Luminous Eye Serum - £62, Skincity
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de Mamiel Essential Eye Fix
Best for: a light serum and rollerball applicator
An excess of cortisol, our stress hormone, causes a chain reaction in the skin that reduces its elasticity and encourages wrinkles to form. This featherlight oil-serum focuses on the skin-ageing effects of stress around the eyes with a wealth of potent natural and organic ingredients.
Bakuchiol revs up cell turnover to improve smoothness and brightness, while tuberose and cornflower support collagen production. Prickly pear extract also helps firm and plump the skin, plus green coffee fights puffiness and arnica tackles dark circles. The rollerball applicator adds an extra level of benefits too, from feeling cooling on the skin to adding a draining effect.
Buy now £95.00, Space NK
Shiseido Benefiance Wrinkle Smoothing Eye Cream
Best for: plumping and strengthening
This rich, velvety-textured bestseller aims to treat six types of wrinkles (who knew there were so many?): under eye, crow’s feet, between the brows, lines from puffiness, creases on the lids and crinkling at the outer corners.
The mechanisms, such as facial movements, that encourage those wrinkles to form is targeted with Japanese algae known for its plumping and strengthening properties, plus a unique peptide that softens the skin and the appearance of deep lines. One of the few eye creams that’s suitable for using on the lids too, the finish is illuminating and non-greasy, making it an ideal base for make-up.
Buy now £52.80, Boots
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Gel-Crème Synchronized Multi-Recovery
Best for: fast action
The much-loved anti-ageing eye cream from Lauder’s fêted ANR range has had an upgrade to include new free radical-fighting properties and faster results.
Focusing on the damage that environmental factors from pollution to blue cause to the eye area, including damaging collagen and causing irritation, this new turbo-charged formula not only counteracts free radicals with antioxidant vitamin E, but includes a unique defence technology for super-protection.
Undereyes look brighter in a fortnight and smoother after a week, while fantastic hydrating ingredients keep skin plump and nourished for hours.
Buy now £52.00, Estee Lauder
Peter Thomas Roth Instant FIRMx Eye
Best for: temporary but immediate results
For a quick-fix way to give eyes an instant lift and make lines and wrinkles look like they’ve disappeared, think of this as like using putty to fill in the creases and get an impressive anti-ageing effect. Use a fine make-up brush to dot on and lightly fill in lines with the translucent gel, then leave for five minutes to dry, creating a perfectly smooth surface.
Formulated with three unique complexes, the immediate results may be temporary, but with regular use, skin stays smoother and more lifted. Unlike similar products launched in the past, this one won’t leave an obvious white residue and helps minimise puffiness too.
Buy now £32.00, Cult Beauty
Dr. Hauschka Regenerating Eye Cream
Best for: powerful botanicals for sensitive eyes
Rich in natural botanical ingredients, this eye treatment pumps out like a rich cream then quickly transforms into a milky lotion so a little goes a long way. The actives include red clover and seabuckthorn to boost skin tone and elasticity around the eyes for a firming, tightening effect, alongside shea butter and botanical oils to deeply hydrate and plump up the appearance of lines and wrinkles.
Great for even the most sensitive of eyes including contact lens wearers, it absorbs quickly and leaves a smooth, satiny finish. The subtle herbal-floral scent is wonderfully comforting too.
Buy now £44.20, John Lewis
Guerlain Abeille Royale Eye R Repair Serum
Best for: a luxurious formula
Tired, droppy eyes will love this clever anti-ageing eye option. Based around the healing powers of honey and royal jelly, the fresh-feeling serum brightens the eye area immediately thanks to a pearlescent finish, while two polymers create a mesh for a tensing effect that gives lift to make eyes look more open.
A trio of vegetal ingredients also targets pigmentation spots and the poor microcirculation responsible for bluish dark circles and puffiness. And the ‘gold drop’ applicator not only looks extravagantly prestige but it delivers exactly the right amount of serum while the spherical tip gives eyes a soothing and de-puffing massage.
Buy now £90.00, lookfantastic
Tatcha Silk Peony Eye Cream The Silk Peony
Best for: a bouncy and refreshing texture
Japanese brand Tatcha are renowned for its exquisite textures and this eye cream is no exception. A bouncy-feeling balm that melts into the skin, it leaves a powdery finish that has a subtle blurring effect on wrinkles and imperfections. These lines are then plumped out using a silk protein that attracts moisture while white peony extract rebuilds the skin’s natural barrier to hold hydration in and reduce the ageing effects of dehydration.
It also includes a unique complex of green tea, rice and algae that helps strengthen the skin as well as gently exfoliate it, so the eye area is smoother, more plump and looks fresher instantly and long term.
Buy now £60.00, Space NK
Kate Somerville KateCeuticals Lifting Eye Cream
Best for: a botox-inspired formula
Said by leading LA facialist Kate to be inspired by the benefits of Botox, this concentrated cream tackles the eye-ageing trio of wrinkles, puffiness and dark circles. It includes a complex that mimics the ability of snake venom to ease muscle contractions and therefore reduces lines and wrinkles exacerbated by facial expressions.
This is combined with another peptide that supports collagen production so the eye area becomes smoother in two ways. Hyaluronic acid also helps plump skin, while vitamin C brightens and algae counteracts dark shadows. It’s a jam-packed anti-ageing formula but still absorbs easily and gives the skin a silky veil feeling.
Buy now £110.00, Cult Beauty
Skinician Ageless Peptide Eye Complex
Best for: tackling fine and deeper lines
Although it feels super-light once it’s tapped in around the eyes, this gel-cream is a powerhouse of ingredients focused on tackling fine and well as deeper lines to reduce wrinkle depth and firm up sagging skin. The formula contains a peptide that mimics retinoid acid - the powerful precursor to retinol - that increases the production of collagen and elastin within the skin for a more toned appearance and smoother surface.
It also uses a hyaluronic acid technology that fills in lines so skin looks plumper and brightening vitamin C alongside shielding from future ageing damage to the eye area thanks to UV filters that protect against sunlight and pollution.
Buy now £40.00, Amazon
Epionce Luminous Eye Serum
Best for: hayfever and dry eye sufferers
If a quick improvement to hooded, droppy eyelids is your goal, you’ll see a visible effect 45 minutes after smoothing on a tiny amount of this silky gel. It absorbs instantly to a matte finish - and a perfect make-up base - letting the skin-tightening red algae and hydrating botanical extracts including watermelon and lentils get to work, while puffiness is targeted quickly too.
Over time, you’ll see brightening benefits as well as a firmer feel to the eye area. If you’re a dry eye or hayfever sufferer, this smart formula was also created to reduce allergic responses and histamine reactions, meaning less irritation so you won’t rub and cause further damage to the fragile eye area.
Buy now £62.00, Skincity
Verdict
Not only is the serum-oil texture of de Mamiel Essential Eye Fix exceptionally refined and lightweight on the skin, it glides on, absorbs easily and leaves the eye area soft and comfortable. The anti-ageing properties are impressive, with a wealth of potent natural ingredients that can firm, smooth, brighten and de-puff without irritating the delicate skin around the eyes.
The rollerball applicator also brings a host of benefits, from helping drain puffiness and offering soothing coolness, to making it perfectly portable and mess-free - no fingertips required. It’s a power-packed little bottle that offers big benefits when it comes to keeping eyes looking and feeling youthful.
