The debate of whether you need to use an eye cream or not has been going on for quite some time. There are two conflicting groups when it comes to eye cream. One believes that it is necessary to add an eye cream to your skincare regimen to treat and slow down the signs of aging, dark circles, and puffiness around the eyes.
The second group argues against the use of eye cream and considers that other skincare products are enough for taking care of the under-eye area.
If you’re noticing signs of aging around your eyes but are confused about whether to add an eye cream to your skincare routine, we’ve got you covered. So let’s get to the end of this debate and help you decipher whether an eye cream should be a skincare essential.
What is An Eye Cream?
Let’s start by learning what an eye cream exactly is. It’s essentially a moisturizer specifically designed to target the sensitive and delicate skin around the eyes. Eye cream is a targeted treatment that hydrates, moisturizes, and treats the eye area, helping fight various skin problems that appear around the eyes. While some people may see it as a fancy moisturizer and prefer to use their regular face creams or moisturizer around the eyes, the fact is that the eye area needs extra attention and care. Many eye creams are manufactured using gentle and safe ingredients which shouldn't irritate or damage the skin around the eyes.
Why Should You Use an Eye Cream?
Even if you’re already using a good-quality moisturizer or face cream for treating and preventing skin problems, investing in an eye cream is worth it. Here’s why an eye cream should be in your skincare vanity:
- Treats Sensitive and Delicate Skin - As mentioned earlier, the skin around your eyes is more delicate and sensitive than the rest of your face, so it requires special treatment and skincare products. In addition, your regular creams can irritate the skin around your eyes and lead to premature signs of aging and inflammation.
- Hydrates and Moisturizes the Skin - The skin under your eyes becomes drier with time due to various internal or external factors that cause dehydration and dryness. An eye cream is your best option to deliver an added dose of hydration and moisture to the skin. In addition, it can help to restore and retain the moisture level in the skin.
- Combats the Signs of Aging. Also, since the area around the eyes is thinner and undergoes continuous micro-movements, it’s more susceptible to cell damage and signs of aging. Wrinkles, fine lines, and dull skin can appear early in this facial area. Hence, you need to add an eye cream to your daily skincare routine as a preemptive approach to fighting these skin issues.
- Reduces Puffiness - Eye creams targeted at minimizing swelling due to water retention around the eyes are formulated with anti-inflammatory and detoxifying compounds, which boost the lymphatic system. Better lymphatic drainage helps flush out excess fluids and toxins, making the eyes appear smoother and even-toned. So, if you wake up with puffy and swollen eyes in the morning, you have a good enough reason to add an eye cream to your skincare regimen.
- Brightens the Skin - It’s common to have uneven skin tone and dark under-eye circles due to harmful external factors, stress, sleep deprivation, and many other reasons. You can find plenty of eye creams in the market specially tailored to reduce discoloration around the eyes and make the skin around the eyes appear brighter and fresher.
When Should You Use an Eye Cream?
Now that you know why eye cream is a valuable addition to your skincare shopping, the next important question is when to incorporate it into your skincare routine.
- The Earlier, the Better - Although many people start using an eye cream in their 30s when they begin to see initial signs of aging, such as subtle creases around their eyes and dull and tired-looking eyes, it may be best to start before your 30s.
- Adopt a Preventive Approach - It’s not compulsory to start using eye cream when wrinkles and fine lines are already apparent around your eyes. You can add an eye cream to your daily skincare ritual even in your 20s or before because it’s always better to stop a skin problem from occurring than treat it afterward. You’ll achieve the best results from a preventive approach.
- When You See Early Signs of Aging - As we age, skin starts losing its structure and shape due to the breakdown of elastin and collagen. Also, oxidative damage, hormonal fluctuations, poor diet, extreme weather, and other elements can accelerate the skin’s sagging. As a result, the delicate skin around the eyes is the first to show the visible signs of aging. So, it’s recommended to take special care of the skin around the eyes to enjoy youthful and healthy skin for longer.
- If You Have Dry Skin - Moreover, if the skin around your eyes is drier than the rest of your face or tends to dry out quickly due to oxidative stress or dehydration, an eye cream can help you preserve moisture in the skin and keep your eye area looking supple and radiant.
- If You Have Dark Circles - If you’re struggling with dark under-eye circles or chronically swollen or puffy eyes, you should add an eye cream to your skincare routine no matter your age. Various eye cream formulas are packed with detoxifying and brightening ingredients. Find the right eye cream for your individual needs.
- If Your Eyes Endure A Lot - “The eyelid is the thinnest skin on the body and since it’s constantly active (we blink 10,000 times a day), the skin around the eye area is the first to show age,’ says dermatologist Dr. Debra Jaliman.¹ Your eyes go through a lot of strain and continuous movements throughout the day. We often apply and remove makeup, cry or laugh, squint, and rub our eyes. All these factors can ultimately take a toll on the skin around your eyes and pave the way to wrinkles and crow’s feet. Therefore, using an eye cream is not a bad idea, even if you don’t observe any visible signs of damage around the eyes.
Difference between a Moisturizer and Eye Cream
As discussed earlier, the skin around the eyes is thin, sensitive, and fragile. Therefore, it can’t tolerate powerful or harsh ingredients used in mainstream face creams and moisturizers. The most significant difference between an eye cream and regular face moisturizers is that eye creams are carefully formulated using specific ingredients which shouldn't irritate the under-eye skin.
Also, high concentrations of certain skincare ingredients added to facial moisturizers can aggravate the delicate skin around the eyes, leading to more damage than good. On the other hand, eye creams contain active compounds potent enough to provide skincare benefits of those ingredients without causing irritation.
What Ingredients to Look Out for?
We understand that it can be very challenging to opt for the best eye cream with countless options available in the market. Your best approach is to go through the list of ingredients and look for those that will suit your skin and its specific needs.
Eye creams with hyaluronic acid and ceramides are particularly great for treating dryness and dehydration. They can also offer added benefits of reducing and preventing wrinkles and crow’s feet.
Retinol eye creams help speed up the renewal and repair of skin cells, which accelerates the synthesis of elastin and collagen. As a result, retinol is ideal for treating wrinkles, fine lines, and discoloration.
Vitamin c and peptides are also commonly used ingredients in eye cream. Both are high in antioxidants and help to strengthen the skin’s lipid barrier.² As a result, eye creams with these compounds effectively fight off oxidative stressors, which cause the signs of aging.
Squalane, sodium pyroglutamic acid and glycerin are widely used in eye cream formulation to gain humectant, moisturizing, and hydrating benefits.³ In addition, caffeine eye creams help reduce puffiness around the eyes through vasoconstriction and detoxification.
You can choose from gel and cream formulas when looking for an eye cream. Gel-based eye creams absorb faster and are lighter, making them suitable for those with oily skin. On the other hand, cream-based formulas work better for normal and dry skin.
Whether or not you choose to use an eye cream and are looking for a little extra care for your under eyes, an under-eye mask is a great option! We love using Sundree’s PEPT EYES Bio-cellulose Eye Masks. These bio-cellulose under-eye masks are packed with beauty-boosting ingredients, including copper peptides, white tea extract, and CBD, to help hydrate eyes while minimizing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
Final Thoughts
Bright eyes are the skincare dream of many out there. Eye creams are a great choice to treat and prevent skin issues that appear around the delicate and sensitive skin of the eyes. Eye creams are among the skincare products you can add to your skincare routine if you feel you need to address a particular skin issue around your eyes. You can find a plethora of eye creams containing different ingredients which work for various skin woes. So, do your research and invest in an eye cream that yields the best results and works the best for your skin problems. Then, apply your chosen eye cream daily to help achieve your desired results.
Citations:
- Lee, Christa Joanna. (2015). ‘Do You Really Need Eye Cream?’, Self. Accessed April 13, 2022. Available at: https://www.self.com/story/do-you-really-need-eye-cream
- Curtis, Lindsay. (2022). ‘Vitamin C Benefits for Skin’, Verywellhealth. Accessed April 15, 2022. Available at: https://www.verywellhealth.com/vitamin-c-for-skin-5084225#:~:text=When%20applied%20topically%2C%20vitamin%20C,smooth%20appearance%20to%20the%20skin.
- Starkman, Evan. (2021). ‘What Is Squalene?’, RadiancebyWebMD. Accessed April 15, 2022. Available at: https://www.webmd.com/beauty/what-is-squalane
