Dr. Dennis Gross’s eye serum is a must for anyone who wishes they had started using an anti-wrinkle eye cream yesterday (or years ago). The retinol- and bakuchiol-rich formula can actively reverse existing signs of aging, targeting even the subtlest wisdom lines (often called “crepiness”). Apply this one at night, opposite your daytime SPF application, for the best possible defense against accelerated UV damage. If you feel like you’re too late to the game using eye cream and already have crepiness around the eyes, you’re not actually late; just use this one to make up much of the difference.
The Best Overnight Eye Cream: Kiehl’s Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado
Size: 0.5 oz. / 0.95 oz. | Key ingredients: Avocado oil and shea butter provide cushioning and skin-softening benefits, while beta carotene builds up the skin’s antioxidant defenses.
Adam Hurly
This is the first eye product I truly fell in love with over a decade ago. It feels like creamy butter on the skin, and that density is what ensures you wake up with exactly as much moisture in your skin. It always leaves me looking well-rested (even when the alarm clock is a couple of hours sooner than I’d like). If you dedicate an eye product to overnight use, then consider this one—though it’s perfectly fine for morning use, too.
The Best Eye Patches for Men: Dieux Skin Forever Eye Mask
If under-eye masks work better for your routine, we recommend these resusable ones from Dieux Skin. These patches are best used as a plus-up to your everyday eye cream. Apply a sliver of your chosen product to the skin around your eyes. Then, affix these patches with the narrower end pointed to the inside corners of your eyes (the wider end should cover your expression lines at the outside corners of your eyes). The reusable gels go on top of your eye cream or serum for 15 to 20 minutes to help boost ingredient absorption by creating an occlusive barrier and giving you that cold zing (if you store them in the fridge) to reduce puffiness and dark circles.
Adam Hurly
Once finished, clean the patches by patting hand soap on each one, rinsing, and drying them with a clean hand towel. These patches cost about the same as any single-use patches; granted, you’ve got to buy the actual eye cream or serum separately—though I’ll absolutely go to bat for the brand’s fortifying, hydrating Auracle Eye Serum, which is enriched with peptides and antioxidants to firm and protect.
The Best Eye Cream for Urban Dwellers: Aesop Parsley Seed Anti-Oxidant Eye Cream
Size: 0.3 oz. | Key ingredients: Vitamin C brightens skin and acts as an antioxidant shield, while vitamin E and sodium lactate help draw in moisture and provide deep nourishment.
If you live in a city, you want to look for an eye cream packed with antioxidants to help fend off free radicals caused by pollution. Free radicals are unbound electrons that can cause collagen degradation, hyperpigmentation, and a long list of other skin concerns. Adding a vitamin C-rich product to the mix protects the skin from free radical damage that can cause cellular deterioration.
Adam Hurly
This eye cream is great to use morning and night, thanks to its additional emollient properties that blanket skin and prevent moisture loss while you’re sleeping. You’ll wake looking rested each day, and in the long term, will thwart those common eye-area concerns. Bonus points: Of all the eye creams I recommend, this one gets the most positive feedback from readers and friends alike.
What to Look for in an Eye Cream
By now, you’re a pro on the issues that you might want to target with an eye cream. You want to firm? Look for retinol. You want to brighten? Look for antioxidants. You need to depuff? Look for caffeine. Beyond the active ingredients, it’s important to find a product that concentrates potent ingredients to provide short- and long-term benefits to your skin.
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