Fine lines and wrinkles are the greatest concern for most women when it comes to their eyes. These concerns are followed closely by dark circles, under-eye bags and loss of firmness. The eye area is pretty delicate, and signs of aging usually start to set in here first, and that's what the best drugstore eye cream is for: A highly concentrated variation of moisturizer, combined with ingredients like hyaluronic acid and retinol to address these worries.
More often than not, the eye cream formulas are expensive-you can part with well over a hundred dollars for a single product in a department store. However, experts in this field (aestheticians and dermatologists) reckon you don't necessarily have to. You can find an effective eye cream at your local drugstore, and they'll still hydrate, brighten and smoothen your eye area without denting your pockets.
Here are 10 of the best drugstore eye creams to revitalize your looks:
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Best Drugstore Eye Cream
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Best Drugstore Eye Cream - Reviews
The Olay Ultimate Eye Cream is undoubtedly the best drugstore eye cream, thanks to its versatility. This is a multi-tasker that focuses on wrinkles, puffiness and dark circles. It's a rapid wrinkle repair, working both instantly and over time. The product's color-correcting technology brightens up your eye area instantly, making you look well-rested. This eye cream also contains a peptide and mineral blend that reduce lines the more you use it.
This RoC Retinol Correxion Eye Cream is a fan favorite for all the good reasons. It mostly contains retinol - the holy-grail ingredient that effectively counters fine lines and wrinkles. This is a hypoallergenic drugstore eye cream, meaning you don't risk any irritation on your skin, particularly around the delicate eye area. It's also gentle to use, so you don't have to feel the need to rub or pull when applying.
If you're looking to remedy a loss of firmness in your eyes, this drugstore eye cream is an excellent choice. It contains vitamin A and pro-vitamin B5, which plump and firm up the skin. The formula also doubles as alpha-hydroxy acid, meaning it helps with gentle exfoliation, making the skin look smoother and brighter. The eye cream also contains optical diffusers, which help to improve radiance immediately.
CeraVe is an incredibly popular brand for offering all sorts of products, especially for people with sensitive skin. Their drugstore eye cream is no exception. The skin around your eye is quite thin, making it more susceptible to irritation. The CeraVe Eye Repair Cream is a gentle formula that will do wonders for your eye area. It's also fragrance-free and non-comedogenic. Plus, it doesn't clog pores or trouble the delicate eye area. This drugstore eye cream also offers a lot of hydration, thanks to ceramides and hyaluronic acid in the formula.
As much as it sounds straightforward, finding the best drugstore eye cream for morning use can turn out to be tricky. Plus, you don't want an oily product that'll probably melt your concealer or smudge your mascara. This drugstore eye cream from La-Roche Posay uses fragmented hyaluronic acid to hydrate the skin around your eyes deeply. More so, it absorbs fairly quickly without leaving any residue. The eye cream also contains caffeine to help fight dark circles. This is a great hydrating gel eye cream that feels refreshing and innately cooling, making it the perfect choice for mornings when you might need a boost.
Including this drugstore eye cream as part of your bedtime routine can help to bring a new breath of life to the area around your eyes. It's based on retinyl propionate, a more effective retinoid variant common in several other drugstore products. The formula also contains niacinamide, one of the best brightening ingredients in the industry. Compared to other drugstore eye creams, this product is impressively affordable while still guaranteeing highly effective results.
The biggest draw to this product is vitamin C, one of the most vouched for ingredients in the world of skincare. This also extends to drugstore eye creams. Not only is it a highly effective and protective antioxidant, but it also boosts collagen production, helps to fight spots and also evens out skin tone. It's a triple-action, non-greasy eye cream that's perfect for use around the eyes. Additionally, it also contains collagen and anti-aging peptides, making it one of the best drugstore eye creams you can find on the market.
This is an excellent choice for people who have very dry under-eye skin. It's a gel-textured formula full of hyaluronic acid, which helps with hydrating and plumping the skin around the eyes. It's also a good place to start for people who're trying out eye creams for the first time. What stands out about this eye cream is its ability to improve hydration levels around the eyes and treat fine lines. The formula also includes retinol, one of the most effective anti-aging ingredients.
Under-eye bags are generally caused by fluid retention, skin sagging as well as the skin losing its natural elasticity. This superb drugstore eye cream from Hada Labo Tokyo contains plenty of caffeine, helping tighten the "bags" up. The company is famous for its super hyaluronic acid, reported to retain twice the moisture of regular hyaluronic acid. The ingredients combine to help in hydrating, restrict blood vessels, restore radiance, retain moisture and reduce dark circles. The eye cream has a light texture, meaning you can reapply throughout the day without fretting about ruining your makeup. It's worth noting that you should preferably get an in-office procedure if your eye bags are constant.
If you're not big on the feeling of thick, rich cream around your eyes, you can opt for a serum. This serum from Olay is featherweight and non-greasy, and it soaks in pretty quickly. The product also delivers an amino-peptide complex to help smooth wrinkles while offering plenty of hydration. Plus, it has a subtle brightening effect.
Factors to Consider in the Best Drugstore Eye Cream
1. Ingredients
Certain eye cream ingredients present specific benefits for your eye area. The ingredients in an eye cream make all the difference in the expected results.
So what should you look out for in the best drugstore eye cream?
- Antioxidants - include vitamins C and E, berry extracts and ferulic acid, which help fight the damage caused by pollution and UV rays.
- Hyaluronic acid - is a humectant that acts like a sponge, holding up to a thousand times its weight in water.
- Ceramides - are natural fats found in the skin naturally, and they help heal a dry or weakened skin barrier.
- Retinol - is derived from vitamin A. It prompts collagen production and hastens skin cell turnover to minimize fine lines and wrinkles. It tends to cause extra dryness, so use it alongside a hydrating ingredient, such as shea butter, ceramides or hyaluronic acid.
- Peptides - stimulate the production of collagen and elastin, which firms up sagging skin.
- Niacinamide or kojic acid - target fine lines and discoloration, helping to lighten under-eye circles. They also slow down pigment-producing cells, which brightens your skin.
- Caffeine - can wake your skin up by constricting blood vessels and getting rid of built-up fluid.
And what should you avoid? Eye creams that contain fragrances or dyes. These ingredients can irritate the sensitive skin around your eye, causing dryness or even potentially more damage, like wrinkles.
2. Do a Patch Test
Before you apply your eye cream, it's always advisable to test a tiny amount of the product on a different part of your skin, say on the inside of your arm or your neck. This is to make sure that you don't have a negative reaction to the cream. If you're in the clear, then apply the product lightly with your ring finger or pinky to avoid pulling or tugging, which can further exacerbate the fine lines and wrinkles.
3. Keep Them Small
As much as several daily moisturizers can be used as eye creams, some of them aren't tested and certified for safety around the delicate eye area. For this reason, always ensure you go for a product specifically formulated to be an eye cream.
Best Drugstore Eye Cream Tips
Getting the right eye cream for your needs can be quite challenging, especially with the market full of such products. The following tips should help you to find the best eye cream for your specific needs:
- Go for an eye cream that contains a mix of anti-aging ingredients that all skins require, such as antioxidants, skin-restoring and replenishing ingredients like butter and oils, peptides, fatty acid, retinol and non-fragrant plant extracts.
- Ensure that your eye cream of choice is fragrance-free. Fragrance is a persistent source of sensitizing and allergic reactions, no less so close to the eye itself.
- Manage your expectations. No eye cream can eliminate wrinkles, eliminate puffiness and dark circles or lift sagging skin completely. That being said, the best drugstore eye cream hydrates and smoothen skin texture, brightens, firms up and reduces the look of lines, circles, wrinkles and puffiness. In other words, it can reinvigorate your appearance.
- Don't get an eye cream packed in a jar. Jar packaging allows some anti-aging ingredients such as antioxidants, plant oils and retinol to deteriorate as soon as you open the jar.
- If you'll be using your eye cream during the day, look for a product with broad-spectrum sun protection rated SPF 30 or higher. If you don't find one, apply a thin layer of your normal eye cream, then follow it up with your regular daytime moisturizer with sunscreen; but it must be fragrance-free.
- For advanced signs of aging, go for an eye cream for crows feet; it's fortified with ingredients such as anti-aging retinol, brightening vitamin C and targeted peptides. If you have sensitive skin, look for an eye cream that contains soothing omega fatty acids and ceramides that strengthen the skin's barrier.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the Best DrugStore Eye Creams
1. When should you start using eye cream?
As early as possible. Most people wait until their first fine lines show up or when they randomly start to worry about their eyes in their 30's. The truth is, you should be proactive, and it's best to start using eye creams in your 20's. The reason being the eye area ages 5-10 years quicker than the rest of your face.
2. Can you use moisturizers or face creams instead of eye cream?
No. Most beauty products meant for the face contain highly-concentrated active ingredients that can irritate the delicate skin around your eye area. Furthermore, they aren't tested by ophthalmologists, which is quite a big deal as far as your eyes are concerned.
3. Are drugstore eye creams as effective as the more expensive versions?
Pretty much yes. You really don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on expensive eye cream. The best treatment for your eye concerns is right at your local drugstore. The best drugstore eye cream is just as capable of addressing your eye issues as the pricey one at the department store.
4. What's the ideal way to apply eye cream?
For starters, read and understand the instructions. That being said, there are a couple of universally accepted practices. Use your ring finger since it has the lightest punch. Dot the cream under your eyes gently and make sure you don't rub. Press it on for maximal absorption as well as to avoid irritation.
