When it comes to achieving healthy, radiant, and glowing skin, there’s one particular area that demands special attention. The delicate skin around our eyes is thinner and much more susceptible to signs of aging and fatigue. Which is why eye cream is an essential in any skincare regimen. With distinct formulas and targeted benefits, eye cream is a no-skip product for sure. Here are 7 benefits of eye cream and why it should be a part of your daily skincare routine.
Benefits Of Eye Cream: 7 Reasons You Need It
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What Is An Eye Cream?
Before we get into the benefits of eye cream, let’s first talk a little about what an eye cream is.
An eye cream is a moisturizer that is specifically formulated to use on the skin around our eyes. Like mentioned before, the skin around our eyes is much more delicate and thinner than the skin on other areas of our face. The skin around our eyes also lacks sebum, or oil, making it more prone to dryness, wrinkles, and fine lines. Eye creams are more conditioning than traditional moisturizers, making them perfect for targeting any under eye concern. They are designed to be lightweight, easily absorbed, and non-irritating, making them ideal for the sensitive skin around the eyes.
Many eye creams also come formulated with special ingredients that target specific needs ranging from anti-aging to hyperpigmentation.
So do you actually need to be using an eye cream in your routine? Let’s dive into the 7 benefits of eye cream and why I wholeheartedly believe that this product is an essential in any skincare routine!
7 Benefits Of Eye Cream
Eye Creams Provide Hydration, Moisture, and Nourishment
One of the benefits of eye cream is its ability to offer essential hydration and moisture to the eye area. This is important because the skin under our eyes is thinner, making it more likely to lose moisture faster than other areas of our face.
Luckily, many eye creams come packed with hydrating ingredients that help replenish and retain moisture, nourish and soothe, and protect the delicate eye area.
Some of these ingredients include hyaluronic acid, (known to help skin retain it’s moisture and keep skin looking plump and youthful), and ceramides, (which are lipids or fatty acids that strengthen the skin’s barrier preventing moisture loss and damage). Squalane is another super hydrating ingredient often found in eye creams, and a personal favorite of mine since it’s sensitive-skin safe!
By incorporating an eye cream with hydrating ingredients, the skin around the eyes will stay moisturized and nourished. Just a little evidence that eye creams can help keep your skin looking more youthful, healthy, and radiant.
If you’re looking for a hydrating eye cream, I’m a major fan of the Avene Soothing Eye Contour Cream. This eye cream offers plenty of hydration, but it’s also incredibly lightweight and perfect for those with even the most sensitive skin under and around their eyes, (like myself!).
An Eye Cream Can Help Diminish The Appearance Of Fine Lines And Wrinkles
Fine lines and wrinkles are common signs of aging, and they often appear first around the eyes. This is due to constant eye movement and facial expressions, plus the naturally thinner and dryer skin around the eyes. Because the eye area is more prone to fine lines and wrinkles, it’s crucial to provide specific care to this area.
To target wrinkles and fine lines in the eye area, eye creams that contain active ingredients that focus on anti-aging are key. Eye creams containing retinol, Vitamin C, and peptides can help stimulate collagen production and promote cell regeneration, improve skin elasticity, and diminish the look of wrinkles.
Results will vary by person, but with consistent use of eye creams containing anti-aging ingredients the appearance of wrinkles, lines, and other signs of aging can be significantly reduced.
My favorite wrinkle-reducing eye cream is the Drunk Elephant A-Shaba Complex Retinol Eye Serum. This rich and luxurious, yet comfortably lightweight, eye cream offers anti-aging properties without irritation.
Say Goodbye to Dark Circles
Dark under eye circles are the blood vessels under the skin becoming more visible. They can be caused by a range of things including, genetics, dehydration, lack of sleep, or other lifestyle factors, (like alcohol consumption and smoking). One of the benefits of eye creams, and why you should incorporate one into your daily skincare routine, is their ability to reduce the presence of dark circles.
When it comes to reducing the look of dark circles under your eyes, there are a few ingredients to look for in an eye cream. Caffeine is a well-known ingredient that helps eliminate dark circles thanks to its ability to constrict blood vessels. If you’re looking to reduce hyper pigmentation, Vitamin C is a great ingredient that will help lighten and brighten the area.
Regardless of the cause of your dark circles, there is an eye cream out there that can help you achieve brighter looking skin!
The Ordinary Caffeine Eye Serum is one of my favorite caffeine eye creams, that’s also astonishingly affordable! It’s actually under $10!
Reduce the Appearance of Puffiness and Eye Bags
Under-eye puffiness is another thing that can be caused by a variety of factors like genetics, lack of sleep, aging, stress, or fluid retention. Sometimes eye bags or puffiness are situational, like you had a rough night or had a bit too much salt, but it can also be a constant issue, especially as you age.
Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor, (that means it constricts blood vessels), which also makes it a great choice for anyone trying to get rid of puffy eyes. An eye cream that contains caffeine will help to reduce any swelling around your eyes and keep your skin calm and soothed.
You can also consider incorporating some cold therapy to help ease swelling and decrease eye puffiness. An ice roller or an eye cream with a built-in metal applicator that stays cold are two great options. A cooling eye mask can also help to soothe and reduce swelling.
The Cocokind Revitalizing Eye Cream comes equipped with a built-in metal applicator that stays cool and offers incredible de-puffing benefits. It also contains loads of hydrating and nourishing ingredients like glycerin and shea butter.
Improve Skin Firmness and Elasticity
An under-eye area that is firm is key to keeping an overall youthful appearance. But over time this delicate area loses its elasticity and signs of aging start to show up. One of the best benefits of eye cream is it’s ability to promote a tighter, more lifted look to your eye area.
You’re going to want to use an eye cream that contains collagen-boosting ingredients like peptides, plus antioxidants that help strengthen the skin. When used regularly as part of a consistent skincare regimen, an eye cream can prevent sagging and keep your skin looking tight, firm, and fresh.
The Youth To The People Peptides + C Energy Eye Concentrate is packed with peptides and is antioxidant-rich as well, targeting multiple eye concerns!
Eye Cream Also Offers Prevention & Protection
Using an eye cream isn’t just about addressing existing concerns; it’s also about prevention and protection. Regular use of eye cream can help protect the delicate skin around the eyes, creating a barrier against environmental factors, such as UV radiation, pollution, and free radicals.
Eye creams that are rich in antioxidants, like Vitamins C & E, green tea extract, and niacinamide, can offer this kind of important protection against these harmful environmental factors.
It’s also vital to incorporate an SPF into your eye care routine. Some eye creams include SPF in their ingredients, adding an extra layer of protection against sun exposure that could be harmful. However, you want to ensure that it offers at least SPF 30 protection or higher. If your eye cream doesn’t include any SPF, make sure you’re applying your regular sunscreen around your eye area as well. When it comes to choosing a sunscreen to use around your eyes, consider choosing a mineral-based formula that uses zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. These formulations are often more sensitive-skin safe, making them a better choice for this area.
And don’t forget to reapply that sunscreen every two hours!
Eye Cream Can Aid In Flawless Makeup Application
The benefits of eye cream extend beyond skincare. When you properly hydrate and nourish the eye area with an eye cream, you create a smooth canvas for makeup application.
Priming your eye area with an eye cream before applying your makeup keeps the area well hydrated and moisturized, allowing concealer to go on smoothly and preventing it from creasing or settling into fine lines or wrinkles.
Your makeup will look more flawless and last longer when you take care of your skin first.
When To Incorporate Eye Cream Into Your Skincare Routine
Your eye cream should be applied after cleansing and toning, but before you apply your moisturizer. This is because, as stated above, many eye creams contain active ingredients that do a variety of different things like target signs of aging and reduce hyper pigmentation. If an eye cream is applied after a thicker moisturizer, those super-star active ingredients have to fight through layers of other products to get to the skin they’re supposed to be treating. This could make it harder for those ingredients to treat the issues you wish to target.
It also offers this more sensitive area some protection from any harsher ingredients or products you might be using on the rest of your face. Your eye cream will create a kind of barrier to block those products from touching your under eye area.
Application Quick Tips
You Just Need A Little
When it comes to eye cream, a little goes a long way. All you need is a pea-sized amount for your entire under eye and eye-contour area. If you use too much, you could end up getting some in your eyes, causing eye irritation. Avoid applying your eye cream to your eyelids, unless the product instructions encourage you to do so.
Gentle Application Only
When applying your eye cream, take a pea-sized amount and gently dab the product around the eye area, starting from the inner corner and moving outward. Do not drag, pull, or rub your eye cream into your skin, doing so could cause friction that can lead to wrinkles, sagging, and discoloration. You should also avoid getting your eye cream too close to your bottom lashes, to avoid any eye irritation.
Give It A Few Minutes
After you’ve applied your eye cream, allow it to fully absorb for a couple of minutes before moving on to the next steps in your skincare routine.
Remove Your Eye Makeup
Make sure you’ve fully removed any eye makeup, and all makeup you wear on your face, each night. Not removing your makeup can lead to puffiness, eye irritation or infection, and accelerate signs of aging.
When all is said and done, the benefits of eye cream are too good to overlook. Eye creams offer a wide variety of specialized care to a very delicate and important area. From hydration and nourishment, to reducing the signs of aging, to providing protection against environmental damage, eye creams play a vital role in maintaining the health and appearance of the delicate eye area.
With so many options to choose from, and so many ingredients that target specific needs, there’s an eye cream out there for everyone. By choosing an eye cream tailored to your specific concerns and incorporating it into your daily routine, you can achieve a healthy, beautiful, and vibrant appearance.
So the verdict is in, you do need to use an eye cream!
Read More About Vital Skincare Tips:
17 Skincare Tips That Will Transform Your Skin
Skincare Mistakes You Need To Avoid
What Is Hyaluronic Acid + Why You Need To Be Using It
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