Do You Really Need Eye Cream? – Is Eye Cream Necessary

Do you need an eye cream? Ask a bunch of dermatologists and beauticians for their opinions, and you will certainly get conflicting answers. Some experts insist that eye cream is essential if you want to slow down the signs of aging, but others say it is just a marketing strategy, not much better than ordinary moisturizers.

In this tutorial, you will learn the difference between eye cream and face cream, and do you really need an eye cream. 

Why Treat Your Eye Area?

Before we discuss what to use, let’s talk about why your eye area needs additional care.

The skin around the eyes is different from the rest of the face for the following reasons:

Thinner: eyelids and skin are the thinnest in the whole body, only 0.5mm thick.

Dry eyes: unlike the forehead, chin, nose, and cheeks, there are few oil glands in the eye area, so it is easier to dry.

It is more sensitive: delicate skin is more susceptible to allergies. Even if you do not have sensitive skin, it is common for eye areas to be irritated when exposed to certain products or ingredients.

This is the first area showing signs of aging: due to facial expressions, squinting, and even blinking (we blink 28000 times a day!), The skin around the eyes is always under pressure. The study also found that the deepest wrinkles are where the oil glands are not concentrated – which is why crow’s feet are the first sign of typical aging.

Eye edema: because the skin under the eyes is thin, fluid retention looks more obvious.

It is prone to produce millet: millet, also known as “milk spots”, is a small white lump composed of hardened keratin. They often occur around the eyes and are usually caused by the use of heavy face cream.

Is Eye Cream Any Different Than Face Cream?

So is eye cream and face cream the same thing? Just put it in a smaller jar and the price is higher? Not always.

The face cream has the main function: it can cure dryness by locking up moisture in the skin and preventing moisture loss. However, they also often use active ingredients such as acids and vitamin C for other problems such as dullness, pigmentation, or signs of aging. They also come in a variety of textures, from light gel to heavy face cream.

On the other hand, eye cream can only be used on the fragile skin around the eyes. Therefore, their formulations usually do not contain common irritants, such as fragrances. However, they usually contain active ingredients for crow’s feet, edema, and dark circles under the eyes – only in low concentrations. As for the texture, it is different. Some eye creams are light, non-greasy and have strong penetration, while some eye creams are rich in texture and have strong moisturizing power.

What Is Eye Cream?

In short, eye cream refers to a face cream specially used for the skin around eyelids and eye problems. Although some ingredients in face cream may be similar, their concentration may be low, which is the reason for the delicate skin around the eyelids.

Who Should Use an Eye Cream? 

If you have dark circles, fine lines, eye wrinkles and eye bags, you can choose eye cream.

When You Probably Don’t Need an Eye Cream

You may not want or need a separate eye cream when：

• You Want to Treat Dark Circles

If you consider investing in eye cream just to fade the darkness, it may not be the best strategy. The most common causes of dark circles under the eyes include food allergies, hypothyroidism and sunken eyes – in these cases, eye creams do nothing at all.

But if darkness is actually pigmentation, eye cream containing brightening ingredients such as vitamin C, kojic acid or nicotinamide may be useful. Take a look at Farmacy Cher up eye brightening vitamin C eye cream, SkinMedica eye Brightening Essence or Dr. Dennis gross stress SOS eye cream.

• you can tolerate face cream around your eyes

If your existing face cream is very effective for you, then the eye cream is “just like it”, but it is not necessary. As long as you like its texture, you can get the effect you want. There is no reason why you can’t apply moisturizer to your face, including the eye area.

• you can tolerate your eye anti-aging treatment

Contrary to what you think, you can apply vitamin A and L – ascorbic acid under and around your eyes.

So, if you can use your commonly used anti-aging therapy all over your body, you should be grateful for yourself! Compared with eye cream, its active ingredient concentration is higher, which means that the effect is better and faster. Personally, I can use a313 vitamin a pomade (reviewed here) under my eyes every night without irritation.

But be slow and always protect your eye area (and the rest of your face) from the sun, because vitamin A increases light sensitivity. You can also use your usual sunscreen, or try super glue! Bright 100% Mineral Eye Cream SPF 40 is one of the few eye creams containing zinc oxide.

• You can’t stand most eye creams

Although eye creams are specifically designed to be gentle, they can still cause annoying irritation to some people, including myself. As an eye-sensitive person, I have found that many eye creams can dry and wrinkle the skin under my eyes, although they promise to moisturize!

If this happens to you, you may consider giving up eye cream and choosing a simple serum oil combination. In my experience, the risk of allergies is very small because your skin is exposed to only a few ingredients.

Although it’s not aimed at the eyes, I believe that hydraxtreme (here’s a comment), a mixture of glycerol and polysaccharides – that’s it! (the eternal hyaluronic acid is another simple hydrating serum, which will not cause problems.) Then I add a small drop of independent Lee squalane facial oil to the essence (comment here), but you can use any pure oil you can tolerate. Whenever I test products that cause abnormal eye areas, I always go back to this combination!

Also, remember that topical use of the product is not the only way to treat eye areas.

When to Consider Using an Eye Cream

You should consider using eye cream when:

• Your face cream is too irritating to use around your eyes

Even if you like your regular moisturizer, it may be too pungent and irritate your sensitive eye areas. Here are some ingredients that may cause problems for the eyes:

• Essence and essential oils
• Fruit acid and fruit acid
• L – ascorbic acid and ascorbic acid tetraiso palmitate (vitamin C)
• Retinol
• Avobenzone and Oxybenzone (sunscreen)
• You want to treat fine lines or edema

If you are worried about Crow’s feet and eye bags, a targeted eye cream containing active ingredients will be more effective than a face cream used only for moisturizing.

For wrinkles, vitamin A is the gold standard, so use eye cream containing retinol, retinol or retinoic acid ester. They will not be as effective as formulas used for other parts of the face, but over time they will help normalize collagen and smooth wrinkles.

For puffy eyes, caffeine and green tea extracts can help temporarily constrict blood vessels to reduce swelling. They are usually used for eye care, not face cream.

• Your anti-aging treatment is too irritating around your eyes

This may be because you have used retinol, L – ascorbic acid, or α – or β – Hydroxy acids and other therapeutic drugs, but you just can’t stand them close to your eyes. In this case, if you still want to do something about the signs of aging around the eyes, eye cream containing non-irritating active ingredients is the next best choice.

Drunk Elephant C multivitamin eye cream is a good choice because it contains a mixture of peptides and vitamin C derivatives (milder than L-ascorbic acid), which can tighten and brighten. And nicotinamide, which has a series of benefits, can be found in the first aid Beauty Eye nicotinamide whitening cream.

• Your face cream is too light or heavy to apply around the eyes

Another reason to use eye cream is that the texture of your face cream may not be correct.

Maybe you have oily skin, so you usually only use light gel or gel face cream moisturizer. But your eye area – because it doesn’t have all the oil glands – may need more water than the rest of your face.

On the other hand, your moisturizer may be too thick and greasy for your eye area. This can make it difficult to apply eye makeup, but that’s not all. A thick eye cream can penetrate into your eyes (especially when you lie down at night), causing inflammation and edema. They also cause the millet to swell.

Conclusion

If you have specific eye problems and you want to correct them, eye cream is an effective skincare method. However, because some problems may be irreversible, such as volume loss, in some cases, eye cream is not enough. If you want to moisturize your eyes, but do not want to have dark circles, edema, or wrinkles, you can use your preferred moisturizer. However, be careful not to use possible irritants, such as retinol or exfoliating acid.