The Eye Cream That Helps You Fake A Good Night’s Sleep

I have a soft spot for Estee Lauder skincare. It’s one of the few high-end brands that actually bothers to put antioxidants in their skincare products. But their marketing claims drive me insane. They claim Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Concentrate Matrix “FORTIFIES with cushioning support all around eyes” and other gibberish talk like that.

What does that even mean? Nothing. Vague brands like that sound cool, but are so hard to prove. So, what does this eye cream actually do? What can you rely on it on? Does it even work? I’ve put it to the test to find out:

Key Ingredients In Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Concentrate Matrix: What Makes It Work?

SILICONES TO MINIMIZE FINE LINES

The base of this eye cream is made up of silicones. It’s not as bad as you think. Silicones do a lot of good things in skincare:

• Enhance texture: They allow the cream to glide on smoothly, without tugging or pulling.
• Fill in fine lines and wrinkles: It’s a trick to make them look temporarily smaller to the naked eye.
• Softens skin: It makes it feel silky soft to the touch.

They don’t even suffocate skin: silicones have a particular molecular structure made up of larger molecules with wider spaces between each molecule. They create a barrier that keeps moisture in but still allows skin to perspire.

Related: Are Silicones Really Bad For Skin?

HYALURONIC ACID TO HYDRATE SKIN

Hyaluronic Acid is one of the most hydrating ingredients found in skincare. It’s a moisture magnet that draws water from the environment and binds it into your skin. It’s so powerful, it can hold up to 1000 times its weight in water! Extra moisture = plumper, softer and brighter skin.

P.S. Hyaluronic Acid isn’t the only moisture magnet here. Glycerin does the same thing, but on a smaller scale.

Related: Why You Need Hyaluronic Acid In Your Routine, No Matter Your Skin Type

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ANTIOXIDANTS TO FIGHT WRINKLES

Most eye creams/serums lack in antioxidants. Not this one. You’ll find plenty here, from chamomile to mulberry to algae. They all help you fight free radicals, the nasty molecules that destroy collagen, elastin, cellular DNA and anything else they find on their path. Cue fine lines, wrinkles, and dark spots.

Antioxidants neutralise free radicals before they can wreak their damage, helping you keep your skin looking younger for longer. That’s not all. Some antioxidants, like chamomile, also have anti-inflammatory properties that soothe redness and inflammation, another main cause of premature aging.

Related: The Complete Guide To Chamomile In Skincare

The Rest Of The Formula & Ingredients

• Water\Aqua\Eau: The main solvent of the product, it helps dissolve other ingredients in it.
• Bifida Ferment Lysate: A type of probiotics that helps strengthen your skin’s protective barrier and soothe irritations. According to the manufacturer, it can also help repair DNA, but I’m waiting for independent proof to confirm this.
• Isohexadecane: An emollient often mixed with silicones to give shine and slip to a product.
• Glycerin: A powerful humectant that attracts and binds water to your skin.
• Butylene Glycol: Another humectant that hydrates skin. It also acts a solvent, to dissolve other ingredients.
• Disteardimonium Hectorite: It thickens formulas, so they’re not so runny.
• Isopropyl Isostearate: An emollient that makes skin softer and smoother.
• Ppg-15 Stearyl Ether: A lubricant that makes skin softer and smoother.
• Sucrose: A type of sugar with water-binding properties that keeps skin hydrated.
• Trehalose: A type of sugar that binds water to the skin to keep it hydrated for longer. It can also be used to thicken the formula.
• Tripeptide-32: This peptide helps to bind water to your skin and increase its hydration levels.
• Yeast Extract\Faex\Extrait De Levure: A silky liquid with moisturising properties.
• Lactobacillus Ferment: A non-living probiotic made by fermentation of the microorganism Lactobacillus. It soothes irritations and strengthens skin’s ability to defend itself from aggressors.
• Algae Extract: Although the name complies with INCI regulations, it makes it impossible to figure out which type of algae is used here, and its specific properties. I’ll just say that all Algae have hydrating and moisturising properties.
• Sodium Rna: A relatively new ingredient that may help with pigmentation and anti-aging. As it’s so new, we don’t have much data on its effectiveness or safety yet.
• Caffeine: This powerful antioxidant is also said to improve circulation to decrease puffy eyes and dark circles, but there’s no proof it does this. Most eye creams contain caffeine. If it worked, no one would have dark circles anymore.
• Hydroxyethyl Urea: A derivative of urea, it has powerful hydrating properties that keep skin soft and plump for hours.
• Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract: Derived from cucumber, it has hydrating and soothing properties that calm down redness and irritations.
• Camelina Sativa Seed Oil: Rich in fatty acids, this oil deeply moisturises skin. It has some antioxidant properties too.
• Sorbitol: A type of sugar with hydrating properties.
• Propylene Glycol Dicaprate: A humectant that hydrates skin.
• Sodium Polyaspartate: It’s a moisturiser.
• Hydrogenated Lecithin: It helps the watery and oily parts of a formula blend well together.
• Phytosphingosine: A natural component of your skin’s protective barrier, it makes skin softer and smoother and protects it from environmental aggressors.
• Ethylhexylglycerin: It’s a humectant that increases hydration levels in your skin. Plus, it has preservative-like properties that help stabilise the formula so that it lasts longer.
• Isododecane: It creates a barrier on the skin that keeps moisture in, keeping it hydrated. Plus, it gives the formula a softer texture that allows it to glide on smoothly.
• Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Extract: It repairs the skin’s protective barrier and keeps your complexion safe from environmental damage.
• Polyethylene: It makes the texture thicker.
• Propylene Carbonate: A solvent and film-forming agent.
• Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6: It stabilises and thickens formulas.
• Lecithin: It helps the watery and oily parts of a formula gel together, improving the texture.
• Glucose: A plant-derived humectant that binds water to your skin.
• Fructose: A natural sugar that hydrates skin.
• T-Butyl Alcohol: A solvent with a camphor-like odour.
• Disodium Edta: It binds to the trace metals in the water and neutralises them before they can spoil the formula.
• Bht: A synthetic antioxidant that keeps other ingredients stable.
• Hydroxyacetophenone: A synthetic antioxidant and skin conditioning agent.
• Sodium Dehydroacetate: A preservative that keeps the formula from spoiling.
• Potassium Sorbate: Another preservative that prevents bacteria contamination and keeps the formula safe and effective for longer.
• Phenoxyethanol: A preservative that prevents bacterial contamination.
• Iron Oxides (Ci 77491): It adds a pinkish tone to skincare products.

Texture

This eye cream has a lightweight and silky texture that spreads easily onto my skin. Yet it takes around 10 minutes to fully sink in. At least, it doesn’t feel terribly greasy on.

Fragrance

It’s fragrance-free, like all eye creams should be. I know, an eye cream that smells like a blooming bouquet of flowers in spring would be a lot more pleasant to use. But, fragrance is one of the most irritating ingredients used in skincare products. The eye area has very thin skin that gets easily irritated. Leaving fragrance out is a smart move.

How To Use It

You can use this cream morning and night, after serums but before moisturiser. Estee Lauder wants you to use the attached massaging applicator, gently rolling it under each eye three times, then moving up and around the crow’s feet area and over the eyelids. Finish by patting with ring finger until absorbed. But you’ll waste a lot of product this way. Just use your ring finger as normal.

P.S. This technique is the 360º cushioning support Estee Lauder boasts about… Nothing special here. *sighs*

Packaging

A translucent glass bottle with a bulb-tip applicator to massage your eye area with. It’s a gimmick that does a poor job at distributing the product on your skin, resulting in a lot of product being wasted. At this price point, that’s just not acceptable. A dropper applicator would be more practical and hygienic.

Performance & Personal Opinion

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Concentrate Matrix has a silky texture that glides smoothly onto the eye area, without tugging or pulling. Immediately, it does a good job at hydrating skin. The extra moisture makes my skin softer to the touch and plumps up my crow’s feet, so they look that little bit smaller to the naked eye. The whole eye area also looks brighter and more awake, like I’ve had a good night’s sleep. The effects last for hours…

But do you need an eye cream to achieve all this? Not really… There’s nothing here that specifically targets the concerns of the eye area. You could use your facial moisturiser (as long as it’s free of irritants!) all over and get the same results. You only need an eye cream when your under-eye area is drier than the rest of your face and could benefit from the extra burst of moisture. Mine isn’t, so after my mini-size runs out, I won’t be repurchasing.

Plus, I hate the packaging. It’s sleek and pretty, but that applicator is so unpractical! It deposits product all over the place (not just where it needs to be!). This is too pricey to waste like that…

Related: Do You Really Need An Eye Cream?

How Does Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Concentrate Matrix Compare To The Other Estee Lauder Eye Creams?

I’ll tell you a secret. I’m not a big fan of eye creams. They’re simply face moisturisers in a smaller jar. All those special ingredients that can fight dark circles and puffiness? Marketing hype. As long as your face moisturiser doesn’t contain any irritating ingredients, you can use it on the eye area. But, if you prefer to use a separate eye cream for whatever reason, here’s how Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Concentrate Matrix compares to other Estee Lauder eye creams:

• Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Gel-Creme Synchronized Multi-Recovery Eye Cream ($72.00): This eye cream has a lightweight gel texture that sinks in quickly into the skin. Low in oils and high in humectants (hyaluronic acid) it hydrates oily skin types without clogging pores. Available at Boots, Estee Lauder, Sephora, and Ulta.
• Estee Lauder Revitalizing Supreme+ Youth Power Eye Balm ($76.00): A rich, silicones-based cream that deeply moisturises skin. It also has a sprinkle of antioxidants to fight premature aging. But it can’t lift skin as promised. Available at Boots, Brown Thomas, Look Fantastic, Net-A-Porter, Sephora, and Ulta.
• Estee Lauder DayWear Eye Cooling Anti-Oxidant Moisture GelCreme ($46.00): A refreshing, lightweight cream for oily and sensitive skin that hydrates, soothes, and cools down puffiness. Available at Boots, Brown Thomas, Estee Lauder, Harrods, and Ulta.
• Estee Lauder Resilience Multi-Effect Tri-Peptide Eye Creme ($78.00): A rich cream infused with antioxidants to deeply moisturise and prevent wrinkles. Best suitable for dry skin. Available at Boots, Estee Lauder, Harrods, Sephora, Look Fantastic, and Ulta.

What I Like About Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Concentrate Matrix

• Fragrance-free.
• Moisturising, makes skin softer and smoother.
• Plumps up crow’s feet, so they look smaller.
• Helps you fake a good night’s sleep.

Who Should Use This?

If your eye area is drier than the rest of your skin and you need the extra moisture, this is for you. Everyone else, you don’t need it. It’s a good formula, but it doesn’t do anything that your facial moisturiser wouldn’t do.

Does Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Concentrate Matrix Live Up To Its Claims?

Is Estee Lauder Cruelty-Free?

No, Estee Lauder is not cruelty-free. Although they limit animal testing as much as possible, they sell in China, where animal testing is required by law.

Price & Availability

$70.00/£49.00 at Boots, Estee Lauder, Harrods, Look Fantastic, and Ulta

The Verdict: Should You Buy It?

No one needs an eye cream. But if you’re in the market for one, this is a great option to consider. It moisturises skin and prevents wrinkles. But it can’t do anything for dark circles (no eye cream can).

Dupes & Alternatives

• Paula’s Choice Resist Anti-Aging Eye Cream ($34.00): Fragrance-free, this moisturising eye cream is enriched with antioxidants to plump up crow’s feet and prevent premature wrinkles. Available at Dermstore and Paula’s Choice.

About Gio

Hi, I'm Gio. I'm a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is skin coach and writer on a mission to help you achieve your best skin day ever - every day. I bust skincare myths and debunk marketing jargon to help you figure out what's worth the splurge and what's best left on the shelf - using science, not hype. I also offer skincare consultations to help you create the best skincare routine for your unique needs.