Do you know how to apply eye cream the right way? FYI, when I say eye cream, I mean any cream you use on the eye area. Truth is, eye cream is just a facial moisturiser in a smaller jar. Those special ingredients for the eye area? Mostly hype. If caffeine worked, no one would have dark circles anymore… Why pay twice for the same thing? Pick a fragrance-free moisturizer and use that all over. That’s what I do. It’s always worked well for me – and it saves me quite a bit of money, too.
But, doesn’t matter what product you use, you need to be careful how you use it on the eye area. If you’re too forceful, rub too hard, or use too much product, you may end up with premature wrinkles and milia seeds (those little white bumps on the eye area that are terribly hard to remove). How do you prevent these little annoyances, so you can get smoother, brighter eyes that make you look younger? Here’s how to apply eye cream the right way:
How To Apply Eye Cream: A Step-By-Step Guide
- Wash Your Face: This should be a given, but I’ll mention it anyway. Cleansing creates the foundation for a good skincare routine. Now all that dirt, grime, and makeup are off your face, nothing will stand in the way of your eye cream. It’ll be able to sink into your skin, just like it should to work its magic. I don’t care how tired you are or how late you came home at night. If you skip this step – or use a wipe that doesn’t remove anything! – you’re sabotaging your skincare routine.
- Use A Grain Of Rice: The more the merrier doesn’t apply to skincare. There’s only so much skin can absorb. You know what that means? If you use too much product, you’re not going to get double the moisture. The extra is just gonna sit on the surface, doing nothing. Besides, if you use too much eye cream, you risk getting milia seeds, and those little things can be a royal pain to remove. Use only a small amount, no bigger than a grain of rice.
- Three Dots: Now that we’ve got that grain of rice… oops, I meant grain of eye cream, apply three dots to your undereye area: one in the inner corner, one in the middle, and one in the outer corner. This makes spreading the cream so much easier and ensures that every part of your undereye area gets its fair share.
- Use Your Ring Finger: Did you know your ring finger is your weakest finger? That’s why it’s so great at applying eye cream. “I recommend applying eye cream with your ring finger, which provides the least amount of pressure on the skin, and gently patting the cream into the skin,” says dermatologist Dr. Caroline Robinson. Awesome, right? FYI, tugging and pulling your eye area leads to wrinkles. That’s the LAST thing you want to do.
- Pat From The Inner Corner Outwards: I used to apply eye cream in any random direction. Surely, that doesn’t matter, right? Wrong. It’s best to pat the cream from the inner corners of your eyes inwards using circular motions. Why? It helps smooth out wrinkles.
- Pat, Don’t Rub: In case you missed the step above, I said pat, NOT RUB, the cream. This is so important because rubbing can pull at the skin, and, in the long run, cause wrinkles and other kinds of damage. Don’t do it!
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When Should You Use Eye Cream?
For best results, use an eye cream both mornings and night. Double board-certified facial plastic surgeon Jaimie DeRosa shares that “for those who are using an eye cream specifically to get more brightening or reduce puffiness, those creams are best used in the mornings.” If you’re using a separate eye cream, apply it before facial moisturiser.
Best Tips To Maximise Results From Eye Cream
Now you know how to apply eye cream the right way, I bet you’re curious to know best practices so you can maximise results. Here are the best dermatologists-approved tips for eye cream application:
- Don’t get too close to the lash line: Don’t you hate it when your eye cream gets into your eyes? So painful! To avoid that, board-certified dermatologist Nicole Hayre recommends applying eye cream “no closer to the lash line than 2-3 millimeters. This will help to prevent ocular irritation. The cream will naturally spread onto the rest of the lid when you blink.”
- For oily skin: Look for oil-free eye creams that won’t make your under-eye area even oilier. The extra grease won’t look good and may even get into your eyes!
- For sensitive skin: Look for formulas without fragrance or fragranced essential oils that can unnecessarily irritate the sensitive eye area.
What Ingredients Should You Look For In An Eye Cream?
Eye creams are mostly moisturisers – facial moisturisers in a smaller jar. But a good formula does more than make your eye area soft and smooth. A good eye cream can also prevent wrinkles, brighten up dark circles and remove puffy eyes. Here are the best ingredients to look out for in an eye cream to make it worth the splurge:
- Antioxidants: Vitamin C, Vitamin E, resveratrol and other antioxidants fight free radicals that cause premature wrinkles.
- Retinoids: Retinol, granactive retinoid & co stimulate the production of collagen and reduce crow’s feet.on
- Caffeine and vitamin K: They target blood vessels to increase circulation and reduce swelling and puffiness.
- Hyaluronic acid, natural butters, and oils: They deeply hydrate skin, leaving it softer and smoother.
What Are The Best Eye Creams?
If you can use your facial moisturiser as an eye cream, do that. It’s what I’ve been doing for years and it works like a charm. But if the skin on your under-eye area is different from the skin on the rest of your face, or you simply love using a separate product for the eye area (even though there’s NOTHING that can get rid of dark circles – don’t believe the hype!), here are the best eye creams on the market at the moment:
- CeraVe Eye Repair Cream ($15.99/£11.00): It has a huge dollop of niacinamide, plus ceramides to strengthen your skin’s protective barrier and hyaluronic acid to hydrate skin. Available at Boots, Dermstore, Ulta and Walmart
- Dr Dennis Gross Ferulic + Retinol Triple Correction Eye Serum ($71.00): A retinol serum with a dash of licorice extract to lighten dark spots. Overall, a well-rounded eye cream that moisturises skin, fights wrinkles and makes dark circles less obvious. Use it no more than 3 nights a week. Available at Cult Beauty, Harrods, Selfridges, Sephora, Skin Store, and SpaceNK
- Mad Hippie Eye Cream ($25.99): This unassuming eye cream contains literally everything you eye area needs: shea butter and squalene deeply moisturise and plump up skin; antioxidants like Vitamins C and E to prevent wrinkles; chamomile and other skin soothing agents reduce irritations; caffeine helps with dark circles (but only if they’re caused by leaky blood vessels). Available at iHerb and Ulta
- Paula’s Choice Resist Anti-Aging Eye Cream ($37.00/£32.00): Its rich texture is super moisturizing and makes even the driest of skin types soft and smooth again. Plus, it’s loaded with antioxidants and soothing ingredients that fight free radicals and reduce inflammation. Available at Dermstore, and Paula’s Choice
- Supergroup! Bright-Eyed 100% Mineral Eye Cream SPF 40 ($40.00): This eye cream has sunscreen built-in and is enriched with mica to brightens up dark circles look smaller. Plus, it’s hydrating enough for most skin types. Available at Blue Mercury, Goop!, Nordstrom, Supergoop!, and Ulta
The Bottom Line
There you have it, all the best tricks and tutorials on how to apply eye cream to maximise results, according to dermatologists. Bye bye puffiness and dark circles!
I do the same, I apply as less as possible as I find my eyes bulging the next day if i accidentally applied too much 🙂 I do use my ring finger too!!!
.-= Nikki´s last blog ..Reader’s Corner =-.
Nikki, that happens to me too, it’s annoying. Not to mention you can get milia. I think this is the best way to apply an eye cream to get the most benefits and no side effects 🙂
When I first started, I applied a pea sized amount then I started to apply less because I wake up with flakes at the outer corner of my eyes. I don’t know know if anyone else gets them though. And I totally agree with you Gio. Sometimes I really can’t justify the price tag for most eye creams – too much for too little.
.-= Dee´s last blog ..Battle of the Primers: Bare Escentuals Prime Time – VS – The Body Shop Skin Primer Matte It =-.
A jar of eye cream is really small but you do not use a lot so it lasts a long time. Surprisingly enough, the plain vanilla eye cream works great for me without giving me milia. I guess my skin just prefers to have things like that.
.-= Dao´s last blog ..Beauty Literotica: Looking Younger by Robert Jones =-.
Dee, personally I never got flakes but like you, overtime I reduced the amount I was applying. With eye cream, less is always best imo.
I think some prices are crazy esp when most eye creams are pretty much face moisturizers packaged in a smaller tube. I’d just rather use my moisturizer in the first place.
Dao, I agree that eye creams can last for months and sometimes that can justify the price. My gripe is that most eye and face creams are pretty much the same. Just have a look at their ingredients list and you won’t see much difference. I wouldn’t use any face moisturizer on the eye area though. If it is too rich it’ll cause problems.
The packaging is important too. If eye creams contain antioxidants and are packaged in a jar, the antioxidants will degrade pretty soon and their effects, unlike the amount of product in the tube, won’t last for months.
But if I came across an eye cream with beneficial ingredients packaged in a tube and fairly priced, I’d definitely buy it. And I’m glad that cream works so well for you 🙂
i can’t agree with using RING FINGER more!!! it’s the only finger i use to apply anything on my eye area! it’s the finger with least force and thus easiest on our sensitive eyes as i have read. And since then on, I’ve only used it strickly. No joke at all.
and i also can’t bring myself to buy expensive eye cream or any serum since i haven’t seen any miracle those products bring to those who use them.
thanks for another excellent read. your blog is a fresh touch among all the beauty sites. And that’s why i have to come here over and again. 🙂
Hi Gio! I’ve used this cream a few years ago before discovering La Prairie anti aging ( for all ages) eye cream SPF 15. I could not say that is a great cream. It was more like moisturizing for me, but concerning the fine lines or signs of a slepless night it was 0. I didn’t see any reduction of fine lines.
Usually the eye creams should be used in a small amount and some of them are very concentrated and moisturizing also. For example mine La Prairie lasts me about 6 months.
Jojoba, thanks. You’re making me blush 😳 And I agree, those expensive eye creams are usually just average moisturizers packaged in very small containers. And those “miracle ingredients” are just emollients or antioxidants present in too small concentrations to do much. Not really worth the money imo.
Hi Tavia! I agree that this cream was just average. It moisturizes well and I noticed that my fine lines were slightly reduced for a few hours but that’s it. It didn’t do anything for my dark circles or undereye bags and overall I think it’s overpriced for being an average moisturizer. I’m glad the La Praire cream works so well for you 🙂 I like it that it contains SPF, it’s not easy to find an eye cream with sunscreen.
I follow most of the tips u recommended here, but instead of patting my ring finger gently (which, I’ve read ’bout it a million times)I wipe the cream instead. It’s not a correct way, I know. But it just seems easier, to me. Hehee
.-= HaNNa´s last blog ..Mimoo & Panther(a) =-.
Hanna, yeah, that’s not the proper way but if you’re gentle, don’t pull and don’t apply too much pressure you should be ok. It’s when you treat your skin in a harsh way that the problems start.
Great tips!! I’ve read that we shouldn’t apply eye cream on the lid, just above it and then after a while, the cream will slide on that area (the lid) on its own and it will moisturise anyway.. so we don’t have to apply on the lids.. I also find that when I apply on the lids, my lid area ALWAYS feels very greasy to me, so I’m following the tip of applying the eye cream on the orbital bone, on the crow’s feet and just below the eyebrows..and then pat all around. ^_^ I also don’t use eye cream right below the eye, because it can get puffy, only on the orbital bone (I think that’s what it’s called) is sufficient.. 🙂
only my two cents.. 🙂
Denise, thanks for sharing, I didn’t know that. I am one of those girls that applies moisturizer all over the eye area, but then I just use my usual facial moisturizer on my face and then what’s left of it on my eyes. That way, I only apply a tiny layer of moisturizer on my eyes and don’t feel greasy. But I’m glad applying it only on the orbital bone works best for you and I’m sure many girls will find that useful too.
oh I see!! ^_^ Yes, I’m feeling a nice softness at that area and I think it suits me best, since when I used to put eye cream on my lids I would feel greasy and like it wouldn’t sink in haha.. or if I put it right below the eyes, again I would feel the same way.. so whatever floats your boat really..
Denise, I agree. We all have different skin types and use different products, so in the end it just comes down to whatever works best for each person. 🙂