The 13 Best Eye Creams And Serums, According To An Esthetician

Best retinol-based eye cream for fine lines and wrinkles.

When looking for any skincare product to help with fine lines and wrinkles, you want to make sure that it contains retinol. Retinol is a vitamin A derivative and a cell-communicating ingredient that speeds up cellular turnover and sends new skin cells to the skin's surface. Retinol also helps boost collagen production and increases elasticity, which are both keys to preventing fine lines and wrinkles.

So, if you're looking for an eye cream to help plump deep wrinkles and smooth out fine lines, you want to make sure it contains retinol, such as the La Roche Posay Redermic [R] Eyes. Formulated for sensitive skin, La Roche Posay's Redermic [R] Eyes contains 0.1% retinol with a 0.1% retinol booster complex to smooth the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. This gentle yet effective product will show great results after as little as 4-6 weeks of use without causing irritation, peeling, or discomfort.

Best less expensive option for fine lines and wrinkles.

RoC's Retinol Correxion Line Smoothing Eye Cream is another excellent retinol option for almost half the price of the La Roche Posay eye cream. It contains 0.1% retinol and fights the signs of aging by smoothing fine lines and wrinkles and reducing the appearance of dark circles.

This eye cream is non-greasy, fast-absorbing, and also suitable for sensitive and reactive skin due to containing zinc gluconate, an anti-inflammatory component that helps relieve redness and irritation.

Best peptide-based eye cream for fine lines and wrinkles.

StriVectin's Hyaluronic Tripeptide Gel-Cream has a beautiful gel-cream consistency that glides on the skin easily and provides an instant cooling and soothing effect. The formula is packed with skin-beneficial ingredients, including marine bioactive antioxidants that help fight free radical damage on the skin and peptides like Tripeptide-5 to help firm and tighten the skin around the eyes.

The potent blend of ingredients also doesn't end there – the product is infused with a patented complex that features an advanced form of vitamin B3 to boost hydration and minimize the appearance of dark circles. This innovative formula also contains Scelleye, a new yet promising ingredient that has shown a number of benefits, including targeting dark circles and crow’s feet and reducing the depth and severity of wrinkles.

Best for firming the eye contour.

The High Potency Growth Factor Firming & Lifting Eye Serum features a gel-serum consistency that instantly hydrates and visibly firms fine lines and wrinkles, leaving the skin around the eyes looking smooth, youthful, and radiant.

The serum is packed with three anti-aging powerhouse ingredients: 1) Polyamine Growth Factor, a proprietary ingredient that helps improve skin elasticity, 2) DMAE, a component naturally produced by the human brain that has a lifting effect on sagging skin, and 3) niacinamide, also known as vitamin B3, that renews and restores the skin by improving uneven skin tone and brightens dull skin by supporting the skin's moisture barrier.

Best for dark circles, age spots, and sun damage.

The SkinCeuticals AOX+ Eye Gel is a gel-cream formula that contains a potent blend of antioxidants to help brighten the undereye area and diminish the appearance of dark circles, age spots, and brown spots left from years of sun damage.

The gel-cream serum contains a potent blend of vitamin C, Phloretin, and Ferulic Acid, which are ingredients that interfere with the production of pigment and therefore brighten dark circles, improve hyperpigmentation, and prevent free-radical damage from UV-light exposure.

Additionally, the AOX+ Eye Gel also contains caffeine extract, which constricts blood vessels in the delicate eye area, thus improving the look of dark undereye circles and providing radiance instead.

Best less expensive option for dark circles.

The Eye Duty Niacinamide Brightening Cream by First Aid Beauty is a gentle gel-cream formulated to instantly illuminate the under-eye area using micro-pearls. Besides the instant effect that masks dark undereye circles, the gel-cream also contains a blend of brightening niacinamide, caffeine, and hyaluronic acid to reduce the appearance of dark circles over time.

Best for fatigue.

The Renew Eye Gel Daily Eye Therapy by EltaMD is a cooling gel formula that instantly refreshes and hydrates a fatigued under-eye area. The main ingredient in the gel is a unique peptide called Acetyl Hexapeptide-3, a cell-communicating component with a Botox-like effect that smooths fine lines and wrinkles and tightens the saggy skin around the eyes.

Additionally, the gel is packed with hyaluronic acid, which is a molecule that can hold up to 1000x its weight in water and is exceptionally good for plumping and hydrating the skin. The gel also contains watermelon and apple extracts to soothe and calm the under-eye area, as well as caffeine to help reduce the appearance of puffiness.

Best for puffy eyes.

The Inkey List Caffeine Eye Cream is an excellent budget-friendly option for those days when you just need something to soothe puffiness and instantly brighten up the under-eye area.

Although super affordable, the Eye Cream is packed with nourishing and moisturizing ingredients, such as waxes and fatty alcohols, but its main actives include caffeine, which constricts the tiny blood vessels in the undereye area and minimizes dark circles, and Matrixyl 3000™, a peptide that helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Best for dehydrated under eyes.

Cetaphil's Deep Hydration Refreshing Eye Serum is a buttery serum formulated to rehydrate and brighten the under-eye area. It has a soft silicone applicator that dispenses a formula packed with soothing, moisturizing, and brightening ingredients, including panthenol, hyaluronic acid, algae, blue daisy extract, and bisabolol, which work together to brighten the undereye area, replenish lost moisture and deeply hydrate the delicate skin.

Additionally, the Refreshing Eye Serum also contains smoothing peptides and vitamin E, an antioxidant known for its ability to reverse environmental damage such as dark spots caused by UV exposure.

Best for dry under eyes, fine lines, and wrinkles.

The Biossance Squalane + Marine Algae Firming & Lifting Eye Cream is a gentle eye cream that smooths and moisturizes the delicate under-eye area with a combination of softening, hydrating, and firming ingredients. The main ingredient in the eye cream is a plant-derived squalane, which is a lipid found in our natural oil that lubricates the skin and helps with moisture retention and barrier function.

Additionally, the eye cream contains a marine algae complex for its firming and lifting properties, as well as soothing panthenol and Paracress plant extract that has antioxidant properties and helps smooth out the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Best fragrance-free eye cream for sensitive and reactive skin.

When it comes to sensitive skin, Avène knows what's up. The brand offers a broad range of effective yet non-irritating products, and the Eye Contour Cream is no exception. The main active ingredient is Avène's mineral-rich thermal spring water, which minimizes inflammation, balances the skin barrier, and calms irritation.

The Eye Contour Cream also contains soothing chamomile, ultra-hydrating hyaluronic acid, and moisturizing vitamin E. The buttery-smooth eye cream is fragrance-free and approved by the National Eczema Association.

You can expect reduced puffiness, a plumper under-eye area, and all-around healthy-looking skin with daily use.

Best for plumping the undereye area.

Vichy's Mineral 89 Eyes Hyaluronic Acid Eye Gel is a hydrating gel serum that contains a high concentration of hyaluronic acid to plump the under-eye area and provide a temporary lifting effect.

Besides the main hydrating active ingredient, the gel also contains Vichy's proprietary volcanic water, which helps accelerate the regeneration of skin and improves the skin quality through benefits such as tightening the pores, maintaining healthy levels of oil production, and reducing water loss. Vichy's Mineral 89 Eyes Hyaluronic Acid Eye Gel also contains green algae extract that helps regenerate the skin, as well as reduce the look of fine lines and wrinkles.

Best eye cream with SPF.

If you want to protect your undereye area from environmental aggressors such as UV rays and free radical damage that lead to premature fine lines and wrinkles, you should definitely consider becoming diligent with your sunscreen application.

Since many sunscreens out there can be a little too harsh for the eyes and cause irritations, burning, and itching, choosing something like the SkinCeuticals Physical Eye UV Defense SPF 50, which is specifically formulated for the undereye area, is always a good idea.

This mineral sunscreen contains a combination of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide to provide broad-spectrum protection against UVA and UVB rays, while the tinted formula glides on smoothly and evens out the skin tone, instantly covering up dark circles.

Additionally, the eye sunscreen also contains a blend of antioxidants and barrier-repairing ingredients such as ceramides to help neutralize free radicals, prevent oxidative damage, and keep the undereye area smooth and hydrated.