TOP EYE CREAM PICKS
Rank Brand Link
1 Carrot & Stick The Eye Cream Review
2 Formulyst’s Anti-Dark Circle Eye Cream Review
3 Skinceuticals A.G.E. Eye Complex Review
- Peter Thomas Roth Eye Cream
As the first generation child of Hungarian parents who owned and operated spa resorts, you could say that formulating skincare products is in Peter Thomas Roth’s blood.
When Peter launched his eponymous skincare company in 1993, he drew on his heritage and the basic soothing and healing philosophies of the many muds and minerals found in Hungarian thermal springs.
While still giving credit to old-school remedies, Peter now uses the latest innovative and effective ingredients to improve on the formulas. The result? One-of-a-kind products that blend old Hungarian philosophies with 21st century skin care technologies.
Since its debut, the Peter Thomas Roth skincare collection has grown to include more than 100 products, including everything from cleansers to masks to serums and more. In this review, we’ll focus exclusively on the best Peter Thomas Roth eye creams.
We’ll cover the formulation details, including the key ingredients in Peter Thomas Roth Eye Creams and the research that supports (or doesn’t support) their use in skincare. We’ll also share some Peter Thomas Roth reviews so that you can get an idea of what customers really think of these products.
What Are The Top 8 Best Peter Thomas Roth Eye Creams?
The Peter Thomas Roth line currently consists of a comprehensive range of over 100 products, but in this review we’ll focus just on the eye creams. Let’s get started.
Peter Thomas Roth Instant FIRMx
If you’re getting ready for a special event or going out on a first date, you may be looking for a product that can help instantly tighten, firm, and smooth the look of under-eye bags, fine lines, and wrinkles. If so, Peter Thomas Roth Instant FIRMx Eye Temporary Eye Tightener could be a good option for you.
This quick-fix eye treatment includes ingredients that provide an instant — albeit temporary — tightening effect. First is sodium silicate, also known as “liquid glass”. Sodium silicate creates a film that contracts the skin as it dries, creating a temporary lift to reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles.
Another ingredient that helps to instantly tighten the skin is magnesium aluminum silicate. This
naturally-occurring mineral increases the wrinkle-filling and plumping action of sodium silicate. If sodium silicate were used alone, there would not be as much of a “fill” within the wrinkle to lift and smooth it. Magnesium aluminum silicate adds bulk to the wrinkle while sodium silicate lifts the wrinkle. The end result is an instantly smoothed wrinkle that lasts for several hours.
Fortunately, this formula also includes ingredients that provide long-term benefits, such as Eyeliss, a peptide complex that helps with puffiness and wrinkles over time. There’s also Eye Regener, potent alfalfa and lupine complex that helps with the look of under-eye bags over time.
Bottom Line: A quick-fix eye treatment that uses sodium silicate and magnesium aluminum silicate to instantly tighten skin and fill in wrinkles, while Eyeliss and Eye Regener provide benefits over time.
ALTERNATIVES: Carrot & Stick The Eye Serum. A blend of advanced peptides reduces the look of discoloration and rich moisturizers combat dryness. Crow’s feet are smoothed, puffiness is reduced and skin is visibly lifted and brightened with every application.
Peter Thomas Roth Vital-E Microbiome Age Defense Eye Cream
This antioxidant-rich eye cream promises to visibly minimize and protect against signs of premature aging caused by daily environmental aggressors. The formula includes the antioxidant vitamin E, which not only defends against free radicals but also helps to strengthen the skin barrier.
Another antioxidant is caffeine, which is actually a key ingredient that’s used throughout the Peter Thomas Roth Eye Cream collection. We’ll give you all the details on the benefits of caffeine in the Key Ingredients section below.
The Vital E Eye Cream formula also includes the patented Syn-Eye Complex, a blend of palmitoyl tripeptide-5, panthenol, sodium hyaluronate, and algae extract. Together, these ingredients help to reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and dark circles.
Bottom Line: Antioxidants like vitamin E and caffeine are combined with the Syn-Eye Complex to reduce fine lines, wrinkles, and dark circles.
ALTERNATIVES: Carrot & Stick The Eye Serum. A blend of advanced peptides reduces the look of discoloration and rich moisturizers combat dryness. Crow’s feet are smoothed, puffiness is reduced and skin is visibly lifted and brightened with every application.
Peter Thomas Roth Peptide 21 Wrinkle Resist Eye Cream
Just as the name suggests, this Peter Thomas Roth Eye Cream includes a whopping 21 different peptides! Peptides are excellent anti-aging ingredients, and many of them used in this formula have solid research backing their ability to improve skin firmness, reduce wrinkles, and tackle other signs of aging.
The formula also includes 3% Regu-Age, a patented ingredient that helps to address dark circles and puffiness around the eyes. It also helps to reduce inflammation and prevent UV damage.
We love the texture of this eye cream; it’s thick and silky, yet absorbs quickly into the skin without feeling heavy or leaving a greasy or sticky residue. It also helps to instantly soothe and moisturize the delicate skin around the eyes.
Bottom Line: A thick, silky eye cream with 21 anti-aging peptides, along with 3% Regu-Age to address dark circles and puffiness.
ALTERNATIVES: If you are concerned about aging around the eyes including bags, one product we recommend is Carrot & Stick The Eye Cream.
Peter Thomas Roth FIRMx Collagen Eye Cream
You may already know that collagen is the protein that keeps your skin looking firm and youthful, which may cause you to look for skin care products that include collagen.
Before you do that, here’s what you need to know: collagen is a very large, complex molecule with long chains of amino acids that form a triple helix structure. This inhibits the protein from being absorbed deeper than the epidermis (the uppermost layer of skin).
So if collagen can’t penetrate deep into the skin, should you just forget about using collagen skin care products? Not necessarily.
One way to get around this issue is to look for products that contain hydrolyzed collagen, such as Peter Thomas Roth FIRMx Collagen Eye Cream.
Hydrolyzed collagen has been broken down into smaller chains of amino acids called peptides. It is theorized that topical application of these collagen precursors may increase collagen production (if the peptides make their way down into the dermis). However, this theory has not been proven.
Fortunately, this Peter Thomas Roth Eye Cream contains a few additional ingredients to support collagen levels in your skin, including marine collagen, plant collagen, hydroxyproline, peptides, and collagen amino acids. Together, these ingredients help to improve the look of fine lines, wrinkles, crow’s feet, and firmness.
Bottom Line: This Peter Thomas Roth Eye Cream combines hydrolyzed collagen with collagen-supporting ingredients to help improve the look of fine lines, wrinkles, crow’s feet and firmness.
Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Hydrating Eye Gel
The star ingredient in this refreshing eye gel is sodium hyaluronate, the salt form of hyaluronic acid.
Sodium hyaluronate and hyaluronic acid are basically the same and the two names are used interchangeably in the skin care industry. The main differences are that sodium hyaluronate is more stable, easier to formulate, and cheaper. That’s why it is common to see sodium hyaluronate on an ingredient list even though the product name might say hyaluronic acid.
Once applied to the skin, sodium hyaluronate provides the same benefits of hyaluronic acid. Those benefits include improved skin hydration, as well as a more plump complexion with fewer lines and wrinkles.
To add even more hydration, the formula includes the patented ingredient Pentavitin, a unique plant-derived skin identical carbohydrate complex that provides hydration for up to 72 hours. It also reinforces skin barrier while protecting against skin dryness.
This eye gel is great to add extra hydration for all skin types, although if you have very dry skin you may want to follow with a thicker eye cream to help lock in moisture.
Bottom Line: Sodium hyaluronate and Pentavitin are the key ingredients in this eye gel that add plenty of hydration while also reducing the appearance of lines and wrinkles.
Peter Thomas Roth Power K Eye Rescue
This Peter Thomas Roth eye cream is claimed to do it all, from brightening and minimizing the look of dark circles, to reducing puffiness, crepiness, fatigue, fine lines, and wrinkles. But can one eye cream really provide all of those benefits? Let’s take a look at the ingredients.
We noticed that the brand is assuming dark undereye circles are caused by bruising based on the key ingredients vitamin K and arnica. Vitamin K is required to produce prothrombin, a key factor involved in blood clotting, which is why vitamin K is thought to speed the healing of wounds and bruises. Similarly, arnica has a history of being used for bruising as it stimulates circulation and helps speed healing.
But we’d like to point out that dark undereye circles aren’t the same as bruises. While blood flow showing through the thin skin around the eye may be one cause, there’s many other causes of dark circles, including sun damage, natural shadows, inherited traits, and more.
We’d like to say that the good news is the formula includes skin-brightening antioxidants like vitamin C, green tea, and kojic acid. But, unfortunately, the brand chose to package this eye cream in a jar, which compromises the stability of the antioxidants in this formula, reducing the potency every time you open the jar.
Bottom Line: Vitamin K and arnica are ingredients that help reduce the appearance of bruises, but there isn’t much research demonstrating that these ingredients work for dark undereye circles.
Peter Thomas Roth Potent-C Power Eye Cream
A potent dose of 10% tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate (a stable vitamin C derivative) is combined with 3% vitamin E and 2% ferulic acid in this Peter Thomas Roth Eye Cream. The result? An antioxidant-rich eye cream that not only protects against environmental damage caused by free radicals, but also improves the appearance of lines and wrinkles, and the loss of firmness, while brightening skin’s complexion. One word comes to mind to describe the Potent-C Power Eye Cream: multi-tasking!
Plus, these antioxidants are combined with plenty of other beneficial ingredients, such as caffeine, hyaluronic acid, and Phyco’derm. If you haven’t heard of Phyco’derm, it’s a blend of two seaweed extracts that have been shown to improve skin firmness and elasticity while decreasing skin puffiness under the eyes.
Bottom Line: A well-rounded eye cream with antioxidants, hyaluronic acid, and Phyco’derm, a combination of ingredients that should improve multiple signs of aging around the eyes.
Peter Thomas Roth Un-Wrinkle Eye
Un-Wrinkle Eye features a highly concentrated 23% solution of powerful anti-aging peptides and neuropeptides, including SYN-AKE, SNAP-8, Argireline, SYN-COLL, and Matrixyl 3000. All of these ingredients have research to support their anti-aging benefits.
For example, a clinical study involving female participants demonstrated that after just 2 months of treatment with Matrixyl 3000, the area occupied by deep wrinkles was reduced by 45%, and the skin’s tonicity increased by nearly 20%.
Bottom Line: An anti-aging eye cream with peptides and neuropeptides that help reduce the appearance of lines, crows feet, and other skin creases around the eye area.
What Are The Key Ingredients in Peter Thomas Roth Eye Creams?
You may have noticed from our introductions to the Peter Thomas Roth Eye Creams in the last section that this brand focuses on using evidence-based ingredients in their products, including:
- Antioxidants
- Ferulic Acid
- Hyaluronic Acid
- Peptides
- Retinol
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin E
All of these ingredients have research to support their benefits when applied to the skin.
Peter Thomas Roth is also known for including plenty of innovative, patented ingredients, such as Syn-Eye Complex, Regu-Age, Pentavitin, Phyco’derm, and many more. While these ingredients may not have as much research as the ingredients we highlighted above, they do have clinical studies by the manufacturers demonstrating their benefits.
We also wanted to point out that nearly all of the Peter Thomas Roth eye creams contain caffeine, which makes sense since caffeine is such an effective ingredient for improving the skin around the eyes.
Caffeine functions as an antioxidant, which means that it helps to protect the skin from free radical damage. Free radicals are unstable molecules that can attack important cellular components, such as DNA, cell membranes, proteins, etc., causing damage.
This damage is known as “oxidative stress” and over time this stress can lead to signs of aging, such as fine lines and wrinkles. Thus, using products with caffeine (or any antioxidant) can help to prevent these signs of aging.
Caffeine is also a stimulant that causes vasoconstriction (constriction of the blood vessels) when applied to the skin. This can help to tighten and firm the skin due to the removal of excess fluids and possible stimulation of the lymphatic drainage system.
This effect also aids in reducing the amount of blood that accumulates under the eyes — one of the factors that can contribute to dark circles.
How Much Do Peter Thomas Roth Eye Creams Cost?
Peter Thomas Roth eye cream are mid-range in terms of cost; they aren’t cheap but they are ridiculously expensive. For example, the Vital-E Eye Cream costs $55 USD for 0.5 oz, while the Peptide 21 Wrinkle Resist Eye Cream costs $75 USD for 0.5 oz.
Where to Buy Peter Thomas Roth Eye Creams?
Peter Thomas Roth Eye Creams are sold on the brand’s website, as well as several third party online retailers, such as Sephora, Dermstore, Skinstore, Macy’s, Walgreens, and many more.
Is Peter Thomas Roth Cruelty Free?
No, Peter Thomas Roth is not cruelty free because Peter Thomas Roth products are sold in mainland China, where animal testing is required by law.
Is Peter Thomas Roth Vegan?
While some Peter Thomas Roth products may be suitable for vegans, this is not a 100% vegan brand.
Peter Thomas Roth Eye Cream Reviews
The Peter Thomas Roth eye cream reviews that we read were mostly positive, but it’s still important to look at the positive and negative reviews for a product to get the full picture.
For instance, the Peter Thomas Roth Vital E Eye Cream has received an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars after nearly 600 customer reviews on Sephora.com.
The positive reviews for the Peter Thomas Roth Vital E Eye Cream mention that it really helps to reduce puffiness, improve dryness, and decrease the appearance of lines and wrinkles.
However, there are a handful of negative reviews for the Peter Thomas Roth Vital E Eye Cream, and we noticed the number one complaint about this eye cream was the consistency.
Our Verdict
Overall, we think that Peter Thomas Roth eye creams are formulated well with a combination of evidenced-based ingredients with innovative, patented ingredients.
Pros
- Formulations contain evidenced-based ingredients (i.e. vitamins C and E, hyaluronic acid, peptides, etc.)
- Formulations contain innovative ingredients (i.e. Syn-Eye Complex, Regu-Age, Pentavitin, Phyco’derm. etc.)
- Many positive Peter Thomas Roth reviews
Cons
- Peter Thomas Roth is not cruelty free
- Products with jar packaging will degrade over time due to exposure to light and air
What Are The Best Alternatives?
If you’re looking for skincare products to address the signs of aging around the eyes, we recommend Carrot & Stick. Carrot & Stick maximizes the use of powerful ingredients and minimizes the use of superficial ones, resulting in advanced skincare solutions that help promote healthy, more youthful-looking skin. We recommend Carrot & Stick The Eye Serum followed bys Carrot & Stick The Eye Cream.
