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Best Overall
Carrot & Stick: The Eye Cream
Best Eye Serum
Carrot & Stick The Eye Serum
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While there are many effective anti-aging treatment options for under-eyes, such as lasers, chemical peels, and light technology, a topical eye cream is typically the first defense measure. If you want to rejuvenate the eye area (who doesn’t?), look for eye cream with retinol.
Why retinol under-eye cream? Retinol is one of the best ingredients for softening and preventing fine lines and wrinkles, encouraging collagen production, lessening the appearance of brown spots, increasing cell turnover, and improving skin texture. It’s also composed of smaller molecules, so it’s able to penetrate the skin deeply and more effectively than other anti-aging ingredients.
Wrinkles aside, there’s also retinol for dark circles and retinol for eye bags, so it’s genuinely a powerhouse ingredient. Best retinol eye cream? You can also find retinol eye gel and retinol eye stick to address under-eye — and upper-lid — concerns.
Are you ready to try an eye cream with retinol, but you’re not sure what to look for? No worries. Here at the Derm Review, we’ve reviewed hundreds of products with a scientific lens to ensure you’re creating a skincare regimen that’s safe and effective. Ahead, 12 best retinol eye cream favorites to help you fight the signs of age that plague the thin, delicate skin around the orbital area.
Best: The List
BEST OVERALL
BEST EYE CREAM W/ RETINOL ALTERNATIVE : Carrot & Stick: The Eye Cream
BEST EYE SERUM Carrot & Stick The Eye Serum
We recommend Carrot & Stick Eye Essentials as it contains both products.
FULL LIST
Kiehl’s Youth Dose Eye Treatment
Dr. Brandt 24/7 Retinol Eye Cream
Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Ferulic + Retinol Triple Correction Eye Serum
Murad Essential-C Eye Cream SPF 15 PA++
NEOSTRATA Comprehensive Retinol Eye Cream
First Aid Beauty FAB Skin Lab Retinol Eye Cream with Triple Hyaluronic Acid
Eau Thermale Avène Retinal Eyes
How to Correctly Use a Retinol Eye Cream
Conduct a Patch Test
Even if your skin has never had a problem tolerating a new product, it’s never a bad idea to conduct a patch test with retinol eye cream due to the sensitive nature of the delicate eye area and retinol’s strength.
Apply Retinol at Night
Retinol makes the skin more sun-sensitive, so it’s better to apply it at night and use an eye cream with a minimum SPF of 30 during the day.
The only exception would be if the retinol eye cream contained sun protection — or you’re layering an actual retinol cream with an SPF that’s safe for the eyes. But it’s still safer to use it at night. Protective antioxidants are favored for daytime use.
Start Slow
Many people make the mistake of hitting the ground running because they’re anxious to see results. For most, this application method is problematic since the skin is still adjusting to the product.
Even though retinol eye creams are not as strong as face creams, start using one every two to three nights and gradually build up a tolerance. Stop altogether if you continuously experience adverse side effects such as excessive peeling and irritation. You can try starting up again once symptoms clear up.
Be Mindful of Application
You only need around a couple of dots under each eye to reap the effects of retinol; a little goes a long way! Also, never apply it too close to your lash line to avoid eye irritation. Use your ring finger to apply the product because it has the lightest touch.
Be Patient
There’s no such thing as a quick fix, and consistency is vital if you want to see results. This rule applies to all skincare products, not just eye cream. If you need a bit of motivation for sticking with retinol, studies show that after four weeks, epidermal thickness increases. In twelve weeks, there was a significant reduction in wrinkles, so don’t give up.
Best Retinol Eye Cream
BEST CREAM – RETINOL ALTERNATIVE: Carrot & Stick: The Eye Cream
This revolutionary treatment uses highly effective botanical extracts to reduce signs of stress and fatigue, including eye bags and dark circles. It contains Stevia Stem Complex that mimics retinoids to help visibly reduce wrinkles – without the irritation. Perfect for wrinkles around the eyes.
The Persian silk tree (Albizia julibrissin) has an anti-glycation effect that helps delicate skin around the lids feel tighter. Sigesbeckia Orientalis boosts the appearance of collagen and elastin, restoring vitality.
BEST EYE SERUM: 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.
Carrot & Stick’s Eye Essentials contains both products and offers great value.
Kiehl’s Youth Dose Eye Treatment
Eye cream with retinol and vitamin C? Kiehl’s pro-retinol anti-aging cream works in tandem with vitamin C to reduce the appearance of under-eye circles, fine lines, and puffiness over time. It instantly smooths and brightens, and the creamy texture absorbs quickly. It’s uniquely packaged to provide the optimal dosage without running the risk of the product oxidizing.
Dr. Brandt 24/7 Retinol Eye Cream
This incredibly impressive eye cream brightens, protects against environmental stressors, and softens the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, thanks to time-released retinol and proprietary Ruby Crystal Complex. A Hydra-Balance Complex (lemon tree honey, phospholipids, and an amino acid deeply hydrate and prevent moisture loss.
Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Ferulic + Retinol Triple Correction Eye Serum
Many eye creams aren’t meant to be applied on the lid, but this one’s an exception. This lightweight gel formula is perfect for the delicate skin around the entire eye and eyelid where we’re prone to crepiness. Retinol softens fine lines and wrinkles, ferulic acid brightens, and willow bark extract soothes and reduces puffiness.
Murad Essential-C Eye Cream SPF 15 PA++
While most skincare experts suggest you apply a retinol-based eye cream at night (more on that in a bit), this formula contains an SPF to protect against the skin-damaging effects of harmful UVA/UVB rays. Along with providing protection, retinol reduces the signs of aging, caffeine banishes puffiness, and avocado oil and shorea stenoptera butter deeply hydrate.
NEOSTRATA Comprehensive Retinol Eye Cream
While the best way to avoid prominent lines around the eyes is to prevent them in the first place, you can’t take back those teen years spent basking in the sun minus any protection. Retinol and NeoGlucosamine, two exfoliating ingredients, target fine lines that have morphed into deeper creases, crepiness, and discoloration. The result? A more refreshed, youthful appearance.
First Aid Beauty FAB Skin Lab Retinol Eye Cream with Triple Hyaluronic Acid
This potent overnight eye cream harnesses the power of microencapsulated retinol, high-tech goji biotechnology, plant-based ceramides, vegan hyaluronic acid, and vitamin C. Soothing oatmeal and aloe also help keep the eyes free from irritation. Along with being dermatologist tested, this eye cream is also cruelty-free and formulated without sulfates, parabens, phthalates, or mineral oil.
The formula is free of parabens, formaldehyde, formaldehyde-releasing agents, phthalates, mineral oil, retinyl palmitate, coal tar, sulfates SLS and SLES, triclocarban, triclosan, and contains less than one percent synthetic fragrance.
Avène Retinal Eyes
This French pharmacy favorite (that you can find here in the States) is formulated with retinaldehyde (a stabilized form of retinol) to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and crow’s feet. Hyaluronic acid fragments plump the skin and encourage microcirculation, and dextran sulfate corrects signs of fatigue caused by aging skin. It’s an excellent choice for those with extremely sensitive or dry skin.
The Bottom Line
What is the Best Eye Cream? Overall, we suggest, Carrot & Stick The Eye Cream.
We recommend using Carrot & Stick The Eye Serum first.
We recommend Carrot & Stick Eye Essentials as it contains both products.
Retinol shouldn’t be reserved for face creams alone. It’s one of the best ingredients for softening and preventing fine lines and wrinkles, encouraging collagen production, lessening the appearance of brown spots, increasing cell turnover, and improving skin texture. It even targets dark circles and eye bags, so it’s genuinely a gold star ingredient when it comes to fighting the signs of age and fatigue.
As you can see from our list of the best retinol eye creams, formulas contain other nourishing, hydrating ingredients to negate any potential irritation or dryness from retinol while providing additional anti-aging benefits. The best retinol eye cream is formulated with encapsulated retinol, which is time-released to further reduce irritation.
What’s the best retinol eye cream, in your opinion? Let us know in the comments below!
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about retinol and the delicate eye area.
FAQs
Retinol is a particular type of retinoid in the vitamin A family. However, in most cases, retinol is deemed as a less potent version of vitamin A.
But make no mistake, even though retinol isn’t as intense as more potent retinoids, it doesn’t mean it’s not incredibly useful when it comes to fighting the signs of aging skin.
Retinol is a type of retinoid, which is derived from vitamin A. Rather than removing dead skin cells like other acne and anti-aging products, the small molecules that make up retinol penetrate deep beneath the epidermis (outer layer of skin) to your dermis, the middle layer of skin.
Once it’s in the dermis, retinol works to neutralize free radicals to boost collagen and elastin production. This process helps reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, enlarged pores, and discoloration. Retinol also has an exfoliating that can improve texture and tone.
Sources:
“Bakuchiol: a retinol-like functional compound revealed by gene expression profiling and clinically proven to have anti-aging effects,” Pubmed.gov.
“Encapsulation and controlled release of retinol from silicone particles for topical delivery,” Science Direct.
