EYE TREATMENT - SERUM
Eye serums, like facial serums, tend to pack high levels of actives into the formula, and there have been many launches in the past few years – with tens submitted this year for this category.
Despite the fact that tackling wrinkles, dark circles and under-eye puffiness is a major beauty challenge, these products gained some really good scores, as with past years. We‘ve come to the conclusion this happens largely because women who take part in our trials are diligent about following the manufacturers' instructions, and use the product as directed. THAT is how you get results, not by leaving a bottle on the bathroom shelf and reaching for it a couple of times a week. (Which we know sounds familiar to many…!)
These products all did very well in general – with two or three testers on each panel giving them 10/10 - but in the interests of transparency we’d point out that there were one or more testers on each panel who found little benefit.
NB The sensitive-eyed sometimes get on better with a serum, because the product 'travels' less readily into the eye. But eye products should still always be applied to the orbital bone, which runs right round the eye, rather than close to the eye itself.
GOLD (JOINT) AWARD and BEST NATURAL This Works Morning Expert Open Eyes
This is actually designed to wake up tired-looking eyes first thing – and we’re existing fans of this product at Beauty Bible, not least for its delivery system. A cooling metal wand dispenses the product for massaging via circular movements around the eye zone, helping to detoxify, brighten the eye zone and de-puff, while botanicals including giant kelp and Persian Silk Tree get to work. This Works have scooped too many Beauty Bible Awards over the years for us to mention, and in fact, their My Wrinkles Eye Repair won Bronze in this category.
£30 for 15ml - click to buy
OUR TESTERS’ COMMENTS:
‘Literally like a cup of coffee for your eyes! I was instantly in a better mood in the mornings I felt more alert and wide awake’ • ‘If you need a good, hard-working product that delivers noticeable difference without having to wait weeks and actually can enhance your mood this is the product to have’ • ‘I'm not a morning person at all and this definitely shows in my face; my eyes look so baggy, which makes me look and feel older than I am. But I found this so easy to use; the metal spatula itself is so cooling in the morning and I only needed a tiny amount of cream to cover my eye. My regular product can be difficult to get the serum exactly where you want it and to get the right amount because I either have to put it on my finger first or point the nozzle to my eye neither of which is ideal. The serum is so light and airy and so it didn't drag my skin, it's also not greasy at all unlike the one I currently use. The smell is very subtle and did not make my eyes water. The serum absorbs really quickly and so I could apply eye make-up or foundation almost straight away. Yes, I will definitely buy this, my eyes will thank me! My eyes are definitely less baggy looking and the dark circles are much less than before. I look less tired than I did before. The baggy area directly under my eyes seems tighter not so spongy. Wake me up baby in a tube! Smoothing, hydrating, line reducing, refreshing, eye opening lovely morning eye cream! For more effectiveness keep your eye cream in the fridge - the applicator will be cooler too. Also works great under make up. And you have a great base/canvas for your make up. I would without a doubt buy this eye cream for use in the morning. And highly recommend. I love this product- why because it works excuse the pun but it delivers everything it says. I have spent most of my adult life looking for the perfect eye product and this come really close. I actually look forward to using in the mornings straight from the fridge. The applicator is metal so is really cold and a perfect shape for massaging the puffy fluid, which as accumulated while sleeping. My eyes are my main area of concern, they also show if you are tired or just the signs of ageing, which show in your eyes first. I can honestly say I saw a difference after first use; they not only looked better but also felt better. Calm and refreshed and generally just comfortable -- how you want your eyes to feel in the morning. My slightly saggy eyes looked lifted and, strangely, my eyelids felt like there was more space for eyeshadow. I was instantly in a better mood in the mornings I felt more alert and wide-awake. If you need a good hard-working product that delivers noticeable difference without having to wait weeks and actually can enhance your mood this is the product to have. I think my eyes were the part of my face that really let me down, and using this product has helped to counter that and make me feel more confident. I no longer look haggard! My best friend said that my eyes look bigger!
£30 for 15ml - click to buy
GOLD (JOINT) AWARD PIXI DetoxifEYE Serum
This lightweight formula, a new launch for this make-up artist founded brand, is designed to provide instant hydration to the delicate eye area, and to cool, refresh and soothe – and our panel found it absolutely lived up to those promises. It’s infused with caffeine to help de-puff and decongest and one very puffy-eyed tester was over the moon about the effects (do read – it’s amazing!). Other key ingredients are moisturising hyaluronic acid, cooling cucumber, soothing chamomile water and revitalising peptides. It doesn't promise to lighten dark circles but several testers found it helped. Just dot and pat in!
£22 for 25ml - click to buy
OUR TESTERS’ COMMENTS:
‘10/10. My eyes have fine crow lines and dark circles are starting to become an issue, but not a major problem. This Ultra light serum is easily and quickly absorbed into my skin, leaving my skin bright and refreshed….''youthful''. Absolutely no issues with applying my eye make up right after application. My makeup had staying power in heat (Tenerife) and back at home. After 28 days, definitely see a reduction in puffiness, especially right under my eyes which seem ultimately smoother and brighter. Laughter lines/crows feet are reduced. Also definite reduction in dark circles and skin appears to be a lot smoother with added benefits of overall being brighter. They say they create a naturally radiant "just had a good night's sleep" look, and after using this product I couldn't agree more’ • ‘My eyes tend to get really puffy underneath and sometimes sensitive. Crows feet are developing but crêpey eyelids are a particular problem. I had some immediate improvement with this product particularly with the under eye puffiness. I have never had an immediate reaction to an eye product like this before! I really liked the feel of the product. It was refreshing and wasn’t sticky at all. After 28 days, eyelid crêpeyness definitely improved with a little reduction in fine lines. It really woke my eyes up and brightened them too. Mostly it absolutely worked wonders for my puffy eyes. I am thrilled! To see immediate results to my puffiness that always gets me down was so good. I get asked if I'm tired all the time, and even if I’ve been stung under my eye because they sometimes look so swollen!!!! THIS IS AN EXCELLENT EYE SERUM’ • ‘I loved the cooling effect of this serum. It’s much lighter than my usual cream and sinks into the eye area so easily. I have dry skin around my eyes and the serum really helped to perk them up. For such a light product it has a really good hydrating ability to help with the dryness. Helped with crêpeyness quite a bit too. The serum really makes the eye area feel more comfortable which when you suffer from tired and dry eyes is a real bonus. However it made no difference to my dark circles or to the fine lines’ • ‘I sometimes suffer from dark circles under my eyes if I've been really sleep deprived, I did have a few episodes of dark circles during the trial period and I found that this product really helped. From two weeks into the trial, my hayfever really flared up which resulted in very itchy dry eyes that I rubbed to within an inch of their lives! This product kept the eye area very hydrated and because it has a cooling effect it kept my eye area feeling soothed; for extra soothing I stored it in the fridge so it’s also particularly nice to apply on tired eyes or eyes that have been looking at a screen all day (I work in an office at the moment looking at a computer screen most of the day.) The pros of this product are that It cools and soothes the eye area, it is great at hydrating dry areas and great for dark circles if they crop up on the eye area.’
£22 for 25ml - click to buy
SILVER (JOINT) AWARD BeautyLab® Instant Renewal Eye Complex
Clever! You can try a sachet sample of this product for just £1 – same for many others, too (though remember postage is only free for UK orders over £40). It promises a lot: to combat eye bags, fine lines, puffiness and dark circles; fill wrinkles with light reflecting particle for immediate soft focus correction; improve firmness, smoothness, plumpness and brightness. Key ingredients are peptides, plant collagen, papaya, jojoba and hyaluronic acid. So our testers put it through its paces for 28 days, reporting on instant effects and at the end of the trial.
£28 for 15ml - click to buy
OUR TESTERS’ COMMENTS:
‘This feels nice to apply and goes on smoothly, no dragging, and feels moisturising. It makes the eye area smooth and gives a gorgeous base for make-up with no issues of oiliness. After 28 days, my eyes look brighter and more vibrant. I think there's been a slight improvement in dark circles, probably because it moisturises so well’ • ‘I wear contact lenses and have very sensitive eyes. I had no issues with soreness or irritation using this product. As soon as I first used the product my eye area felt refreshed, moisturised and less crêpey. It seemed to sink in really easily and left no greasy residue. I found it much nicer to use than a number of other eye creams I have used in the past as it was light and refreshing’ • ‘My eyes are quite sensitive and have patches of dryness near the temple. I don't have dark under eye circles but I do have lines and wrinkles. I have to be careful as some scented eye creams make my eyelids sore and itchy. After finishing the trial, the skin around my eyes is definitely much softer and the dryness has gone. I also had two irritating dry patches at the side of my eyes, these are no more. The product didn’t aggravate my eyes or my lenses either unlike some eye creams, which have left me with sore eyes. it also sank in very quickly and didn't leave a greasy residue. I am seriously impressed with the efficacy of this product’ • ‘This product feels lovely on the skin and makes a difference. My eyes looked brighter and slightly less puffy on day 1. By day 28 I could see a definite reduction in fine lines, dark circles seem less dark and the eye area is brighter, and Much less puffy. I feel like I look more youthful’ • ‘The skin around my eyes has some darkness on the lower lid and also the inner corners. When I try and cover this with make-up it looks worse (I have medium brown skin), so I don't bother. I have a few wrinkles on the bottom inner corner of both eyes. This claims to plump, firm and brighten the eye area. For me I would say it plumped and brightened the eye area. Also it claims to reduce lines, shadows and puffiness: It made my skin feel and look smoother. The cream is an airtight pump dispenser and you can see how much is left in the container. Half a pump is enough for both eyes. I had no breakouts, which was great. I like the fact that it is unfragranced. The directions were to use it twice daily or as needed - I used it morning and night’ • ‘The brightness of my eye area is impressive and this is something I noticed right from first use. The cumulative effects of using this product have increased the brightness too.
£28 for 15ml - click to buy
SILVER (JOINT) AWARD L'OCCITANE Immortelle Overnight Reset Eye Serum
From the much loved, multi-award winning French brand, this light water-gel is clear about where it goes and what it does. ‘An under-eye booster serum for more rested, youthful-looking eyes.’ Got it? Ah but there’s more – not surprising since it’s based on the wonder-working Immortelle flower extract. ‘It works to reduce the appearance of puffiness and dark circles and helps to smooth fine lines and wrinkles.’ There’s a bunch of other botanicals, targeted at signs of ageing, including activating marjoram, smoothing acmella oleacera, a complex of plant ingredients to help erase signs of fatigue plus caffeine to reduce the look of dark circles and puffiness. This gained a bunch of top marks from rapturous testers but the average was brought down by a couple of testers who were generally impressed but marked it down for specific reasons – one that it didn't lighten her dark circles, the other that it didn't help with the look of her ‘just had a baby and no sleep’ eyes…
£48 for 15ml - click to buy
OUR TESTERS’ COMMENTS:
‘10/10. Lots of improvement in brightness and vibrancy of the eye area. The moisturising effect really improves skin condition and appearance and my eye area looked plumper too. It did look younger’ • ‘I love this eye serum. I have always had dark circles under my eyes; they have been so bad in the past that I look exhausted before applying make-up. My eye area is also very moisturised and my fine lines are less obvious’ • ‘Having used the serum for over one month my dark circles are significantly reduced. I have been to work many times recently without apply any makeup and think I look fine without it. This is an amazing thing’ • ‘I tried this on one eye and at the end of the trial asked my husband which eye looked better – he picked the right one. Definitely refreshing especially in the hot weather - feels very nice and melts into the skin leaving the skin around my eyes feeling lovely and hydrated soothed and moisturised. It was a pleasure to use. One of the few products that I look forward to using and am disappointed when I come to the end’ • ‘I do wear contacts but no problem. It was immediately refreshing and my eyes did look a bit brighter the next morning. At the end of the trial, I noted a slight reduction in crêpeyness, my eyes looked fresh and bright, and were definitely less puffy when I woke in the morning. I loved this product. And the bottle really is gorgeous!’ • ‘I did genuinely feel that the skin around my eyes looked softer and more hydrated first thing in the morning. There continued to be an instant improvement in fine lines upon application every evening. The crêpeyness on my lids did appear 'softer'. Lovely cooling eye serum - treat yourself!’ • ‘The pot has a pump dispenser, which perfectly dispenses enough for both eyes in one pump. The product is a light yellow gold in colour and looks shimmery in the pot and even when dispensed. No grains or roughness within the product but there do appear to be tiny instantly dissolvable beads of loveliness!’
£48 for 15ml - click to buy
BRONZE AWARD Elemental Herbology Vital Eyes Roll On Eye Serum
With a cute and very nifty roller applicator (very popular with testers), this serum is designed to be used am/pm to awaken and energise tired eyes. Elemental (as we call it, owing to the rather cumbersome name) started back in the day using the principles of Chinese medicine: there’s an online quiz so you can find your element (although you don’t need it for this). Formations are based on a bevy of naturals, combined with innovative technology. This promises a powerful blend of botanicals and patented actives to brighten, hydrate and de-puff the delicate eye area. As well as kombucha (yep, like the drink) to strengthen the skin barrier and plump up skin, and niacinamide, a vitamin B3 complex to improve pigmentation and boost radiance, there’s an intriguing bacterial ferment complex called Meiview™, which helps to firm the eye area, reduce dark circles and diminish puffiness. This scored very highly with some testers but was brought down by a minority who saw few/no benefits from the product although they loved the applicator.
£49 for 15ml - click to buy
OUR TESTERS’ COMMENTS:
‘10/10. On first application my eye skin instantly felt cooled and lo and behold no irritation whatsoever. Wonderfully refreshing and absolute balm on my poor hot face during the heatwave. The roller ball action glided over my skin giving a lovely lymphatic drained sort of feeling. The finish was dewy with the slightest sheen, which is quite youthful on the skin. It looked and felt moisturised. At the end of the trial, the slight crêpeyness in my upper eyelids has definitely improved. I would honestly say at least 30%, which is massive on the face. I don't know whether it’s the lymphatic drainage type action of using the roller but my (tested) right eyelid also seems slightly higher than my left. My eye zone definitely looks a little younger. The area looks wider open, which in turn makes my eyes look better’ • ‘A must purchase - my eyes feel immediately revived’ • ‘It feels lovely - I would buy this product for the cooling metal rollerball applicator alone. The serum is dewy but absorbed quickly. Make up just glided on after using this product. A slight reduction in fine lines and Dark circles are much improved - only the stubborn ones remain. The skin around my eyes is so much better - tighter, lighter and yes "younger"’ • ‘Divine. It became an addictive treatment that I had to ration. This serum and its little metal ball applicator revive tired screen eyes. It is a godsend. I can't believe it is not better known’ • ‘This is the first eye product I've tried that I would buy again. There was an instant improvement on day 1. My eye area looked like it had been filtered - it was really quite striking to me. I've never used an eye product that has had such a dramatic (to me) effect. Everything appeared smoother and brighter around the eye area. By the end of the trial, my eye area definitely looks clearer and younger than it used to, so long as I keep up with application. I forgot to take it away with me when I went on holiday and could tell the difference. Marked reduction in crêpeyness, slight reduction in fine lines and dark circles. Marked improvement in brightness and vibrancy of eye area and definite reduction in puffiness after use.’
£49 for 15ml - click to buy