The eyes may be the windows to the soul, but a little support from the under-eye skin never hurt the house’s structure. If you’re on the hunt for products and ingredients that strengthen, smooth, hydrate, brighten and just give an all-around better look to that tricky under-eye area, the pros say these are their top picks.
Featured Experts
- Nerida Joy is a celebrity aesthetician
- Taylor Worden is an aesthetician in New York
Flavonoids
If you’ve ever chatted with celeb aesthetician Nerida Joy, you know she is the official number-one fan of flavonoids for any and all kinds of skin-strengthening. Her ultimate favorite: Rejuvi Q flavonoid ($65), a bioflavonoid serum complex made up of arnica, vitamin K, vitamin P, grapeseed extract, vitamin C and coenzyme Q10.
While the benefits of this product are “outstanding,” as Joy explains, the serum is especially good for the delicate area around the eyes, because the skin there is “very thin and often transparent seeing the shadow of blue veins” close to the skin’s surface. “This product feeds the delicate eye area nutrients while strengthening and healing capillaries—blood vessel walls—preventing leakage of the blood vessels, which gives an under-eye dark shadow,” she says. “Use this serum nightly under your eye cream or gel to support your eye area health and youth.”
Oxygen
New York aesthetician Taylor Worden loves using the C02 mask at her SoHo studio, and the glowing complexions that walk out of her facials back up the benefits. “It helps to strengthen the skin under the eyes because it stimulates oxygen to the skin,” she says. “It’s a 45-minute treatment that helps with dark circles, depuffing and redness, so that your eyes look more lifted, tighter and brighter. It can also be used post-treatment, like after laser or even after a blepharoplasty.”
Vitamins C + E
Worden also likes working with Medik8’s C-Tetra Eye Serum ($27). “It’s packed with vitamins C and E to help brighten and tighten the eye area, and it comes in a serum to go on smoothly. They also have a product called Crystal Retinal Ceramide Eye ($53), which is packed with retinal, ceramides and hyaluronic acid filling spheres. It comes in three different strengths, and this helps with fine lines, wrinkles and depuffing. It can be used on the most delicate eyes.”
Microneedling + Massage
More on the treatment side than the topical ingredient one, Worden also loves Perfection Tox Ampoule ($148) from Beyond Miracles. “You use this all over the face. It is basically liquid microneedling that delivers 10,000 microspears into the skin,” she explains. “It helps with skin texture but can also help with crow’s feet and strengthen the skin.”
Another one of Worden’s tips (this one is free!) is to incorporate some gentle facial tapping around the eye area. “Just a little bit of massage can help to strengthen the skin around the eyes.”
Ingredient Cocktail
For a fast-track of ingredients to hit for the under-eye skin, Worden offers this cheat sheet:
- Peptides: Stimulate collagen production
- Caffeine: Reduces puffiness and dark circles
- Retinol: Reduces wrinkles and fine lines
- Hyaluronic acid: Offers hydration
- Vitamin C: Helps lighten, tighten, brighten
- Niacinamide: Reduces inflammation
- Ceramides: Helps to hydrate and protect
