The 14 Anti-Wrinkle Eye Creams That Make You Look Younger

Best Overall: La Mer The Eye Concentrate

4.6

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Who else recommends it? Healthline, Best Products, and Forbes all picked La Mer The Eye Concentrate. 

What do buyers say? 89% of 700+ Nordstrom reviewers rated this product 4 stars or above.

While this may not be the right fit for the budget-conscious beauty shopper, the effects of this eye cream (a top choice for Byrdie Editorial Director Faith Xue) truly do justify the price. Credit triple the amount of the brand’s signature Miracle Broth, a hand-harvested blend of youth-boosting nutrients and minerals that helps to minimize the look of lines in just 21 days. It also contains a powerful antioxidant to prevent future damage before it sets in, and comes with an applicator to massage it in with.

Active Ingredients: Lime tea concentrate | Benefits: Restores brightness with healing hydration | Dosage: Small amount twice daily | Size: 0.5 oz. | Cruelty-Free: No | Byrdie Clean: No

Best Budget: RoC Retinol Correxion Eye Cream

4.5

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When it comes to finding an affordable, effective eye cream, dermatologists recommend this formula time and time again. It boasts retinol, and address not only lines but dark circles and puffiness as well, giving you plenty of bang for your buck. Plus, it’s lightweight, non-comedogenic, and hypoallergenic.

Active Ingredients: Retinol, lactose | Benefits: Addresses the three key signs of eye aging | Dosage: Small amount twice daily | Size: 0.5 oz. | Cruelty-Free: No | Byrdie Clean: No

Best With Retinol: Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Ferulic + Retinol Triple Correction Eye Serum

4.5

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Byrdie Senior Editor Lindsey Metrus is a fan of this formula, which uses arguably the best wrinkle-fighting ingredient of all-time: retinol. The vitamin A derivative is well-known for effectively stimulating collagen production to smooth out wrinkles. Here, it’s paired with ferulic acid, a standout antioxidant to help prevent environmental damage, plus brightening licorice root extract. Also noteworthy: The gel formula is lightweight enough that you can use it around the entire eye area, even on lids.

Active Ingredients: Retinol, ferulic acid, rambutan | Benefits: Visibly lifts, smooths, and hydrates the eye area | Dosage: Small amount once daily | Size: 0.5 oz. | Cruelty-Free: Yes | Byrdie Clean: Yes

Best With Vitamin C: BeautyStat Universal C Eye Perfector

4.5

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This line was created by a cosmetic chemist, so you can feel confident knowing that the products contain only the highest quality, most efficacious ingredients, and pairings. In particular, vitamin C is the star of the show. The ingredient earns major props in the skincare world, but is especially choice for using around the eyes; it can help stimulate collagen production to diminish the look of fine lines, even out skin tone, and offers antioxidant protection. This formula uses a 5% concentration of a pure, patented, and extra-stable version of vitamin C, along with CBD to help tamp down inflammation or redness.

Active Ingredients: Vitamin C, hemp oil | Benefits: Glides over skin without pulling on the delicate eye area | Dosage: Small amount twice daily | Size: 0.5 oz. | Cruelty-Free: Yes | Byrdie Clean: Yes

Best Nighttime: Olay Regenerist Retinol24 Night Face Moisturizer

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Another good retinol pick, this is formulated to be effective yet gentle enough that you can use nightly without the irritation that often comes with retinoids. (FYI, saving any retinol product for bedtime is a good move since the sun can inactivate the ingredient.) Further minimizing the risk of irritation is the fact that this is fragrance- and dye-free.

Active Ingredients: Vitamin B3, retinol | Benefits: Hydrates for 24 hours | Dosage: Small amount in PM | Size: 1.7 oz. | Cruelty-Free: No | Byrdie Clean: Yes

Best Drugstore: No7 Restore & Renew Multi-Action Eye Cream

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Great eye creams come at all price points, though if you’re seeking a budget-friendly pick you can nab at the drugstore, this is the one for you. It uses the brand’s unique blend of amino acids, calcium, and ceramides to address not only wrinkles but puffiness too. And we love the targeted applicator, which makes it easy to dispense just the right amount.

Active Ingredients: Shea butter | Benefits: Visibly reduces the appearance of puffiness and dark circles and targets the delicate skin around the eyes | Dosage: Small amount twice daily | Size: 0.5 oz. | Cruelty-Free: Yes | Byrdie Clean: No

Best Brightening: Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Eye Crème

3.7

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If you want to target both lines and discoloration, reach for this cream. True to the name it has a pale orange hue, inspired by the yellow ‘banana powder’ makeup artists use to help counteract dark circles. It’s loaded with vitamin C to both boost radiance and collagen production. So much so that in an independent clinical study of 37 women, 94% of users saw an average of 40% improvement in liens and wrinkles in just four weeks.

Active Ingredients: Vitamin C, collagen | Benefits: Helps improve youthful elasticity | Dosage: Small amount twice daily | Size: 0.5 oz. | Cruelty-Free: Yes | Byrdie Clean: No

Best Splurge: La Prairie Skin Caviar Luxe Eye Cream

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If you really want to treat yourself, try this indulgence, a top pick for Byrdie Senior Editor Hallie Gould. At work is a caviar extract that not only address lines and wrinkles, but also lifts and firms, all while imparting a hefty dose of hydration. It’s ultra-silky and absorbs lightning-fast, ideal for using both morning and night. We also appreciate the included silver spatula, which means you’ll never have to dip your grimy fingers into the jar.

Active Ingredients: Caviar extract, 24-karat gold | Benefits: Tones and tightens with reduced puffiness | Dosage: Small amount twice daily | Size: 0.5 oz. | Cruelty-Free: No | Byrdie Clean: No

Best Natural: Alpyn Beauty PlantGenius Line-Filling Eye Balm

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For those wary of using products with potentially questionable chemicals around their eyes, this clean cream is choice. It uses a litany of different plant-based extracts to impart everything from hydration to antioxidant protection to, of course, wrinkle-fighting effects. And because it is a bit of a richer balm, it’s a great pick for those with very dry skin or who simply want to use a thicker product around their eyes.

Active Ingredients: Vitamin C, licorice root extract, bearberry leaf extract | Benefits: Blurs imperfections, | Dosage: Small amount twice daily | Size: 0.5 oz. | Cruelty-Free: Yes | Byrdie Clean: Yes

Best for Sensitive Skin: First Aid Beauty 5-in-1 Eye Cream

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The thin skin in the eye area is already more prone to irritation, and that’s even more so the case if your skin is sensitive to begin with. Enter this multi-tasker. It gets big points for being fragrance-free, as well as including specific soothing ingredients such as bisabolol and niacinamide. Still, it’s super effective, thanks to line-smoothing peptides plus a long list of other ingredients that work to hydrate and knock out dark circles, too.

Active Ingredients: Alpha-Arbutin, niacinamide | Benefits: Provides 5-in-1 smoothing and nourishing | Dosage: Small amount twice daily | Size: 0.5 oz. | Cruelty-Free: Yes | Byrdie Clean: Yes

Best Gel: Biossance Squalane + Peptide Eye Gel

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On the flip side, if you don’t love the feeling of heavy eye cream, try this lightweight gel. It contains two different youth-boosting peptides, plus squalane, a top ingredient for delivering weightless moisture. There’s also caffeine to reduce dark circles, never a bad thing.

Active Ingredients: Acetyl tetrapeptide-5 , acetyl hexapeptide-8, sugar cane | Benefits: Reduces the appearance of puffiness and dark circles to keep your eyes looking bright | Dosage: Small amount twice daily | Size: 0.5 oz. | Cruelty-Free: Yes | Byrdie Clean: Yes

Best Serum: Epara Skincare Eye Serum

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As a general skincare rule of thumb, serums always give you a better bang for your buck when it comes to getting a higher concentration of active ingredients since they’re more lightweight than creams. This one touts a litany of them, including bamboo silk, niacinamide, and licorice extract to target wrinkles, as well as puffiness and tone. Plus, you can use it not only around your eyes but on your lids, too.

Active Ingredients: Bamboo silk, niacinamide (vitamin B3) | Benefits: Helps reduce bags and puffiness | Dosage: One drop twice daily | Size: 0.53 oz. | Cruelty-Free: Yes | Byrdie Clean: Yes

Best Overnight Patch: SiO Beauty Super Eye Lift

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Eye cream works, but it will take some time to see results. If you don’t have the luxury of time, try these patches. Wear them for a few hours or overnight; made of medical-grade silicone, they lock in skin’s natural moisture to intensify hydration and smooth out the look of lines, stat. Results are temporary but do get better and last longer the more you use the patches.

Active Ingredients: Silicone | Benefits: Combines compression and deep skin hydration to smooth away wrinkles and help prevent future wrinkles | Dosage: Six to eight hours during daily sleep | Size: 0.81 oz. | Cruelty-Free: Yes | Byrdie Clean: Yes