This Fancy New Eye Cream Is the Miracle My Dark Circles Have Been Waiting For

As Byrdie HQ’s resident skincare obsessive, I’ve tried my fair share of products—and I have a lot of opinions. I generally consider myself a product loyalist (meaning I don’t rotate in new formulas often) and when I love something, I love it hard. Such is the case with La Prairie's White Caviar Eye Extraordinaire, a thick, light-reflecting eye treatment I’ve been using for the past three months. Below, find my honest review of the product and every single thing you need to know about its ingredients, formula, application, and results.

About My Skin: Fair, combination skin with noticeable dark circles

My skin, while mostly unproblematic, has a few characteristics I'm not in love with. It's combination (meaning I don't break out often but have consistent congestion along my nose and chin and dryness everywhere else), and I have noticeable dark circles. Sigh, they're genetic—at least in my case—and exacerbated by my lifestyle choices (less than the recommended amount of sleep, etc.). As such, I've tried practically every eye product on the market and have fallen in love with very few.

Daily, I use a cleansing balm or cleansing oil depending on how my skin feels. I use an exfoliating toner, layer on a whole host of serums depending on the day (vitamin C for protection and antioxidants, hyaluronic acid for hydration, and sometimes retinol), and then go for an eye cream and moisturizer. Previously, I was using La Prairie's Skin Caviar Eye Lift Serum, which is a milky, serum-like treatment that lifts, firms, and is super lightweight. It's especially great if you have milia and can't go for the thicker textured eye creams.

Now, I'm all about the brand's newest, exceptionally luminous formula: White Caviar Eye Extraordinaire. It creates this amazing filter across your under-eyes, adding a slight pearlescence and a ton of brightness. And, that's just what happens immediately. Over time, it really works to soften, moisturize, and strengthen the area for all those lovely anti-aging benefits (lifting, firming, smoothing, and cellular regeneration).

La Prairie White Caviar Eye Extraordinaire $600.00

Shop

Ingredients: Brimming with illuminating actives

Along with shea butter, glycerin, and ginseng and licorice root extracts, the formula includes an illuminating molecule called lumidose, which, according to the brand, is the most potent inhibitor of tyrosinase (the enzyme responsible for the formation of melanin). What this means is, along with moisturizing the delicate skin under your eyes, White Caviar Eye Extraordinaire targets gray, brown, yellow, red and violet tints to brighten and boost the reflection of light from your skin. This helps treat issues like fine lines and dryness, while also adding an immediate aesthetic value (i.e. how your face looks in really good light, but all the time).

Then, of course, there's the golden caviar extract, the ingredient with which La Prairie has formulated countless luxury products. It helps to increase collagen production, elasticity, and add density to your skin, which, in turn, works to refine your eye's shape and stave off darkness and sagging.

As part of Byrdie’s Clean Beauty Pledge, we looked into the product's inclusion of Steareth-20, which is a synthetic polymer composed of PEG (polyethylene glycol) and stearyl alcohol. PEGs are on our list because the process of making them includes ethoxylation, which produces 1,4-dioxane as a byproduct, a potentially carcinogenic ingredient according to the National Toxicology Program. However, they're considered totally safe for cosmetic use if the contaminants have been stripped. We reached out to La Prairie to confirm this, and here's what the brand had to say: "La Prairie hereby confirms that the PEG materials in its White Caviar Eye Extraordinaire are safe for use and do not contain contaminants—they are rated as low risk (1-3) on the EWG chemical rating system."

The Feel + Scent: Bouncy, thick, and fresh

Like the rest of La Prairie's products, the formula doesn't have much of a scent, which I love, just smells clean and fresh. The brand recommends pressing the depression on the top of the jar with your index finger (it's kept in an air-tight package to keep the integrity of the actives in tact), and then applying the formula with the tip of your ring finger using a "press and roll gesture." The cream is so thick and bouncy you can practically feel it working with every tap. It's comforting, soft, and smoothing, as well as immediately illuminating. It's a hybrid of all things good, IMHO.

Then comes the fun part: Included with the product is a cooling ceramic pearl meant to de-puff your eye area and encourage facial massage. It feels like heaven. Once the application part is done, you get a chance to marvel at the results. This eye cream transforms me into the glowy morning goddess I've always imagined. I know that sounds dramatic, it is just an eye cream, but it's so luxurious and genuinely effective that I don't care how it sounds.

The Before + After

The Results: Brighter, smoother under-eyes

I really, really love La Prairie's White Caviar Eye Extraordinaire. It's a luxurious, effective eye cream that delivers exactly what it claims. It targets gray (pollution), brown and yellow (discoloration), as well as red and violet tints (under-eye darkness) to boost your skin's ability to reflect light. That's enough to make it great, as under-eye darkness is my enemy, but it also lifts, firms, and moisturizes the delicate eye are (including along the brow bone, cheekbone, and orbital bone.

The formula is thick and lovely, feels expensive (because it is), and practically shimmers upon contact. I love to apply it during my morning skincare routine as it is flawless under makeup. It's smoothing, and does a lot of the heavy lifting I'd usually ask of my favorite concealer. It's not makeup, obviously, but it does help—a lot.

The Value: If you're looking to splurge, this is it

I’ll give it to you straight: This product is over-the-top expensive. But, you already know that. And, chances are, if you've made it this far in the review you're looking to splurge. This is a formula that offers visible results both immediately and overtime. That, and it lasts for months. If you think about it in terms of price per use, and you use it every day for three months, the cost comes out to about $6 for each application. If I was asked to pay less than 10 bucks for an improvement in my under-eye darkness and bags, an issue I've had with my face for as long as I can remember, I’m down.

Interested in reading more reviews? Check out our picks for eye creams that'll make you look well-rested (even when you're not).

Our Verdict: Love it. Buy it on payday (or using AfterPay)

La Prairie's White Caviar Eye Extraordinaire is expensive but incredibly good. It keeps the skin around my eyes looking youthful, plump, shiny, and smooth. Plus, it comes with it's own massage tool (I love me some lymphatic drainage) so, really, it's more like a two-for-one. Plus, there are so many ways to finance big purchases online these days—which is incredibly helpful when you can't make such a large purchase upfront.