Woman looking at her eye bags in the bathroom.
Adobe Stock / djoronimo
This is Obsessed: my weekly column devoted to sharing all the things I’m loving right now—from unique food and gift ideas to travel destinations and beauty products—plus some tips and tricks for living your best life.
I recently turned 30, and I’m not sure if it’s entering a new decade or the stress of living through a pandemic (or maybe a bit of both), but I feel like my skin has literally aged overnight. While I’m lucky to be blessed with relatively good skin genes (thanks, mom and dad), the dark circles and bags under my eyes are pretty brutal. I love skincare and my bathroom cabinet is full of lotions and potions, but I thought I was still too young to use eye cream. Turns out, that’s not at all the case (and now I use two!).
Related: What to Eat (and Avoid) for Healthy, Glowing Skin, According to a Dermatologist
Suzan Obagi, assistant professor in dermatology at the University of Pittsburgh and director of the Cosmetic Surgery and Skin Health Center, tells Scientific American, “After the age of 20, a person produces about 1 percent less collagen in the skin each year.” Translation? Every year you’re losing a little bit of the magical protein that makes your skin firmer, plumper and less wrinkly. While I’m diligent about my face skincare routine, I’ve been seriously neglecting my eye area (and apparently losing collagen there for about a decade without realizing it).
To remedy that ASAP, I looked into Sio’s Cryo Eye Cream. According to the website’s description, it utilizes cooling (“cryo”) therapy, hydrolyzed collagen and marine plankton extract to boost hydration and reduce inflammation, puffiness, fine lines and wrinkles around the eye area. While I was a little skeptical, I figured it was worth a try, so I started dabbing a pea-size drop of it under each eye every morning after washing my face.
– 50 Available at SiO
The first time I tried it, I didn’t notice an immediate difference. But after about a week of consistently using it, I started to notice my eye bags getting a little smaller. And after about two weeks, they were almost completely gone! Once I got the hang of using this eye cream, I wanted to upgrade my under-eye game even more, so I decided to add in a retinol eye cream at night.
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Related: 12 Anti-Aging Foods to Make Your Skin Look Years Younger
Retinol is a form of vitamin A that can “reduce fine lines and wrinkles by increasing the production of collagen,” according to Harvard Health. “It also stimulates the production of new blood vessels in the skin, which improves skin color.” (Pro tip: It also makes your skin more sensitive to the sun, so you’ll want to apply retinol at night and slather on the SPF in the morning.) I wanted to find an affordable retinol eye cream to add to my nighttime routine, and saw that Roc Retinol Eye Cream had amazing reviews from thousands of users on Amazon and Target. Plus it’s only $18—a total steal compared to other eye creams.
– 17.99 Available at Target
After a few weeks of using both creams together (Sio in the morning and Roc at night), I can confirm that everyone—no matter their age—should use an eye cream. My eye bags are almost nonexistent, my under-eye area looks brighter and my skin even looks a little plumper. I haven’t changed anything else in my routine, and I’ve noticed a total difference. Want to snag them for yourself? You can buy the Sio eye cream here and the Roc retinol eye cream here.
Jaime Milan is EatingWell’s digital editor for all things newsy and trending. She’s always on the hunt for the latest and greatest things to share with EatingWell’s readers. In her spare time, you can find her experimenting in the kitchen, tackling home projects with her husband or taking pics of her very photogenic American Eskimo Dog, Grits. Follow her on Instagram at @jaimemmilan.