One of my biggest discoveries this year: an under eye treatment that actually makes a difference with my dark under eye circles. I’d tried dozens of eye creams and serums over the past few decades and feel like most of them did nothing and a few of them did a good job hydrating the area — but little else. The solution that has truly worked for me is applying an under-eye mask for 10-20 minutes every morning, and then applying this brightening undereye cream (more like a color corrector / tinted highlighter, but also has top-notch skincare ingredients in it)! My process in the morning: I get up, wash my face, apply my skincare, and then leave my eye masks on while I’m getting the kids ready for school. After they’re out the door, I apply the undereye cream just before putting on makeup (along with the Rhode glazing milk — best primer / last step between skincare and makeup).
Sharing a roundup and detilaed notes on my favorite under eye masks:
YSE OVERACHIEVER EYE MASKS (CODE JEN15) // PIXI DETOXIFEYE PATCHES // JILLIAN DEMPSEY HYDRATING EYE MASKS (CODE SHOOP15) // PETER THOMAS ROTH CUCUMBER DE-TOX EYE PATCHES // GOOP LIFT AND DEPUFF EYE MASKS (CODE SHOOP15)
Best Under Eye Patch for Dark Circles.
At this point, I’ve tried at least ten or fifteen brands, and in my opinion, the two absolute best are Jillian Dempsey and YSE. These are $$$ so I tend to reserve them for days where I look really tired / am going out to an event / am traveling. (I always keep a pack of one or the other in my toiletry bag!).
I find the Jillian Dempsey (15% off with JENSHOOP) ones to be the best for deep hydration and brightening. You really feel the product absorb into your skin. I say this because after wearing for maybe 20-30 minutes the patches themselves feel sort of dry; you can see the product has transferred from the pad to your skin. The hydration is next level, and the undereye area looks noticeably brighter. I’ll never forget the first time I tried these, after a long flight to California. I did a triple take in the mirror! My undereyes looked so happy, luminous, hydrated, awake!
Best Under Eye Patches for Puffiness.
Meanwhile, YSE (15% off with JEN15) is the holy grail product for de-puffing and cooling. I love the technology of these patches — they have some sort of proprietary “cling” to them and they literally never slip/slide off your face, which is a nuisance with other brands if you wear them like I do (i.e., while making the kids breakfast / packing lunches in the morning). They feel like heaven, too: a cooling gel. If you struggle with undereye puffiness, these are magic.
Best Affordable Eye Patches.
For everyday use, my favorites are Philip Thomas Roth’s cucumber detox and Pixi. Both are similar to YSE in the cooling and de-puffing factor, but much less $$. A Magpie reader turned me onto Pixi and I am truly impressed. Both have a fairly thin/flimsy/gel-like material and are a bit more adhesive than more expensive ones I’ve tried!
Runners up:
+True Botanicals Chebula Eye Patches — these are very gentle and have a nourishing quality to them, but I do find these slip off my face easily.
+Goop Lift + Depuff (use code SHOOP15) — these are the most “active” of the bunch; you really feel them doing something / skin feels tighter and even a touch tingly afterward, but they are also $$. I keep a jar of these when I’m feeling really puffy / tired. They do some heavy lifting.
P.S. More of my Goop beauty favorites.
P.P.S. My “regrettably worth it” discoveries from this year.
P.P.P.S. How do you support a friend going through a tough time?
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