The 13 Best Eye Creams for Dark Circles and Puffiness

The use of eye cream is a heated debate in the Allure office: About half the team believes slathering the undereye area with decadent creams can help minimize the appearance of dark circles over time, while the other half seems to think they're moisturizers in tiny tubs offer nothing more than a placebo effect. Despite all of this, there is one thing we can agree on: No one wants to look like they got roughly four hours of sleep. That's why we've combed through dozens (hell, maybe even hundreds) of formulas to find the most luxurious and fluffiest formulas — packed with eye-opening ingredients like blood vessel-constricting caffeine and skin-plumping hyaluronic acid — to help fake a full night's rest, no matter how many hours of Zzzs you do or do not manage to squeeze in. Ahead, you'll find 13 eye creams, including a drugstore favorite by Neutrogena and a retinol-laced serum from Murad, each formulated for the thinnest, most sensitive skin on your entire body. You won't believe your eyes (wink, wink) once you see their transformative effects.

Fresh Black Tea Age-Delay Eye Concentrate

Think of Fresh's Black Tea Age-Delay Eye Concentrate as the equivalent of a power smoothie for your eyes. Free-radical-fighting black tea extract is blended with the juice of noni fruit, a Japanese super fruit loaded with antioxidants, and hyaluronic acid, which helps the skin retain moisture. A little bit goes a long way since it spreads easily and melts right into skin.

$78 (Shop Now)

First Aid Beauty Eye Duty Triple Remedy AM Gel Cream

It's rare to find an eye cream that's especially made for mornings. After all, not only does it have to absorb quickly and play nicely with your other morning skin-care products, but it also has to work well under makeup. The First Aid Beauty Eye Duty Triple Remedy AM Gel Cream does all of those things, plus the refreshing gel acts like a java jolt for your eyes — especially if you stash it in the fridge, like our editors do.

$36 (Shop Now)

Drunk Elephant Shaba Complex Eye Serum

Like all Drunk Elephant products, the Drunk Elephant Shaba Complex Eye Serum combines the clean and the clinical of the ingredient world. Antioxidant Co-Q10 helps prevent the harsh effects of pollution on the skin, while black tea and copper peptides firm the delicate area. The result? Bright, youthful peepers.

$60 (Shop Now)

Neutrogena Hydro Boost Eye Gel-Cream

Drugstore fave Neutrogena Hydro Boost Eye Gel-Cream is packed with hyaluronic acid, which as you may know helps lock hydration into the skin. It's one of those good-for-everyone picks: It's light enough for oily skin, hydrating for anyone thanks to the potency of the hyaluronic, and the gel texture makes it cool to the touch. We like to swipe this one under makeup in the mornings.

$20 (Shop Now)

Murad Retinol Youth Renewal Eye Serum

You might already use a retinol product on your face, but have you brought the hero ingredient into your eye-care routine? Murad's Retinol Youth Renewal Eye Serum is no joke when it comes to battling lines and wrinkles. A blend of three forms of retinol mean the product also starts working fast, so your eyes look rejuvenated and plumped sooner. Finally, marine kelp extract helps brighten for a one-two problem-solving punch of an eye solution. We like this one at night, layered under a richer cream when we're feeling fancy.

$85 (Shop Now)

La Roche-Posay Pigmentclar Eyes

You can always find something good in a French pharmacy. Luckily, La Roche-Posay products are readily available stateside and that's something for our eyes to get excited about. This one, the La Roche-Posay Pigmentclar Eyes, was the result of studies about the dark circles we get under our eyes. As it turns out, the blue ones are due to a lack of microcirculation, which can result from fatigue and are worse in the morning because we lie horizontally when we sleep. Brown circles can result from sun exposure, genetics, and even excessive rubbing of the eyes. If you didn't even know undereye circles came in two types (don't worry, I didn't either), there's good news: This innovative LRP product was created to target both.

$43 (Shop Now)

Tula Multi-Spectrum Eye Renewal Serum

Tula's pretty Tiffany-blue tube contains a proprietary blend of two strains of probiotics, each of which boasts its own skin-boosting properties. Lactococcus ferment lysate strengthens the skin and speeds up its renewal process, while micrococcus lysate decreases puffiness and reduces redness. The probiotic hero ingredients in the Tula Multi-Spectrum Eye Renewal Serum are bolstered by ones like He Huan Ma, a Chinese herb proven to help drooping lids and African golden chamomile, which calms and soothes the delicate skin in the eye area.

$68 (Shop Now)

Dermalogica Stress Positive Eye Lift

In creating the Dermalogica Stress Positive Eye Lift, the brand looked to the benefits (who knew?) of stress. That is to say, stress can help keep us alert, focused, and energized. This lightweight cream aims to create those benefits within our skin care — wild indigo seed brightens and helps reduce circles, while fermented yeast and hyaluronic acid work to firm and lift the area. A cooling metal applicator provides a built-in invigorating effect.

$65 (Shop Now)

Olay Ultimate Eye Cream

Olay is our go-to for serious skin care at drugstore prices, and this lightly tinted, color-correcting eye cream is no exception. A blend of peptides and vitamins help with the three most common skin-care concerns for eyes: "de-puffing," "de-circling," and "de-wrinkling." The Olay Ultimate Eye Cream is a great option for quick, no-makeup mornings.

$30 (Shop Now)

Sunday Riley Auto Correct Brightening and Depuffing Eye Contour Cream

The newly launched Sunday Riley Auto Correct Brightening and Depuffing Eye Contour Cream is the latest addition to Sunday Riley's high-performance collection and it's a fast-favorite. The cheekily named lightweight cream instantly provides an espresso-shot of energy to the eyes with caffeine and Brazilian ginseng, while horse chestnut extract works to age-proof the area.

$65 (Shop Now)

SK-II LXP Ultimate Revival Eye Cream

Pitera is the ingredient that has made SK-II the global phenomenon it is today. And while we'd assume it's pretty highly concentrated in its fan-favorite essence, the SK-II LXP Ultimate Revival Eye Cream has eight times more of the ingredient than any product before it. The result? A rich, deeply hydrating treatment cream that nourishes the area and provides vitamins and nutrients to help brighten, firm, and prevent damage from pollution.

$195 (Shop Now)

Tata Harper Restorative Eye Creme

Tata Harper's products are jam-packed with natural, botanical ingredients, many of which are grown on her Vermont farm. The Tata Harper Restorative Eye Creme is no exception. Twenty-six botanical extracts combine for a silky formula that helps reduce lines and puffiness while delivering and locking in hydration.

$95 (Shop Now)

Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado

This little white jar with its signature green text by Kiehl's is a mainstay on top shelves around the world. Avocado oil in the Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado is one of the most potent natural moisturizers and works to nourish and hydrate the eyes.

$29 (Shop Now)

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