Tag: eye cream

Derma-E Anti-Wrinkle Eye Cream

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I guess I lied about needing an Epiduo-induced skincare break — this reliable little eye cream was worth a post. Now, I know what you’re saying, “eye creams are a scam, they’re just up-marketed moisturizers/retinoids!”, which is probably true. But I still LIKE this thing.

This was a relatively inexpensive buy at $14-$15 that I picked up at a local natural foods store, I think they’re also available at various vitamin shops. The tube is only half an ounce, but a little goes a long way.

This comes out as a white cream that you lightly apply under your eye and near the corners. Obviously be careful not to get too close to your waterline, or you’re going to get a bit of stinging. It’s easy to oversaturate this product, so in that instance it take a bit longer to rub into the skin, but otherwise, it absorbs very well and quickly, without being heavy. Even if you do oversaturate, you won’t experience that stinging sensation that retinol products sometimes cause when you overdo it.

Speaking of retinol, that’s in here, so apply this at night. There’s also a bunch of plant-based ingredients in here, which I like. No drying alcohols. There’s also “bakuchiol”, a retinol alternative, that I’d never heard of before today, so it looks like I have something new to research.

Now, I’m sure some of this could be placebo effect, but when I woke up the next morning after using it, I swore my natural and normally very pronounced under-eye circles were slightly diminished, a feat no other product has ever accomplished. A few fine lines had also decreased as well. I don’t really think the effects carry beyond an entire day, but I’m convinced it does work relatively quickly, with noticeable results.

What I love about the product (well, on the packaging I have, at least), it specifies that the user “dabs around the eye area with your ring finger”, because they darn well know if you use your pointer finger, you’re going to put way too much on. Anyway — I’ll definitely rebuy this after I run out. Call me a sucker for buying into the eye-cream scheme… ~A

Perceived efficacy: 4.5/5

Longevity: 1.5/5

How much I actually like this product: 4/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: Yes

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THE ORDINARY Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG

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I think my skin has an “eject” button when it comes to TO’s products. I’d say about 50% of the products I’ve tried from them end in a terrifying amount of drying and peeling, with nothing to show for it.

The packaging is standard fare for TO: dropper bottle and dark packaging, to prevent light from affecting the structural integrity of the product (I think? Or did I make that up?). Sephora’s website says that the serum inside is “lightweight”, but I beg to differ. It’s pretty heavy and slow-moving — the dropper will likely take in way more than you need for both eyes. The serum itself is a light brown color, but that color is not noticeable once you apply it to your skin.

You really don’t need too much to spread under your eye. The formula is incredibly thick, but it’s fairly easy to push around. And for being so thick, it dries relatively quickly and fully, although you might feel that area of skin is a bit heavy for up to ten minutes. I can’t speak to stacking products over top of this one, since I think it’s overkill for such a thin layer of skin, but my next paragraph will explain this product’s time-delayed destruction of eye makeup!

Even if you’re careful to apply very little to the skin, within two to three hours you may notice your skin is starting to slough off, regardless of time you apply it. While initially playing well with eye makeup (assuming you’ve waited the dry time), it’ll start to crack any concealer, eye shadow or powder you’ve applied. This made me think “perhaps I should only apply this at night!”. In theory, this should be fine, since there’s no makeup around to break down at that point, but I still woke up with tons of rolling pills of skin and product under my eye.

Even after washing all of that… lovely mess off of my face, there wasn’t much to show for it, even after three weeks of use. I have noticeably recessed skin between my lower eyelid and cheek, so any dark circles or wrinkles that come into my life are on full display to the world. I didn’t feel like I was experiencing any brightening or decreasing of either. On the plus side, besides the crazy pilling skin, I didn’t experience any other irritation, not even in the instance it touched my waterline.

Another swing and a miss for me with TO products, although the low price tag of $8 doesn’t make me feel too guilty. I had a similar pilling issue with their Niacinamide and Buffet products, but those are HG’s for a lot of other people. So, as always, YMMV. ~A

Perceived efficacy: 1/5

Longevity: 1.5/5

How much I actually like this product: 1.5/5

Pond’s Cold Cream Cleanser

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Ponds Cold Cream

This product has been around forever (since the early twentieth century, according to Wikipedia), and it’s in every grocery store in existence. Until two months ago, I ignored it completely, until it was at Target for $4 and I impulse bought it.

This product is a white cream cleanser. It’s, as the title would suggest, cool to the touch. The instructions on the back say to use it as cleanser. I was hesitant to do so because there’s definitely mineral oil in it, and my sensitive skin is very… particular to what oils end up on my face, if any at all. But I tried it anyway (no patch testing, yee-haw!). Although it required a little more manual effort of pushing the product around on my face than my normal foaming cleansers would seem to require, it actually did take off my makeup more effectively than aforementioned foaming cleansers.

I did this for a day or two. I am convinced it did cause a small breakout on my chin, but there’s no way to prove that. Needless to say, at that point, I started using the product only around my eyes, since it’s totally awesome at removing eye makeup.

There is an instruction on the back that suggests you do not have to wash off the product after applying it. After cleaning off my eye makeup one night, I decided to leave a few swipes “on”, under my eyes, right on top of my beautiful dark circles. It felt kind of nice, actually — the skin around my eyes tends to get irritated because of how sensitive my eyes are, and this product is super cooling (and, said product does not cause further irritation to my eyes!). And I SWEAR the next morning my circles looked a bit fainter. Placebo effect? Who knows. But I still do it to this day. Even if it’s just mind trickery, I’ll take it! ~A

To try out this oldie-but-goodie, click this link: https://amzn.to/2SOvycc

Perceived efficacy: 4.5/5 (as an eye cream, or eye makeup remover. As an actual makeup remover, 4/5)

Longevity: 4.5/5 — if left on

How much I actually like this product: 4/5

Recommended for sensitive skin: No