23 Best Under-Eye Creams for Dark Circles
Nothing totally eliminates dark circles, but these products come close.
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While logging a full night’s sleep seems like a reasonable fix to dark under-eye circles, it sadly doesn’t work for most of us. Regardless of how well-rested you are, dark circles can be caused by genetics, pigmentation, allergies, and thinning skin. Luckily, the best eye creams on the market can help smooth, hydrate, and brighten the under-eye area to make darkness less noticeable and easier to conceal. Read on to shop 23 of our all-time favorites for every skin type and concern.
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Our top picks:
The Overall Best Eye Cream
RoC Retinol Correxion Eye Cream
This well-rounded eye cream powered by retinol has a reputation for successfully tackling recurring eye-related concerns: puffiness, dark circles, and crow’s feet. Because of its effectiveness and lower price tag, this anti-aging formula comes highly recommended by both dermatologists and people who want smoother under eyes without spending a small fortune. It’s lightweight and non-greasy, so it applies like a serum as opposed to a thick moisturizer. Highly effective yet gentle, this eye cream is also great for sensitive skin because it’s hypoallergenic and noncomedogenic.
The Best Gel Eye Cream
Cetaphil Hydrating Eye Gel Cream
This is by far the best-reviewed eye cream on Amazon, with close to 31,000 five-star reviews. It contains hyaluronic acid, vitamin E, and three different plant extracts. Reviewers love its affordable price point, and praise its ability to soothe chapped, irritated, and very sensitive skin. It absorbs quickly, so it’s shopping editor Hanna Flanagan’s favorite go-to eye cream when she’s in a rush and needs to apply makeup directly after her skin care.
The Best Brightening Eye Cream
OLEHENRIKSEN Banana Bright Eye Crème
This is the internet’s current favorite eye cream for treating under-eye circles. It has over 2,000 four-star reviews at Sephora, and we’ve tested it and loved it (so has the Strategist). The secret is a mix of vitamin C, a proven ingredient for hyperpigmentation and brightening, and a “secret pigment” (most likely from the yellow color of the cream) that deflects and lightens the gray and purple tones of dark under-eye circles. Flanagan reaches out for this eye cream after a long night out because it instantly brightens the skin and makes her look more awake. Also, she finds that her concealer applies smoothly and doesn’t crease as much throughout the day when she uses this vegan and cruelty-free cream.
The Best Clean Eye Cream
LilyAna Naturals Eye Cream
This is kind of a cult favorite, racking up literally thousands of reviews for its natural, hydrating ingredients like rose hip, hibiscus, and rosemary-leaf extract, which make it smell like tea and helps moisturize your under-eye area. Overall, it feels hydrating, and it brightens and blurs. It’s a good deal: One small pump is enough to moisturize both eyes. If you’re on a clean beauty journey, consider incorporating this caffeine-free eye cream into your routine.
The Best Night-time Eye Cream
Shiseido White Lucent Anti-Dark Circles Eye Cream
Dense in texture, this cream works on two levels: by breaking down melanin pigment (brown spots) and by improving microcirculation to banish blue rings, thanks to a dark-circle-diminishing blend that includes vitamin C. For a blurred effect, a multi-luminizing powder boosts radiance levels. Although it’s expensive, the texture of this cream feels so luxurious and worth the money. Plus, a little goes a long way with this concentrated formula, so one jar will last you several months.
More options:
The Best Eye Cream for Sensitive Eyes
Paula’s Choice Resist Anti-Aging Eye Gel
If eye creams irritate your eyes and cause you to tear up, try an eye gel. This one feels light but still packs a serious moisturizing punch, thanks to a formula heavy in hydrating hyaluronic acid and skin-barrier-strengthening peptides. It comes with a metallic tip so it feels extra refreshing and soothing on impact, plus the cooling sensation helps de-puff the under-eye area.
The Best Tinted Eye Cream
Clinique Even Better Eyes Dark Circle Corrector
Is it a tinted moisturizer? Is it an eye cream? After trying this lightly tinted and unscented formula, we’ve determined it’s both. Dispensed from a cooling metal tip (which provides relief to puffy eyes), the sheer, lightweight consistency helps disguise dark circles and leaves the thin skin in this area significantly smoother. Bonus: It was rated five stars by cosmetics cop Paula Begoun due to its impressive blend of antioxidants and plant extracts. Downside: It won’t work very well with with darker skin tones, as it comes in only one shade.
The Best Tightening Eye Cream
Dr. Loretta Tightening Eye Gel
“This lightweight hydrating gel has been proven in clinical instrumental testing to increase skin’s elasticity 44 percent after four weeks of twice-a-day application in women with an average age of 45,” Dr. Loretta says of her brand’s eye gel, which features algae extract to support collagen production and chromabright to help protect the skin from free-radical damage caused by pollution. “Since improved elasticity translates into bounce back of skin, this will tighten contour and lessen puffiness.”
The Best Eye Cream With Nature’s Retinol
Peach & Lily Pure Peach Retinoic Eye Cream
This eye cream contains everything but the kitchen sink, in a good way. It’s one of the rare creams to contain bakuchiol — a plant-derived retinol, which can help to brighten and tighten dark eye circles. But it’s gentle and cushiony, thanks to a blend of ceramides, niacinamide, and antioxidants. On the skin, you’ll have no idea how hard it’s working because it just feels like a pleasantly nourishing and thick cream.
The Highly Requested Eye Cream
Kinship Brightwave Energizing + Brightening Eye Cream
When kinship’s founders reached out to their Gen-Z community, they were surprised to find the top request was a hydrating eye cream for under-eye circles. The brand delivered. With a naturally yellow tint, this eye cream brightens and blurs dark circles and fine lines. Some of the key ingredients are chaga mushroom to hydrate and vitamin C to add radiance. Overall, it feels really moisturizing and cooling under the eye, and you can reapply it periodically for a little pick-me-up.
The TikTok-Favorite Eye Cream
Sunday Riley 5 Stars Retinoid + Niacinamide Eye Serum
This product went viral on TikTok after user @RamenaSaidWow called it easily one of her “top three” eye creams. She posted before and after pictures, showing how her under eyes brightened and became smoother after two weeks of use. Sephora reviewers (nearly 2,000 of them) agree with her and love the unusually nonirritating retinoid formula and the cooling ceramic-tip applicator.
The Best Highlighting Eye Cream
Tarte Maracuja C-Brighter™ Eye Treatment
The vitamin C packed into this cream will make your skin brighter and firmer over time, but it’s accompanied by light-reflecting particles that instantly brighten the under-eye area while you wait. In addition to a pretty, highlighted finish, patting on this rich formula treats under eyes to hyaluronic acid for hydration, vitamin E to defend against environmental aggressors, and a complex of plant antioxidants to help fight signs of wear and tear.
The Best One for Makeup Prep
Charlotte Tilbury Refillable Magic Eye Rescue Cream with Retinol
Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Eye Rescue is basically the equivalent of their cult-favorite Magic Cream for the under-eye area. The dense and moisturizing cream features retinol to help brighten and reduce fine lines over time. However, the immediate effect is a smoother, moisturized under eye, making it the perfect base for concealer. It creates that blurred filter effect on the skin and looks especially good in photos.
The Smoothest Eye Cream
DRUNK ELEPHANTC-Tango™ Multivitamin Eye Cream
This cream from beloved “natural” beauty line Drunk Elephant takes a maximalist approach with not one but five different types of vitamin C, known for its skin-lightening properties. It’s a creamy, soothing mixture that blends easily into the thin under-eye skin. Since it has a brightening effect that makes the skin look more awake, Flanagan applies it when she wants to look presentable but doesn’t want to wear concealer.
The Supportive Eye Cream
Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin ™ Eye Cream with Niacinamide
If you’re noticing thinness and fine lines around your eyes, ceramides are just what the doctor ordered. Thankfully, Dr. Jart’s added an eye cream to its popular Ceramidin line. It’s packed with the line’s signature blend of five ceramides, plus niacinamide to support your body’s natural ceramide supply, so your skin barrier is supported and strengthened over time.
The Best Refillable Eye Cream
Tata Harper Illuminating Eye Crème
You know a product is high end when it features diamond dust. While this pricey ingredient has been met with skepticism in the beauty industry, Tata Harper’s Illuminating Eye Crème has a luminous golden gleam and plumps parched skin with hyaluronic acid, olive oil, and mango-seed butter. In addition, this option features a sustainable refill system so the bottle can be reused when you run out of product (instead of ending up in a landfill).
The Best Eye Cream With Retinol
Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Ferulic + Retinol Triple Correction Eye Serum
Retinol is the gold standard of anti-aging ingredients, and this silky serum has plenty of it. The vitamin A derivative works to stimulate collagen production under the eyes, making dark circles less visible. The weightless, gel-like texture absorbs in seconds and provides surprising hydration, thanks to skin-smoothing antioxidants and plant-based ingredients. Bonus: It sits well under makeup.
The Best Eye Cream for Dry Skin
Origins Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins Mega-Bright Dark Circle Minimizer
A little of this really rich formula goes a long way, so apply it sparingly. The ingredient list includes Rosa roxburghii, a flower containing brightening vitamin C to lighten brown spots and fade dark areas. Mica particles diffuse light to mimic a full night’s sleep, and the dense texture melts into skin when applied — making it ideal for super-dry types.
The Blue-Light-Fighting Eye Cream
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Complex
This cushiony gel is the eye cream version of the brand’s cult Advanced Night Repair serum (the serum you see advertised all over the world in airports and that your fancy relative owns). It glides on seamlessly and works overnight to fade dark circles and repair damage from environmental aggressors. Plus, it allegedly helps fight the damage caused by the blue light given off by our screens and phones.
The Best Eye Cream for Dewy Skin
BELIF Moisturizing Eye Bomb
Applying this intensely moisturizing eye cream is like pouring your puffiness a refreshing glass of ice water. The gratification is instant. As soon as you tap on the cooling formula, it floods tired, screen-fatigued eyes with a hit of hydration, and in true K-Beauty form, that invigorating formula is packed with things ready to get your skin looking as dewy and glassy as possible, including nutrient-rich tiger grass that soothes and smoothes and calming comfrey leaf to help with inflammation.
The Best Splurge Eye Cream
CLÉ DE PEAU BEAUTÉ Enhancing Eye Contour Cream Supreme
This is the most luxurious eye cream in every sense (including price). Reviewers praise how indulgent, smooth, and rich this cream feels, and how it glides over dry eye skin and moisturizes with just a dab. The eye cream comes with a tiny wand which you can use to massage and de-puff the under-eye area. Unsurprisingly, it’s Martha Stewart’s longtime favorite.
The Best Affordable Eye Cream
The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG
This is a serum, but it gives you the same benefits as a cream. True to the Ordinary’s no-frills approach to skin care, it features ingredients like caffeine, which helps reduce puffiness, and hyaluronic acid to keep the very thin skin of the under-eye area hydrated. And c’mon, you really can’t beat the under-$10 price tag.
The Most Concentrated Eye Cream
U Beauty The Return Eye Concentrate
If your under-eye area is super-dry, this is the one to grab. Seriously. A little goes a very long way. Packed with ingredients like peptides and diamond powder for very fancy brightening, the formula promises to not only brighten but also smooth the under-eye area. If you’re a bit impatient, the immediate results are pretty good too, since the formula instantly depuffs and deeply moisturizes your skin.
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