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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 24 of our all-time favorites for every skin type and concern.
➼ Our top picks ➼ Tried-and-true ➼ FAQs ➼ Our experts
Key Ingredients: Retinol for smoothing fine lines
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.
Key Ingredients: Vitamin C for brightening
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.
Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid for hydrating, vitamins E and B3 for smoothing
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.
Key Ingredients: Vitamin C for brightening
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.
Key Ingredients: Retinol for smoothing fine lines
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.
Key Ingredients: Vitamin C ester and red algae for brightening, Chaga mushroom for depuffing
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.
Key Ingredients: Peptides and hyaluronic acid for smoothing, niacinamide for brightening
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.
Key Ingredients: Peptides and algae extract for hydrating and tightening
“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.”
Key Ingredients: Bakuchiol for smoothing and brightening
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.
Key Ingredients: Niacinamide for smoothing and brightening
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.
Key Ingredients: Retinol for smoothing fine lines
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.
Key Ingredients: Vitamin C for brightening
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.
Key Ingredients: Ceramides for smoothing, hydrating and barrier support, niacinamide for brightening
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.
Key Ingredients: Diamond dust and tint for brightening
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).
Key Ingredients: Retinol for smoothing fine lines
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.
Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid for smoothing and hydrating
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.
Key Ingredients: Ceramides, squalane, and peptides for smoothing, hydrating, and barrier support
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.
Key Ingredients: Diamond dust for brightening
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.
Key Ingredients: Vitamin C and turmeric extract for brightening, green tea extract for depuffing
With ingredients like green tea extract, vitamin C, and turmeric, this newer launch from the Gen-Z-favorite brand Bubble targets fine line, brightens your skin, and depuffs the area.
Key Ingredients: Niacinamide and flower extracts for brightening, microalgae for depuffing
If you were disappointed when Glossier discontinued its Bubblewrap eye and lip cream, the brand’s latest launch might brighten your mood and your eyes. Full Orbit is formulated with hyaluronic acid to help tackle dry skin. Plus, instead of caffeine or vitamin C, it contains niacinamide and plant extracts to target discoloration and puffiness.
Key Ingredients: Retinol and peptides for smoothing fine lines and brightening
Facial Foam Cleanser Your eyelids need love too, which is why this eye-cream duo features a peptide-rich gel for moisturizing the lids and retinol-based cream for smoothing, brightening, and tightening the skin over time.