In 1982 Estée Lauder introduced Advanced Night Repair, the first serum made to be used at night, and it changed how many of us think about skincare. The idea that the hours you sleep deserve their own step now seems obvious. The eye version in the grid below applies the same thinking to the thinnest skin on the face. A good under eye cream will not erase dark circles or lines, but used every night and morning, it keeps the area smooth and hydrated, and concealer sits better on top.

 

Pick by what bothers you most. For fine lines, Estée Lauder's Advanced Night Repair Eye Lift + Sculpt and Shiseido's Benefiance Wrinkle Smoothing Eye Cream are both made for smoothing. Caudalie's Premier Cru eye cream is made for fine lines and wrinkles, and fresh's Black Tea eye cream has a retinol alternative, usually gentler around the eyes than a true retinoid.

 

For dark circles, Ole Henriksen's Banana Bright+ is a vitamin C eye crème made for exactly that. Clarins's Total Eye Lift is made for firmness, wrinkles and dark circles all at once.

 

For puffiness, The INKEY List's Caffeine eye cream is simple and light, and Innbeauty Project's Extreme Cream Eye is a firming option for dry skin.

 

Use a rice grain sized amount for both eyes. Tap it along the orbital bone with your ring finger, the weakest finger, which presses most gently. Keep it off the lash line and the lid, where it can travel into the eyes and sting.

Morning puffiness is mostly fluid that settled while you slept, especially after salty food, a drink or a short night. Cold and caffeine help it move along faster, and this is where gels, serums and patches come in.

 

The Ordinary's Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG is a small dropper bottle and the easiest place to start. innisfree's Green Tea Caffeine eye serum and belif's Aqua Bomb depuffing gel are light and cooling, and both are lovely kept in the fridge. Clarins's Double Serum Eye is a brightening and depuffing concentrate, and Dermalogica's BioLumin-C eye serum is a vitamin C serum for dark circles.

 

Patches are the fastest fix before a big day. Summer Fridays' Jet Lag Eye Patches and Peace Out's Caffeine Puffy Under-Eye Patches sit under each eye for a few minutes while you make coffee. Dieux's Forever Eye Mask is different, a reusable silicone patch you wear over your serum or cream so it does not evaporate, then wash and use again.

 

Apply serum first, then cream, then patches if you are using them. Sleep with your head slightly raised if puffiness is a daily thing, and drink a glass of water before coffee. Two metal spoons kept in the fridge work too, pressed gently under the eyes for a minute. It is an old trick, and it still helps on the mornings you have nothing else. Tap, never pull, since the skin here stretches easily.

Some mornings, nothing you put on the night before makes much difference, and that is when makeup takes over. The trick under the eyes is brightening rather than covering, since thick coverage creases in the thin skin there.

 

Rare Beauty's Positive Light brightener and NARS's Light Reflecting Undereye Brightener add light without heavy coverage. Saie's Hydrabeam is a hydrating, concealing brightener with cucumber. caliray's Hideaway is a color correcting concealer, and Natasha Denona's Hy-Glam concealer is brightening and hydrating with medium to full coverage for darker circles. Westman Atelier's Vital Skincare concealer has hyaluronic acid.

 

Then set, lightly. Laura Mercier's Secret Brightening powder is made for under the eyes and color corrects as it sets, and Fenty Beauty's Bright Fix is an instant brightening and setting powder.

 

Apply eye cream first and give it five minutes to sink in, or concealer can slide. Dot the brightener only on the inner corner and the darkest part of the circle, tap it in, then press a little powder on with a small brush.

 

What I would skip: a heavy, matte concealer drawn in a big triangle under the eye. It looks dramatic in photos and cakey in daylight, and it settles into lines by noon. I would also skip rich eye cream right before concealer on a hot day. Use a lighter gel in the morning and keep the rich cream for night, when nothing has to sit on top of it.

The eye area rewards patience more than any other part of the face. Use cream night and morning for six to eight weeks before you decide it is not working, and take a photo in daylight at the start.

 

Sunglasses help more than you might think. They shade the thinnest skin on your face and stop you squinting, which over years can deepen lines. Wear sunscreen right up to the orbital bone too. And if dark circles run in your family, they often come from genetics rather than tiredness. For those, a good brightener and a light hand with concealer will do more than another cream. Be gentle when you take off eye makeup, too. Press a soaked pad on closed eyes for a few seconds, then wipe down instead of rubbing back and forth. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together The Best Eye Cream For Dark Circles and L'Oréal Midnight Cream.