Should You Be Using An Eye Serum Before Your Eye Cream?

Eye serum – sounds fancy, huh? But is it really necessary? Will it just end up as another thing sitting in our bathroom cupboard?

Not too long ago a face serum wasn’t considered integral as part of a woman’s skin care routine. Nowadays, we are educated enough to know face serums are without a doubt the work horse of any skin care routine – generally containing the highest amount of active ingredients – becoming a key staple for many of us. So, an eye serum may or not be on the top of your list when it comes to beauty, but there are a lot of fans and skin care experts out there who’ll tell you they’re a necessity. Perhaps you’ve been thinking about trying one out, though? Settle in, you’ve come to the right place.

WHAT IS IT?

An eye serum uses much the same theory (but has a lighter formula) to a regular face serum. Serums as we know, are designed for the long game rather than shorter-term goals. Traditionally, they are known to penetrate deeper into the skin to target cells that aren’t yet at the top surface level.

Some will give superficial results as a byproduct of the ingredients but the overall aim of any serum (face or eye) is to see it yielding visible results 3 – 4 weeks after you started using it.

WHO SHOULD USE IT?

Fact of life: The eye tends to be the main area of concern as we age. “The skin around the eye is 30% thinner and more fragile than that of other areas of the face and therefore more sensitive to ageing factors,” explains Belinda Besant, Education Director, La Prairie Australia and New Zealand.

Besant says, “The skin around the eyes covers 22 muscles which are in perpetual motion. We blink around 10,000 times a day, which can cause the skin to lose its vitality.” And, if that isn’t enough to stun you (eyes wide open), don’t forget there is also gravity’s noticeable effects on both the upper lids and skin beneath the eyes.

Due to the finer skin and the constant motion, the eye area usually is the first part of the face to show signs of ageing. Therefore an eye serum and eye cream should be incorporated into your daily ritual from your 20’s. If you’ve already moved into the next decade of your life (like this beauty editor), then start now.

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HOW DO YOU KNOW WHICH ONE TO USE?

For the most part, serums are formulated to be more fluid than cream – a gel-like consistency that absorbs quickly, easily and generally doesn’t leave any residue on the skin’s surface. This makes them ideal for application under makeup (winner). An eye serum will plump up the skin to provide a smoother base for makeup, minus any oiliness on the surface that could potentially interfere with your makeup application.

La Prairie’s new Skin Caviar Eye Lift is the first eye-opening, lifting serum for the entire eye area – designed to lift both the eyes and redefine the brows (we can’t forget the frames to the windows, can we?).

Best applied underneath an eye cream (like Skin Caviar Luxe Eye Cream morning and night), in an instant Skin Caviar Eye Lift provides a tightening and lifting feeling by forming an invisible smoothing and tensing film on the skin to give both the look and feeling of lift. Used over time (morning and night), this innovative eye serum will help rebuild your skin’s extracellular matrix, ultimately lifting and firming your eye area, thanks to La Prairie’s Exclusive Cellular Complex.

So, why is this one superior? If you caught yourself in the mirror this morning observing those pesky dark circles, fine lines or deeper crow’s feet, then listen up… It took three years for the Swiss skin care company to create this innovation. “[To apply], there is no activation needed before the first use. The blending of the two formulas takes place in the pump in perfect proportion. Each time the pump is pressed, the two formulas are drawn up to a patent-pending mechanism that freshly blends them with each use. Ensuring the actives in each chamber are at their most potent,” explains Besant.

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DO YOU NEED TO USE BOTH AN EYE SERUM AND EYE CREAM?

This is really a question of preference, as well as the products you are using. According to scientists, eye serums will pack more of a punch long term, but might not be as comforting on a daily basis. They aren’t as emollient as an eye cream, in the same way that face serums aren’t as emollient as a moisturiser. But, you can use them slightly closer to the eye area (it’s recommended that eye creams be used on the orbital bone only).

If you are starting to notice signs of ageing and need a bit of extra TLC around the eye area, using both could work for you. If you would rather swap to a serum only though, look out for formulas like this.

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Tell us, do you use an eye serum? Or stick to eye creams only?