February 2009 

Dear Lisa,

Your questions are perfect and what great timing! It turns out my team and I recently had a long discussion about the persistence of eye creams in the market and how they are positioned. Let me start with the facts that I have stated many times over: there is absolutely no research, no cosmetic ingredient manufacturer, or dermatologist who can explain or demonstrate that the eye area needs something different than the face. Saying something is true is not the same as having proof that it is true.

Why do so-called experts continue to “lie” or ignore the facts about eye creams (and hundreds of other published studies about skin) is anyone’s guess, but none of them have ever backed up what they are saying with substantiation. When it comes to eye creams sometimes they will say that the eye area is thinner and therefore needs different formulas or ingredients, but then they never state what those ingredients are that differ from what the face needs. Even when a dermatologist recommends eye creams, they’re often just going with the flow, not recommending them because they’re truly different or have benefits “regular” moisturizers lack.

Another typical explanation you will hear is that the eye area is more sensitive and should not be exposed to irritating ingredients. But that begs the question, does the face need irritating ingredients? The face gets the bad formulas and the eye area gets the good formulas? How senseless is that?

The perceived need for eye cream has been so strongly perpetuated by the cosmetics industry at large that even my customers continue to ask me to formulate one, which I won’t do because they are truly an extra expense that is not warranted.  Many experts in the cosmetics industry are just reiterating the advertising or training they’ve received from cosmetic companies. (Don’t get me started on the “lies” hairdressers propagate worldwide, which just infuriates me.)

Eye creams, gels, and the like are whims of the cosmetics industry. They are chiefly designed to prompt the sale of two products when only one is needed. In over 30 years of reviewing eye creams or other eye-area products, I have yet to find one whose formula was truly different from that of a facial moisturizer.

I agree, it isn’t just the majority of cosmetic companies heralding the need for people to use eye creams. Fashion magazines, beauty editors, columnists, and other media echo this notion, often ad nauseum. These writers, makeup artists, and beauty editors are prone to falling for the same hyperbole and eye-area specific claims that consumers do. Add to that the fact that if we hear something often enough we accept it as fact, and it’s easy to see why so many sources, well-intentioned and otherwise, continue to advise using an eye cream.

There is also the fact that many eye creams are brilliant formulations. That doesn’t change the fact that eye cream formulas differ little from those of facial moisturizers, but I can see how a makeup artist would praise a silky-textured eye cream for its hydrating, smoothing, and wrinkle-reducing abilities but ignore that another face product can have the exact same features.

The problem is most everyone is brainwashed to go for the eye cream in much the same way many women are convinced that it’s not a hand moisturizer unless it says “hand cream” and a product labeled as being for the neck shouldn’t ever be applied anywhere else. Had the makeup artist or beauty editor tried the facial moisturizer equivalent as an eye cream, they likely would’ve had the same comments on its performance.

As for other beauty authors and columnists, they may or may not be paid for their recommendations but if they’re magazine has cosmetic advertisers they absolutely cannot contradict what they assert (which is why my book never is reviewed in a fashion magazine despite being one of the best-selling beauty books ever published). So they’re recommendations are, at best, constrained.

What matters most for the consumer is not the name on the label but whether or not the product itself is well-formulated and packaged to keep the light- and air-sensitive ingredient stable during use.

I realize that my rallying against the need for eye creams isn’t going to change the fact that consumers, be they in the cosmetics field or not, will continue to be advocates for their use or dozens of other myths that the industry extols. But I am confident I’ve made at least a small dent in this perceived need...

It’s worth mentioning that my customers (over 200,000) and my friends and family who’ve given up on eye creams and now use a facial moisturizer around their eyes have not noticed one iota of change in benefits.  The lack of proof to the contrary is powerful verification of what I will continue to write and speak to women about when I visit various cities around the world: eye creams are not necessary if you are already using a well-formulated facial moisturizer or serum for your skin type.