The first signs of aging often show up around your eyes — this can come in the form of fine lines, wrinkles, puffiness, dark circles, crow’s feet, and even saggy skin. Even just one sleepless night or feeling overly stressed can also cause these frustrating symptoms to pop up around your eyes.

There are literally thousands of products available to help you combat these visible signs, but which one should you choose?

After all, the area around your eyes is the most delicate of your entire face, so picking the right product is very important.

The two most common eye care products are creams and serums.

Eye Cream VS. Eye Serum

At first glance, they may seem more or less the same, but there is a difference — and it’s an important one.

Eye creams' purpose is to moisturize, but they can also sometimes help with dark circles and fine lines, just like eye serums. 

However, a good eye care product should also help smooth out fine lines, reduce puffiness, restore a youthful glow, and help rebuild firmness.

Eye serum, on the other hand, is more potent than its eye cream predecessors.

Eye serums will often also have hyaluronic acid and retinol, which are two powerhouse ingredients that penetrate your skin on a deeper level, and help deliver the best results. 

So after using an eye serum consistently, you’ll be able to notice:

  • Reduced puffiness
    Increased firmness and elasticity
    Fewer fine lines and wrinkles
    Minimized crow’s feet
  • Diminished dark circles 
    A renewed, youthful glow


And for these reasons, we recommend purchasing an eye serum.

There are a lot of eye serums available on the market, and many don’t always do what they claim to do.

So when shopping for an eye serum, it’s important to know which ingredients to look for and which to avoid.

Top 6 Ingredients To Look For In Eye Serum

Eyeliss is a patented skincare ingredient made with a combination of protein peptides that help reduce swelling and puffiness, as well as increase firmness.

Matrixyl naturally supports the production of collagen in your body, which helps improve elasticity in your skin and eases the appearance of fine lines. (1)

Chamomile Extract (often listed as Matricaria Chamomilla L) is a natural ingredient that moisturizes the skin and helps rejuvenate cells. It also can calm some redness or irritation. (2)

Hyaluronic Acid is a super ingredient that supports the production of collagen and deeply moisturizes, leaving your skin looking more plump and refreshed. (Sodium hyaluronate, a hyaluronic acid mimicker, will also get the job done.) (3)

Vitamin E is another natural ingredient that helps fight signs of aging, as well as helps protect your skin against damaging UV rays. (4)

Retinol  is a powerful ingredient that's derived from vitamin A. It can speed up the production of collagen in your skin and help smooth out even the most stubborn wrinkles. (5)

Ingredients To Avoid 

Petroleum is a toxic carcinogen that studies have found can block the skin from absorbing moisture and other important vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, petroleum is present in many skincare products, so be sure to pay close attention to labels. (6)

Sulfates are a synthetic ingredient that can irritate your skin, clog pores, and in some cases, cause acne. They can also strip your skin of important nutrients and oils.

Finding an eye serum with the ingredients listed above is just the first step. There are some other important factors to consider before actually purchasing an eye serum. 

What Else To Consider When Buying Eye Serum

Transparent List Of Ingredients  
Many eye serums list a handful of the their key ingredients. Beware of this practice, because that’s when the manufacturer can slip in some potentially harmful, synthetic ingredients.

Money-Back Guarantee 
Skincare is a multi-billion dollar a year industry, which makes it easy for manufacturers with poor products to slip through the cracks. So make sure to buy an eye serum from a brand that’s willing to standby its product with a 100% money-back guarantee.

Positive Reviews  
Make sure to read through the reviews and see what other customers, just like you, have to say about the product. That way you can get a strong understanding of what others liked about the product and what they didn't like about it.

Beware Of Amazon Reviews 
Up to 60% of reviews on Amazon were written by people paid to leave positive feedback. So don't rely on Amazon's review section to help you find the best eye serum because you might be tricked into buying a product that's completely ineffective. 

Our Specialized Ranking System

At Smarter Reviews, we employ a comprehensive evaluation system to analyze and measure the full value of products, by looking at the safety, projected effectiveness, return policies, and overall customer satisfaction. This method is known as the Smarter Reviews Ranking System.

The 5 Best Eye Serums On The Market

After extensive research, testing, and metrics provided by our Smart Review Ranking System, we’ve put together this definitive list of the best eye serums available right now. When putting together our rankings, we consider quality of ingredients, safety, return policies, projected effectiveness, and customer satisfaction.