Hello! You may remember me as the crazy beauty editor who has a weird obsession with eye cream. (To be more specific, I own at least 27 different formulas and love to talk about them.) I have extremely picky skin—tiny, freakishly deep pores that have made breakouts the bane of my existence—so skincare products that treat isolated, non-acneic areas of my face like the eyes and lips are my jam. Plus, I happen to have perpetually dark and shadowy under-eyes—the other skincare-related bane of my existence—so really, my obsession with eye creams is 100% justifiable. I’m also really great at validating any kind of beauty obsession. Can you tell?
That said, I will fully confess that pretty much every eye cream I own and regularly use is ridiculously expensive. In fact, my favorite ride-or-die formula, RéVive’s Intensité Complete Anti-Aging Eye Serum $285, is, as my fellow fashion editor Nicole Akhtarzad Eshaghpour pointed out, the dollar equivalent to one and a half dresses from Reformation, a Nanushka top, or, my personal favorite, 60% off Manolos. Ugh, what can I say? I have damn expensive taste when it comes to beauty products—especially skincare.
However, I’ve also been immersed in the beauty industry long enough to know drugstore products can be just as satisfying as their expensive counterparts. So, since more and more of our favorite drugstore beauty brands are coming out with eye creams boasting impressive ingredient lists and rave reviews from shoppers, I’ve rounded up the five best drugstore eye creams from favored, affordably priced retailers like Walmart, Ulta, and Amazon.
In fact, with these best-selling formulas in tow, we doubt your peepers will even know the difference from the $100+ stuff. Ahead, 15 drugstore eye creams that will fool people into thinking you spent a fortune on your skincare regimen—when you definitely didn’t. Keep scrolling!
So, this soothing eye roller has an almost solid five-star rating with a whopping total of 7,695 reviews—and counting. It’s one of the best drugstore eye creams you can find and features a hard-hitting blend of antioxidant-rich vitamin C, mint, and caffeine to take care of puff, bags, and dullness in one fell swoop.
If signs of aging like wrinkles, crow’s feet, shadows, and puffiness are your main target when it comes to finding a great eye cream, this affordable pick from RoC is one of your best bets. Yes, it’s a tad more expensive than other drugstore eye creams on our list, but it also boasts a strategic combination of minerals and retinol to improve the look of your under-eyes in as little as 12 weeks.
L’Oréal’s Revitalift line is a known winner within the drugstore beauty space, and this eye cream is one of Walmart’s best-selling formulas for a reason. Despite its budget-friendly price, it more than pulls its weight by gifting sallow under-eyes with pro-retinol A, pro-lastyl, and criste marine extract to boost fragile, line-prone skin with plumping firmness and healthier, brighter luminosity. Bye, dark circles!
Top dermatologists consistently recommend this drugstore beloved formula, which is why we’re always shocked by its ordinary price tag. This sweet little tube is filled to the brim with everything we want in an eye cream—ceramides, hyaluronic acid and without the things we don’t—fragrances and other comedogenic ickiness.
Hydrating, brightening, and super-soothing (so important for our irritation-prone under-eyes!), this best-of-the-best drugstore eye cream from Olay is formulated with calming fares like cucumber extract and well-known radiance-enhancers like witch hazel and pro-vitamin B5 to mask even the worst of sleepless nights.
Studded with lush, natural ingredients like vitamins C and E, rosehip seed oil, and organic hibiscus flower extract, this multi-tasking eye cream can actually be used anywhere on the complexion, but works (extra-special) wonders atop dull and dehydrated under-eyes. Plus, there’s a handy-dandy 30-day money back guarantee, AND it happens to be the second best-selling eye cream on Amazon. So there’s that.
As for the retailer’s best-selling drugstore eye cream, this lesser-known pick from Baebody scores the top slot! It’s $20 and fully equipped with hydrating and firming perks a la rosehip oil, vitamins, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids galore.
Organys is a cult-favorite skincare brand amongst Amazon beauty shoppers and this eye cream, in particular, is a consistent best seller. Specifically formulated to make your eyes look less decrepit and more bushy-tailed, its equipped with all-star ingredients like peptides, vitamin C, hyaluronic, and caffeine.
We get it—eye creams can start to feel redundant and all too similar, but to help separate itself from the rest of the best-selling drugstore pack, this eye cream from Neutrogena boasts a unique water-gel formula that absorbs into the skin instantaneously for longer-lasting, non-greasy moisture.
As far as drugstore brands go, Aveeno is one of the brands most consistently recommended by dermatologists. This one features blackberry as its antioxidant-heavy hero ingredient other power players like vitamins C and E come to the eye area’s rescue too.
As if this drugstore eye cream isn’t enticing enough (what sounds better than rose, jelly, and beauty sleep in a prettily-packaged tube?!), its ultra-soothing and brightening results really seal the deal. It’s one of Ulta’s best sellers and on top of blue tansy, peptides, and rose hips, the dreamy glass rollerball tip is pretty much the best way to wake up each morning.
Even though this hypo-allergenic drugstore pick is nourishing enough to be a cream, its featherweight gel texture is a godsend for those who prefer something that absorbs instantaneously around the under-eyes. The starring ingredients? Hyaluronic acid, licorice extract, and healing a combination of vitamins for A+ skin nutrition.
If dark circles are the bain of your existence, this eye cream from E.L.F. cosmetics will be your newest beauty P.I.C. It comes in at a mere $10 and features brightening and radiance-enhancing additions like jojoba, vitamin E, cucumber, shea butter, and green tea.
We have no problem admitting that Burt’s Bees is one of our favorite drugstore skincare brands. Not only are the ingredients skin-friendly and natural, but they’re never harsh or overly irritating. This anti-aging eye elixir prioritizes botanicals like clary sage to mend and heal the delicate eye area and also features unique probiotic technology aid skin health even further.
This drugstore-priced eye cream from Botanics has it all—a cooling roller ball applicator to help with unwanted puffiness and a stellar concoction of healing ingredients like hibiscus extract to re-hydrate and also lessen the look of vampire-y circles. Next up: I Own 27 Eye Creams, But These Are The Ones I Recommend to My Friends. This article was originally published at an earlier date and has been updated.
