Reducing those designer bags under your eyes is a great cause, but what if the cream you’re using is harmful to animals?
Many companies have fantastic formulas, but they come at a very high cost.
Particularly for vegans, buying cruelty free is incredibly important.
Preventing animal torture matters more than minimizing puffiness, right?
Right. But… how can you ensure your animal friendly eye cream actually works?
That’s where I come in, with five of the best.
From brands you know and love, as well as a few small businesses who would love your support, you’re sure to see a difference and wake up feeling fresh-faced, without a guilty conscience!
DISCLOSURE: Luiere.com is reader supported so if you buy any products featured on this site I may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my full disclosure here.
The Top 3 Cruelty Free Eye Creams Summarised
OUR TOP PICK
Working to hydrate the whole area, as well as minimise dark circles, this eye cream from Elf works wonders..
Wielding jojoba, cucumber and vitamin E, it nourishes and intensely hydrates your skin to illuminate and help you find that natural glow.
Provided you use daily and nightly, after cleansing, and follow up with a daily moisturizer, this is the perfect eye cream for any routine.
Powered by skin-loving, high quality formulas at an affordable price, this is the best bang for your buck.
For just the cost of a coffee or two this week, you’ll get a 0.49 ounce bottle, which will last you for at least a couple of months as you only need a pea sized amount.
Being too bulky to carry is not an excuse, as it slips into any makeup bag with ease.
With a fresh, cucumber scent, it leaves you feeling refreshed and reinvigorated in the morning and helps you wind down for bed in the evening.
No powerful alcoholic fragrance here, just sweet and natural softness.
Elf Cosmetics are widely known for their cruelty free, vegan product line.
Not only are they 100% animal and planet friendly, but they also contain zero phthalates or parabens and are free from other nasty chemicals.
Start glowing, guilt free!
Pros:
- Very affordable, despite quality ingredients used
- Small, travel-sized bottle that lasts for a while, good value for money
- Soothes and reduces puffiness, eye bags and wrinkling naturally
- Hydrates your eyes to reawaken your natural beauty
Cons:
- Doesn’t contain certain recommended ingredients like hyaluronic acid
EDITORS CHOICE
Utilizing ingredients proven to fight aging, Pure Biology’s Total Eye Cream is the total package.
Clinically proven to deliver the most significant wrinkle reduction results amongst non-prescriptive skincare, you’ll feel refreshed and youthful after one use.
Thanks to premium ingredients like baobab oil, proline, caffeine, Vitamin E and hyaluronic acid, you’ll promote the production of antioxidants around the eye, as well as increase collagen production.
Dramatically reducing your puffiness and eye bags, as well as providing necessary defense against the sun’s rays, it serves to protect your skin, not just plump it up.
It’s basically a great night’s sleep, packed into one tiny bottle.
Fision Instant Lift fills wrinkles and moisturizes the entire under eye area.
This means crow’s feet and fine lines are visibly reduced, often as soon as the first application - though bear in mind it’s a process you have to keep up with!
Not only that, but Fision WrinkleFix has been scientifically proven to also add amino acids and antioxidants to the skin that not only correct dark spots, but tighten and firm more generally.
All thanks to that wonder, hyaluronic acid!
Pros
- Applies like a gel, hydrates like a cream, targets like a serum - the perfect package!
- Smooth, non-greasy formula that won’t encourage breakouts
- Proteins and polysaccharides diminish the appearance of wrinkles by forming a barrier
- Made in the USA, free of GMOs and parabens as well as being cruelty free
Cons
- Typically it's a higher priced product compared to it's competitors.
BEST VALUE
The star of Bliss’ Bright Idea Cream, as you might have guessed by the bright orange packaging, is Vitamin C.
Working to minimize dullness and visibly smooth your eye area, you will wake up and look rested, refreshed in the bathroom mirror!
In its most powerful, stabilized form, that wonder vitamin is able to visibly brighten and firm up your skin, especially those sensitive and fragile spots, without causing any soreness or irritation.
Quite the opposite, over time it works to soften the skin, filling in those fine lines gradually whilst hydrating and calming any redness.
Their patented signal tri-peptide formulation also boosts your skin’s natural stretchiness, helping regain lost elasticity.
Being rich in antioxidants, the licorice root extract used is fantastic for protecting your eyes from free radicals, chemicals, pollutants and other environmental problems.
All of these are known to speed up the aging process, so a good shield is necessary!
Officially certified as Cruelty Free and Vegan by PETA, it’s not possible to be more animal friendly than this.
Choose Bliss if you want a guarantee that absolutely no adorable bunnies were harmed in the making of your eye cream.
Pros:
- Rich in vitamin C and other nourishing, hydrating and plumping ingredients
- Patented formula is proven to visibly reduce signs of aging
- 100% Vegan and Cruelty Free as certified by the leaping bunny
- Spa grade and collagen promoting - like a safe, sensitive botox!
Cons:
- Typically it's a higher price tag considering you only get half an ounce of cream!
RUNNER UP
Want to delicately but deeply hydrate the delicate skin around your eyes?
Look no further than this rich and luscious cream from Honest Beauty, also made completely free of parabens, PEGs, phthalates, dyes and synthetic fragrances.
Botanically infused with chamomile and calendula blend to soothe, whilst beautiful smelling barbary fig and baobab fruits contribute those all important fatty acids.
For a plump, light undereye, this is ideal, and it also targets especially stubborn dryness.
The hyaluronic acid utilized is known to naturally encourage water, delivering the hydration your fragile and sensitive areas crave, especially during the colder months.
Gently tap this around your eye in the AM and PM for incomparable results!
Tested and approved by licensed dermatologists, you can be sure that this formula is nothing but good for your skin.
There are no hidden nasties, and Honest Beauty - as the name suggests - uses only the purest and most natural ingredients.
Created by Jessica Alba, the aim of the entire line is to help you get results-driven skincare AND formulas you can trust, that aren’t harmful to animals.
With no heavy scent, this is the gentle formula that is proven to perform, time and again.
Pros:
- Natural, botanical ingredients that boost your skin’s innate glow
- Plumps, moisturizes and hydrates without causing irritation or soreness
- Hyaluronic acid is the key ingredient, so your eye skin’s water retention is bound to increase
- As well as cruelty free, there are zero harmful chemicals used
Cons:
- Just ‘cause it’s promoted by a celebrity, doesn’t mean you’ll look like the celebrity after using it - don’t go in with high expectations and you won’t be disappointed!
RUNNER UP
Last but not least, I have this slightly more expensive option from Boscia, a premium beauty brand.
When you have more of a budget to invest, their Enlivening Amino-AG treatment cream is the perfect companion, morning, noon and night.
Reducing dark circles and puffiness, a silky soft gel cream hybrid is packed full of natural goodness like Vitamin E, licorice root extract and other antioxidants.
Protect your fragile skin and maximize moisture retention.
The amino acids present are perfect for stimulating cell turnover, encouraging the production of more collagen and reducing fine lines and wrinkles, without going under the knife or being injected with filler.
No need to spend thousands!
Suitable for all skin types, the coix seed used (and often found in traditional Asian medicine) is a natural anti-inflammatory derived from Job’s Tears Grass Seeds.
It works to minimize puffiness and bring down unwanted red tinges.
Not only is this cream fantastic at hydrating and smoothing, but it will also reduce any hyperpigmentation, as well as disguising dark spots by slowing down and sometimes even preventing the synthesis of melanin that causes eye bags.
Pros:
- Comes in a sealable jar that keeps your cream fresher for longer
- Clinically proven to reduce dark circles, puffy eyes and minimize wrinkles
- Packed full of antioxidants and amino acids - natural beauty
- A little goes a long way - guarantee you won’t run out when you need it
Cons:
- You'll pay more for this product than many of it's competitors, but you definitely get what you pay for!
Best Cruelty Free Eye Cream Buying Guide
Skin Type
You might be thinking you can just go ahead and treat your eyes like you would the rest of your face.
Stop right there!
It is a very sensitive area, with the skin surrounding them being incredibly fragile and easily dry.
For that reason, most eye creams are designed for all skin types - they tend to be separated by the effect of using them more than anything else.
That said, make sure that you’re using thicker cream if you have troubles with dryness around the eye.
It doesn’t have to be super heavy - think about how thick your current moisturizer is and then aim for a little bit more than that.
You’ll find this will help increase hydration and should soothe any redness or itching.
That being said, some skincare products are designed to be harsher than others.
Heed any advice the manufacturer provides, particularly if they warn against use by those with sensitive skin.
When they say their ingredients are strong, they mean it!
Desired Effects
Whatever you’re hoping to get out of using eye cream, there’s one key factor you can’t forget: SPF.
The skin around your eyes especially needs this protection from the sun, otherwise you’re encouraging the aging process dramatically!
Trying to reduce fluid around the eyes, get rid of puffiness or lessen dark circles?
You want an eye cream with retinol, an ingredient known for achieving all of those things.
Those that include Vitamin C or caffeine are also good for clearing you up.
Is your primary focus minimizing wrinkles or fine lines as much as possible around the eye?
Look for a cream packed full of antioxidants like peptides, which boost your brightness levels and give you a youthful glow, even after a night of no sleep!
However, do remember that aging is very much a natural process - given your eyes are moving around all the time, making expressions, blinking and reacting to light, of course there’s going to be a noticeable difference.
Try not to feel ashamed of it!
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Vaseline a good eye cream?
No! In fact, putting petroleum jelly (which is what products like Vaseline and Aquaphor contain) anywhere near your eyes is not recommended and actively discouraged!
Side effects may include blindness, so we’re not messing around here.
You’ll find warnings on the tubs of pretty much any product like this telling you to be extremely careful not to get it anywhere in your eyes.
They’re made to soothe itchy or irritated skin that is healing from damage, not prevent further problems.
Although some eye creams are expensive, you don’t have to resort to makeshift solutions like this!
Just look for a budget conscious yet cruelty free product like those from Elf cosmetics and you’ll achieve far greater and safer results.
Your eyes are very easily damaged, so don’t take any risks here.
You’d rather be able to see than completely eradicate your wrinkles or dark circles, right?
Then suck it up and buy yourself an eye cream instead!
What eye cream do dermatologists recommend?
That depends - every dermatologist is different, and will have different opinions on what is good for you and your skin.
Also, a dermatologist’s recommendation does not mean that a product is cruelty free, so don’t just assume that to be the case!
That being said, Dr Hadley King, MD, a New York dermatologist, recommends in this Insider article that you prioritize eye creams that both hydrate and moisturize, as these are the ways in which an eye cream can actually help you.
She further suggests that ingredients you should be keeping an eye out for include humectants, one example of which being the super popular hyaluronic acid.
These help hydrate you by ensuring that water properly binds to your skin.
Emollients, for instance ceramides, are also good at this, whilst occlusives such as beeswax or mineral oil create a physical barrier, keeping water in the skin by forming an inert, non-reactive layer that H2O just can’t get past.
As we’ve already mentioned above, retinol is a good ingredient to look out for, and Hadley King agrees.
She suggests that as a derivative of Vitamin A, it produces collagen and plumps up the skin. Kind of like nature’s Botox!
What eye cream does Kim Kardashian Use?
According to Women’s Health magazine, when Kim K is trying to minimize those dark circles and fill her eye bags, she turns to a drugstore product.
That’s right, billionaire Kardashians use Neutrogena Hydro Boost Eye Awakening Cream!
You can pick this up for less than twenty bucks from pretty much any store that stocks skincare, and judging by Kim’s Insta feed, it’s doing something right.
She always looks absolutely stunning!
However… it’s important to bear in mind that pretty much any photo you see of Kim K will have been somewhat filtered or edited, particularly on social media or in magazines.
Being a literal worldwide star, she can afford to look good all the time.
All of that to say: comparing yourself to the Kardashians is setting yourself up for failure and upset.
They have the ways and means to beauty that we ordinary folks just can’t reach.
Try not to beat yourself up about it!
Just washing your face regularly with a cleanser, using a gentle moisturizer and making sure to apply your SPF every single day is all anybody can ask of you, and all you really need to keep your skin looking good.
Last update on 2023-12-10 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
