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When you have rosacea, you’re dealing with an inflammatory skin condition that doesn’t even have an apparent cause or treatment. And you don’t have a lot of wiggle room for experimenting in the middle of all that redness, bumps, annoyingly sensitive skin, and the burning sensation all over the cheeks, forehead, chin, and nose. This requires you to be extra careful with anything you put on your face. But here’s the thing; no part of your face is exempt from this rule! If you have rosacea, even the jelly you put on your peanut butter matters! So yes, you need to be picky when it comes to finding the best eye creams for rosacea.
And besides, there’s a rosacea subtype called ocular rosacea that affects your eyes as well as the skin around them. How are you supposed to deal with wrinkles, crow’s feet, puffiness, and dark circles when your eyes are always watery, itchy, and burning?
Even if you don’t have ocular rosacea, you still can’t get away with using just any eye cream. Because it’s not like you apply the eye cream right below the lash line. The product moves and travels around.
And your eye cream ends up causing flares right above your cheeks and even on your temples. Red bumps appear out of nowhere and even the most innocent eye cream can feel like hot lava on your skin!
Figuring out your triggers and avoiding rosacea flares is a challenge. Because it’s a journey between remissions and flares. And if you’re not under the supervision of a dermatologist, the best you can do is manage your symptoms with topical skincare and hopefully with some healthy lifestyle choices.
We’re always here to help with the former. And we hope that you’ve got the latter covered. Below are the best eye creams for people with rosacea. With these non-irritating eye creams, you can properly anti-age without being weighed down by rosacea.
The Best Eye Creams For Rosacea
We’ve kept things pretty sensitive-skin-friendly. But remember that sensitivity is always relative. Everybody has a unique sense of perceived sensitivity. It’ll change from person to person.
But also, your skin might be extra sensitive on some days and extra tolerant on other days. I’ve seen my skin burn up after a super gentle cleanser. And I’ve seen it take it all in when I mixed salicylic acid with retinoids, which you should not do!
The point is, try to keep your own skin’s tolerance in mind when looking for an eye cream to use on sensitive skin. Scroll down to find the gentlest eye creams to solve your under-eye care problems.
1. La Roche Posay Hydraphase Intense Hyaluronic Acid Eye Cream
This one is a super gentle formula that’s fragrance-free. It hydrates dry under-eyes with hyaluronic acid. And it helps with puffiness and dark circles with caffeine, which works by constricting blood vessels.
The non-irritating eye cream is great for replenishing eyes without turning on the waterworks or causing a full-blown burning sensation. The clear gel texture is also enhanced with mineral-rich thermal water. It’s minimal and it’s safe for people with rosacea. It’s your basic hydration for everyday use.
Key Ingredients: Hyaluronic acid, caffeine, glycerin
Key Benefits: Hydrates, reduces puffiness
Size: 0.5 oz/15 ml
Good To Know: Fragrance-free
2. Herbal Dynamics Beauty Vivid Revival Vitamin K Contouring Eye Cream
This one is a hydrating and brightening eye cream that’s perfect for targeting dark circles around the eyes. It’s made with vitamin K, the new hottie in town for brightening the eye area. The eye cream also contains anti-inflammatory green tea to soothe sensitive skin.
Not to mention it is also an incredible antioxidant that treats and prevents free radical damage. Additionally, the combination of aloe and Centella Asiatica provides much-needed soothing for rosacea skin.
Key Ingredients: Vitamin K, Centella Asiatica, green tea
Key Benefits: Hydrates, minimizes dark circles, depuffs
Size: 0.5 oz/15 ml
Good To Know: Fragrance-free, cruelty-free
3. Kiehl’s Creamy Eye Treatment With Avocado
When the winter weather hits, flakiness around the eyes becomes unbearable. That’s when you go hard on emollients with your creams and moisturizers. When it’s that time of the year, slather on this eye cream. It’s going to banish dry under-eyes. It is so moisturizing and so brightening!
The combination of avocado oil and shea butter revives the look of tired eyes and plumps up the skin, which eliminates dehydration. And the brightening formula wakes you up just like that. And the best part is that it does not move! It stays all day and provides long-lasting moisture. The radiant finish is the cherry on top! On a side note, I’m saving my empty bottles to recycle them and get myself a free product at Kiehl’s!
Key Ingredients: Avocado oil, shea butter, jojoba oil
Key Benefits: Moisturizes, brightens under-eyes
Size: 0.5 oz/15 ml
Good To Know: Fragrance-free
4. Neostrata PHA Eye Cream
In case you’re not aware, polyhydroxy acids are the gentlest of all hydroxy acids. On top of that, they’re incredibly hydrating for the skin as they work as humectants too. This eye cream is made with 4% gluconolactone (PHA) to keep the eye area plump and smooth.
And the active ingredient is delivered into the skin with a very moisturizing base made with evening primrose oil, grapeseed oil, and avocado oil. These are super rich in fatty acids to keep the skin nourished and moisturized. It’ll freshen up the eye area, smooth out fine lines, and give your eyes a more lifted appearance.
Key Ingredients: 4% gluconolactone, avocado oil, green tea
Key Benefits: Moisturizes, smooths fine lines
Size: 0.5 oz/15 ml
Good To Know: Fragrance-free, hypoallergenic
5. Tatcha The Pearl Tinted Eye Illuminating Treatment
When you’re blessed with dark circle genes, your options are pretty limited. But you don’t always have to resort to makeup for coverage. This eye cream will give you the benefits of both skincare and makeup. It’s a tinted eye cream perfect for people with rosacea who are dealing with dark circles.
It contains niacinamide to brighten up under-eyes and reduce the look of dark circles. It also has green tea and algae extracts to provide antioxidant benefits. The eye cream absorbs easily and instantly freshens up the eye area with its light coverage, which might even render your concealer unnecessary.
Quick Tip: Tatcha is discontinuing this eye cream, which is a bummer. If you need a tinted eye cream that also has some concealer benefits, here’s what I can recommend as an alternative. You can try Honest Beauty Honestly Bright Eyes Tinted Eye Cream. It’s much more budget-friendly, comes in different shades, and hydrates with hyaluronic acid and squalane.
Key Ingredients: Niacinamide, green tea, hyaluronic acid
Key Benefits: Hydrates, color corrects, neutralizes dark circles
Size: 0.4 oz/13 ml
Good To Know: Fragrance-free
6. Beautycounter Countertime Ultra Renewal Eye Cream
We’ve talked about the workaround for using retinol when you have rosacea. You can use bakuchiol, which is considered the botanical alternative to retinol. It’s an anti-aging superstar that targets wrinkles, loss of elasticity, and hyperpigmentation. But it’s not irritating as retinol may be. Another option is using microencapsulated retinol. But more on that below.
This one is an amazing anti-aging eye cream for people with rosacea. It’s made with bakuchiol as well as antioxidant-rich botanical extracts to reverse UV-induced damage around the eyes. Plus, it’s super moisturizing with its replenishing base made with squalane and shea butter.
Key Ingredients: Bakuchiol, squalane
Key Benefits: Softens under-eye wrinkles, hydrates
Size: 0.5 oz/15 ml
Good To Know: Fragrance-free, vegan, cruelty-free
7. First Aid Beauty Retinol Eye Cream With Triple Hyaluronic Acid
Whether we like it or not, retinoids are commonly prescribed for people with rosacea who are dealing with acne. But when you take matters into your own hands and go for over-the-counter-retinol, things can get a bit tricky. If you’re new to retinol or just can’t seem to make it work for you, the best way around that is by using encapsulated retinol. Encapsulation makes sure that the active ingredient, retinol, is delivered gradually into the skin.
This eliminates sensitivity and irritation. That’s why this one is the best retinol eye cream for rosacea sufferers who want to target signs of aging without worrying about the so-called side effects. Besides encapsulated retinol, the cream contains a powerful bunch of skin-soothers like aloe, allantoin, and oatmeal. They’re amazing for sensitive eyes. Additional benefits include replenishing hyaluronic acid, ceramides, and antioxidant-rich vitamins C & E. Plus, if you have milia under your eyes, this one will help with that.
Key Ingredients: Encapsulated retinol, caffeine, vitamin C
Key Benefits: Plumps fine lines, reduces dark circles, brightens
Size: 0.5 oz/15 ml
Good To Know: Fragrance-free, cruelty-free
8. Versed Zero-G Smoothing Eye Cream
Peptides offer a great workaround for people with rosacea who have trouble tolerating harsh actives. They’re much less likely to irritate or sensitize the skin. This one utilizes signal peptides to stimulate collagen synthesis.
But more importantly, it’s pretty occlusive, meaning that it maximizes moisture retention. It’s made with olive oil to keep the eye area plump and smooth. The budget-friendly peptide eye cream also has an illuminating effect on the skin, which is great for waking up tired-looking eyes.
Key Ingredients: Peptides, olive oil, shea butter
Key Benefits: Softens fine lines, brightens under-eyes, moisturizes
Size: 0.5 oz/15 ml
Good To Know: Fragrance-free
9. Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Eye Base
This will give you the benefits of an under-eye primer. It’s a great multi-tasker for people with ocular rosacea because it’s madly moisturizing, super rich in antioxidants, and smooths out under-eyes in case you regularly wear eye makeup. It’s got vitamin C, niacinamide, and caffeine to brighten and freshen up the eyes.
Also, it’s got vitamin B5 to hydrate and soothe the eye area, and it’s got superfoods like broccoli extract to nourish the skin. Just look at that bouncy, replenishing texture! The only downside is that it has fragrance. It’s not prominent and I definitely have no problem with it. But in case you don’t like fragrance, keep that in mind.
Key Ingredients: Caffeine, vitamin C, vitamin B3, vitamin B5, v,tamin E
Key Benefits: Brightens, depuffs, doubles as an eye primer
Size: 0.5 oz/15 ml
Good To Know: Contains fragrance,
10. 100% Pure Bright Eyes Mask
Eye masks and under-eye patches are the most fun part of eye care, especially for people who have rosacea. Who needs a pair of cooling and hydrating eye gels more than the people who itch and burn all the time? But as with all other things, it’s best to keep things minimal.
These hydrogel masks infuse the skin with soothing aloe and cucumber. And it hydrates the skin around the eyes with hyaluronic acid while caffeine brightens. It’s the perfect addition to any eye care routine and a natural treat for rosacea sufferers.
Key Ingredients: Caffeine, cucumber, aloe
Key Benefits: Plumps skin instantly, depuffs, brightens
Size: 5 pairs
Good To Know: Natural, vegan, cruelty-free
11. Milk Makeup Cooling Water Eye Gel Stick
And lastly, here’s something I’ve been using a lot recently. When my rosacea is acting up, my eyes get extra sensitive and watery. And because of that, I usually have very puffy, heavy eyes the next day. And this stick has been my go-to for that. It’s made with caffeine and aloe to brighten and depuff.
The round tip is simply amazing for rolling the stick around the eyes. I keep it in the fridge to make it work like a cooling jade roller. It wakes up my eyes and reduces puffiness. They say to do a swipe but I literally massage my under eyes with it. After that, I dab the remaining gel into my skin and use it as my eye cream.
Key Ingredients: Caffeine, aloe, seawater
Key Benefits: Instantly reduces puffiness
Size: 1 oz/30 mg
Good To Know: Vegan, cruelty-free, oil-free, fragrance-free, alcohol-free
So these are some of the best eye creams for people with rosacea. Ever since I learned about my ocular rosacea, I’ve realized the importance of being able to use an eye cream liberally. Because if your eye cream moves, or if you just happen to touch the skin around the eyes, your eyes shouldn’t tear up. We shouldn’t have to deal with that. Plus, it ruins makeup too. So based on my own experience, you can’t go wrong with Kiehl’s and La Roche’s formulations. Just apply it and forget it. If you haven’t found what you’re looking for here, keep reading for things to keep in mind when choosing an eye cream for rosacea.
What To Look For in an Eye Cream For Rosacea
Active Ingredients
Even if you’re shopping for an eye cream for rosacea, it’s still an eye cream. So keep your biggest under-eye skin issue in mind. Is it fine lines? Is it dark circles? These are the questions to keep in mind. Now, if you’re dealing with dark circles and undereye shadows, look for eye creams made with vitamin C, niacinamide, and caffeine.
If you’re dealing with fine lines, look for peptides, gently formulated retinol, or antioxidants. For puffy eyes and under-eye bags, look for green tea, and caffeine in your eye creams.
Hydrating Ingredients
Besides active ingredients, supporting ingredients are also important in an eye cream to use for ocular rosacea. Active ingredients will cover the ‘treatment’ aspect, so to speak, and help you manage those issues. But hydrating ingredients will give you instant results.
They freshen up the under-eyes, moisturize the skin, and plump up fine lines. For that reason, look for humectants like hyaluronic acid and glycerin and light emollients like squalane and jojoba oil in your eye cream.
Gentle Formula
As it is with pretty much whatever we use, the formulation is important. A gentle formula refers to an eye cream made without common irritants such as fragrance.
Now, I personally don’t mind it. But when your eyes are extra sensitive, fragrance can just increase the likelihood of irritation. So try to avoid it as much as you can.
FAQ
Read Next: The Best Face Masks For People With Rosacea
