Top 5 Best Eye Creams For Dark Circles

Guys are the lucky ones. After an exhausting night out on the town (or in less enjoyable circumstances, a long night at work), they can get up in the morning only having to worry about taking a shower and possibly fighting off the effects of a hangover.

Women have an extra concern, whether they’re showing the morning-after effects of partying, working, or a sleepless night walking the baby around the house over and over again. Those telltale dark circles under the eyes may often be viewed as a “badge of honor” for guys, but they’re simply seen as “unattractive,” to put it nicely, on the female face.

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Quick Comparison Table

Tarte Maracuja C-Brighter Eye Treatment

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Serum Synchronized Complex II

Clinique Even Better Eye Dark Circle Corrector

La Roche-Posay Pigmentclar Eyes Dark Circle Eye Cream

CeraVe Eye Repair Cream

Of course, there are other reasons some people develop those dark circles and can’t get rid of them; chronic insomnia, allergies, dermatitis, too much sun, aging and natural pigment irregularities are just some of them. Whatever the reason, the urge – or need – to cover up dark circles or puffy eyes can be overwhelming, and there are hundreds of products on the market promising to help.

Not all of them do, of course. That’s one of the huge problems in shopping for eye creams that work on challenging problems like dark circles; many serums are marketed specifically for the purpose, while they really are nothing more than glorified concealer or general-purpose serums. More than in most other categories, you have to ignore the names of these eye creams and get down to the details of what they really do.

That’s why we’re here. Here’s our list of the top 5 best eye creams for dark circles.

You may also check our Best Eye Creams Buying Guide here before going on our list.

Quick Comparison Table

Tarte Maracuja C-Brighter Eye Treatment	Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Serum	Clinique Even Better Eye Dark Circle Corrector	La Roche-Posay Pigmentclar Dark Circle Eye Cream	CeraVe Eye Repair Cream


$$$	$$$	$$$	$$$	$$$
0.35 ounces	0.5 ounces	0.34 ounces	0.5 ounces	0.5 ounces
No parabens	With parabens	No parabens	No parabens	No parabens

Tarte Maracuja C-Brighter Eye Treatment

This multi-purpose eye cream is meant to achieve two things: firm and hydrate the area around the eyes, while making areas with dark circles and puffiness appear brighter and less obvious. It accomplishes both tasks; while it’s not focused exclusively on completely covering up dark circles like some products on our list, or exclusively repairing skin damage like others, it tackles both task and does each of them rather well. That’s why we rank it at the top of our eye creams.

The skin care component of the Tarte Maracuja relies on coconut, rice bran and mango to supply the antioxidants needed to fight damage done by free radicals and the effects of aging, EFA-rich (essential fatty acids) maracuja oil to rebuild and replenish the skin, and oat sugars to smooth skin by tightening it. The brightening aspects are handled by a combination of vitamin C (which also works to rejuvenate the skin) and the mineral mica, which adds shine around the eyes and even sparkles a bit to make the area look more alive and reflect light away from the dark areas, as the skin repair and replenishment is underway.

The thick, white C-Brighter Eye Treatment goes on smooth and creamy but doesn’t feel gooey, and it’s quickly absorbed by the skin to do its work so you won’t even know it’s there after a few minutes, unlike heavier eye creams which can make you feel like there’s something stuck in the corner of your eye all day long. Even nicer is the hydration of this product, which is noticeable immediately and leaves your skin feeling nourished. The brightening aspect of the Tarte Maracuja cream works well too, as long as you don’t expect it to wave a magic wand and make your puffy eyes or dark circles vanish; it definitely makes eyes look brighter and more alive and hides most of the circles, and over time they’ll fade away thanks to the action of the skin care ingredients. The cream is gentle and doesn’t cause issues with sensitive skin.

There are two negatives to this eye cream. The first is that over time, it loses some of its properties because it’s impossible to seal the jar tightly enough to keep all the “good stuff” from destabilizing and becoming less effective. The second is simply the price: more than 50 bucks for just over one-third of an ounce. We understand you have to pay for quality – but in this case, you have to pay a lot. If you can afford it, it’s the best dual-purpose eye cream for dark circles.

Details of the Tarte Maracuja C-Brighter Eye Treatment
Size	0.35 ounces
Parabens	No

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Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Serum Synchronized Complex II

It’s not quite as expensive as the Tarte Maracuja, but this stuff is still pretty expensive, $65 for half an ounce. It’s also worth it, if you’re chronically battling dark circles or puffy eyes that just defy any product you try.

The Night Repair Eye Serum (there have been several generations of this product, they seem to just keep adding words to the name every time there’s a new version) is easy to apply; it is a water-based serum which goes on with a silky feel. Don’t assume that it will be a perfect “coverup” for dark circles, because that’s not what this Estee Lauder product is intended for. It does cover bags, circles and puffy eyes to a degree, but it’s primarily a serum that is applied in the morning and at night underneath a regular eye cream. Over time it erases the circles so you won’t have to worry about covering them up anymore.

There are lots of ingredients in this Advanced Night Repair Eye Serum which work to repair and rejuvenate skin, including antioxidants, tripeptides and lactobacillus. There’s alkyl guanine transferase to lessen the look of skin damage, while hyaluronic acid hydrates the skin, and caffeine removes the puffiness. There’s also a silicone derivative added to create the nice feel of this serum. It’s also not watery enough that it will end up seeping into your eyes after you apply it, and light enough that you won’t notice that you’re wearing it.

There’s no noticeable odor to the Estee Lauder serum, and even though the lasting repairs may take a while to take full effect, the moisturizing effect of the product will make you feel better right away. As we mentioned, you may want to use a concealing cream on top of the serum if you don’t feel it does enough to cover your circles, but that shouldn’t be necessary with continued use of the product. After all, isn’t it better to get rid of a problem permanently than just keep obscuring it forever?

Details of the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Serum Synchronized Complex II
Size	0.5 ounces
Parabens	Yes

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Clinique Even Better Eye Dark Circle Corrector

If you’ve been patiently reading and waiting for a product that will truly cover up dark circles while secondarily providing some nutrition for skin, Clinique’s “corrector” is the one you’ve been waiting to read about. This eye cream is designed specifically to let you go out in public without the rather-unfashionable “raccoon” look, but also will hydrate your skin as it covers the bags and circles.

There is a trio of pigments in the Even Better Dark Circle Corrector. Titanium dioxide is known for brightening skin in a wide range of cosmetics, iron oxide gives the skin around your eyes the flesh-colored, “natural” look and the mica we’ve already seen in the Tarte Maracuja eye cream works the same way here, to add a shine to the problem areas and direct light elsewhere. All together, they cover dark circles quite well – not as well as a full-scale concealer designed simply to cover up all skin issues, but close enough for a product that’s also hydrating and providing other benefits.

Those other benefits are provided by antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents like vitamin C, green tea extract and caffeine, as well as ingredients like whey protein to promote the production of collagen, linoleic acid to restore the skin barrier, and mulberry root to lighten the skin (also useful, of course, in covering skin blemishes). It’s not as powerful a lineup as you’ll find in the Estee Lauder Night Repair Eye Serum, but it will work to help repair skin damage and improve the overall look of your eyes over the course of a few months.

The Clinique corrector goes on easily thanks to its applicator with a metal tip which has the added benefit of “breaking up puffiness” as you apply the cream, if you’re retaining fluid under your eyes. We didn’t notice that, but the product goes on easily and smoothly, absorbs quickly, and makes your eyes look like they haven’t undergone several sleepless nights. It’s easier on the purse than our two previous creams as well, at just $20.

Details of the Clinique Even Better Eye Dark Circle Corrector
Size	0.34 ounces
Parabens	No

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La Roche-Posay Pigmentclar Eyes Dark Circle Eye Cream

This product from the well known French cosmetic company (owned by L’Oreal) is aimed at the same general purpose as the Clinique Dark Circle Corrector, primarily covering up the blemishes and circles under the eyes while including extra ingredients to promote longer-term improvement. It is just about as good and is priced similarly (it costs about $40, but that’s for half-an-ounce), so even though these products are ranked at #3 and #4, you can consider them tied.

The primary active ingredient in the La Roche-Posay eye cream is Phe-Resorcinol, a trademarked skin lightener which the company claims is one-hundred times more effective than Vitamin C. We have no idea about the science, but the product does make skin with dark circles look somewhat lighter. There’s also caffeine and niacinamide for their antioxidant and anti-aging properties (the caffeine also reduces puffiness), and instead of mica there are pearl pigments to reflect light away from damaged skin and add some shine.

The cream goes on easily (again, with a metal applicator which can work to reduce fluid building under the eyes) and has a beige-look when it’s on the skin; that helps with the concealer effect but also means that if you have darker skin you’ll have to do some blending so it doesn’t appear that you’ve thrown some concealer over dark circles (which of course, you have). The eye cream feels cool when you apply it and your eyes will look better after it’s on, but once again, any long-term improvement may take a while to see. This is primarily meant to cover up your dark circles, and for most people, it will do just that.

Details of the La Roche-Posay Pigmentclar Eyes Dark Circle Eye Cream
Size	0.5 ounces
Parabens	No

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CeraVe Eye Repair Cream

The CeraVe Eye Repair Cream does exactly what its name says – its primary purpose is not to cover up those dark circles that show you’ve been a bad girl the last three nights, it’s been created to do long-term repair work to get rid of the circles and puffiness that have been plaguing you for quite some time.

The ingredient list for the CeraVe product tells you exactly what it’s up to. Hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, ceramides and a number of antioxidants are all aimed at hydrating and restoring skin health while rebuilding the all-important skin barrier between your eyes and face. There are some botanical and marine ingredients as well which the company says will lessen the appearances of skin blemishes and circles, but you won’t notice a vast improvement when you apply the skin each day. This is more of a long-term fix.

Speaking of application, the CeraVe Eye Repair Cream comes out of the tube easily through the pointed tip, and goes on smoothly and absorbs quickly without feeling greasy, it’s unscented, feels pleasant on the skin, and won’t cause any irritation even if you have very reactive skin. It’s particularly good if the area around your eyes needs moisturizing while more potent skin healing work is going on.

We wouldn’t choose this over the Estee Lauder repair serum ranked #2 on our list of best top 5 eye creams for dark circles, but if you’re on a budget, you might. It’s a drugstore product and only costs about 13 bucks, so it’s a good bargain for that eye repair work you can tell that you need when you look into the mirror each morning.