The most effective eye creams in our Real Beauty Awards

We used to think retinol was too much for delicate skin around the eyes – well not anymore. All our testers reported anti-ageing benefits from this.

Tester says: “Reduced all my wrinkles making them less visible, lifted eye contours and reduced eye bags. My husband said, ‘Your skin looks more radiant’. It’s a lovely product that actually does what it says.”

A plant-based alternative to retinol is the active ingredient that made this highly effective cream stand out.

Tester says: “I’m a little obsessed with eye creams – this is one of the best I’ve ever used. It achieves the near impossible task of being enriching but light, therefore not causing any puffiness. It’s also lovely and hydrating, and it reduced under eye dark circles. Fine lines around my eyes are softer and less noticeable. I am very impressed.”

This brand has always been strong on eye creams, and this one might be the best yet.

Tester says: “This was very good. Lines and wrinkles were much less visible. My eyes looked brighter and more wide awake. I will certainly be putting it on my Christmas list. It was an amazing product.”

A great all-round eye boost that testers said was effective on lines, dark circles, puffiness and crepey skin.

Tester says: “I have fine lines at the edges of my eyes and after only a week I could see a difference – they were much less obvious. My eyelids felt smooth and comfortable and my under eye area is much less puffy in mornings. It’s a lovely product.”

Great results on dark circles and puffiness, with improvements to fine lines to boot.

Tester says: “The laughter lines did seem somewhat less and there was less puffiness under my eyes. My skin around my eyes seemed younger-looking and brighter. I saw a definite improvement, which seemed to make my eyes more ‘awake’.”