Beauty Knowhow: Make your eye cream work harder 

If you’re looking to simplify your daily routine, this surprising approach is worth a closer look…

Where do you apply your eye cream? If you’re in South Korea the answer could well be all over your face because that’s a big skincare trend in the region. Now it’s coming our way, courtesy of Korean skincare brand AHC’s aptly named Essential Real Eye Cream for Face (£26, lookfantastic.com). In part, says expert facialist Ada Choi, this is a way to cut down on the famed ten skincare steps of K-Beauty that people don’t always have time for; she calls it ‘skipcare’.

‘Brands like AHC have created multifunctional products with proven scientific ingredients such as multi-peptides and plant proteins that work for the eyes and face, while not compromising on efficacy,’ she says.

Proof that this is likely to be a growing movement is Revitalift Filler Eye Cream for Face from L’Oréal Paris (£19.99, boots.com) which launches in the UK this month and is already a top seller around the world. As it’s tested for use as an eye product, this means it’s suitable for even very sensitive skin (the skin around the eyes is ten times thinner than the rest of the face so more delicate and prone to sensitivity) while still delivering ingredients including hyaluronic acid to plump out lines and caffeine to boost micro-circulation.

So can we all just smear our eye creams everywhere? Not necessarily, says Ada: if you want stronger active ingredients in your moisturiser such as retinol or vitamin C (to fight wrinkles and boost radiance) then these are often too strong to be found in eye creams.

 

 

Meet the new it-oil

Cacay oil isn’t new but it is having a moment in facial skincare. Paul Berrow, founder of 320mhz skincare, explains that it ‘won the gold award for best new ingredient in Paris a few years ago and I’ve been waiting to use it ever since’. It’s in his latest Age-Repair Serum Mask (£64, 320mhz.com), which has a good dose of vitamin A (think retinol, so good for cell turnover and reducing lines) and vitamin E (antioxidant for cell protection). Balance Me has used it for the first time in Bakuchiol Smoothing Serum (£32, feelunique.com) where trials showed it performed well in terms of skin benefits: radiance giving, deeply hydrating and smoothing and refining. Cacay oil is also the star ingredient in Naya Defence Brighten + Repair (£45, nayaglow.com) and Naissance Pure & Natural Cold Pressed Cacay Seed Oil (£12.99, amazon.co.uk)