Dark circles under your eyes can make you look weary and run-down no matter how much sleep you’ve gotten the night before. If you’re tired of piling on concealer to cover your circles, a brightening eye cream can help reduce the discoloration and make you look more awake.
Eye creams for dark circles usually contain vitamins C and E, arbutin, licorice extract and other ingredients that help brighten the skin. These creams often help reduce puffiness, too, so there aren’t any shadows under your eyes to cause darkness.
Looking for an eye cream to keep your under eyes bright and smooth? The best eye creams for dark circles let you always look like you’ve gotten plenty of sleep.
Skinfix Barrier+ Triple Lipid-Boost 360-Degree Brightening Eye Cream
This anti-aging eye cream contains a fermented prebiotic yeast that can target dark circles for brighter under-eyes. It also helps soften the look of fine lines and puffiness. The formula is non-comedogenic, so it won't clog your pores, and it's ophthalmologist-tested, too.
Sold by Sephora
If you’re on a budget, this affordable eye cream is a perfect option for fighting dark circles. It features a marine-and-botanical complex that helps repair the skin barrier under your eyes to help reduce darkness. It also contains three essential ceramides to keep your under-eye area smooth and hydrated.
Sold by Ulta Beauty
RoC Retinol Correxion Eye Cream
Featuring retinol and an exclusive mineral complex, this eye cream helps brighten the under-eyes in as little as four weeks. It also helps depuff and smooth the area, reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by as much as 50%. And it’s dermatologist-tested, so it’s safe for sensitive skin.
Sold by Amazon
Dr. Lara Devgan Scientific Beauty Peptide Eye Cream
Boasting a quick-absorbing, lightweight formula, this luxury eye cream contains vitamins E and B5 along with hyaluronic acid to help brighten dark circles and smooth fine lines. It also helps boost circulation in the under-eye area, so the skin looks healthier overall. It’s vegan and cruelty-free too.
Sold by Sephora
REN Clean Skin Care Brightening Dark Circle Eye Cream
With a combination of elderberry flower and glycogen, this vegan, cruelty-free eye cream helps brighten the under-eyes and make the skin more luminous. Its hyaluronic acid also helps smooth and hydrate the skin. The formula even helps reduce puffiness and the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
Sold by Sephora
Another affordable option, this eye gel brightens the under-eyes and minimizes puffiness to help you look younger and more awake. It also includes hyaluronic acid to help hydrate and smooth fine lines and wrinkles. The formula is cold-processed with clean ingredients, too, so it doesn’t contain any synthetic colors, fragrances, additives or parabens.
Sold by Amazon
Pacifica Wake Up Beautiful Retinoid Eye Cream
This non-greasy eye cream contains active retinoids to help smooth and brighten eyes. It absorbs easily into the skin and helps hydrate your skin, too. The formula is 100% vegan and cruelty-free andcontains no parabens, phthalates or mineral oil.
Sold by Ulta Beauty
OleHenriksen Wrinkle Blur Bakuchiol Eye Gel Creme
This double-action eye cream contains peptides, orchid stem cells and bakuchiol, a plant extract, to help soften fine lines, firm the skin and improve the look of dark circles. It also helps even out your eyelid skin tone, and its lightweight texture absorbs quickly into the skin.
Sold by Sephora
Olay Vitamin C Brightening Eye Cream
With vitamin C and optic brighteners, this eye cream can instantly improve the look of dark circles. It also features caffeine to help with puffiness and hydrates the skin to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. It can be used morning and night, so you always look bright-eyed and awake.
Sold by Amazon
Lancome Advanced Genifique Wrinkle and Dark Circle Eye Cream
This hydrating eye cream has vitamin C to brighten and smooth under the eyes. It also features a prebiotic to help strengthen the skin’s moisture barrier and hyaluronic acid to boost hydration. It’s free of parabens and mineral oil.
Sold by Sephora and Ulta Beauty
Shiseido White Lucent Anti-Dark Circles Eye Cream
This luxury eye cream effectively addresses hyperpigmentation and poor microcirculation, two leading causes of dark circles. It also features a humectant complex to hydrate the skin and help it hold onto moisture. The formula is dermatologist- and ophthalmologist-tested.
Sold by Ulta Beauty, Amazon and Sephora
Perricone MD Essential Fx Acyl-Glutathione Smoothing and Brightening Under-Eye Cream
With a rich, balm-like texture, this eye cream contains a vitamin F blend to brighten and nourish the under-eye area. It also helps fight fine lines and wrinkles and firm sagging skin. It’s free of parabens, sulfates and phthalates.
Sold by Amazon
Follain Hydrate and Glow Discovery Set
Thisset has several products to keep your skin healthy. In addition to the Firm and Brighten Eye Cream, it also includes a hydrating cleanser and a moisturizer.
Sold by Ulta Beauty
Saturday Skin Wide Awake Brightening Eye Cream
This antioxidant-rich eye cream contains date-seed extract to brighten and refresh your under-eyes. It also includes avocado protein extract and hyaluronic acid to firm and hydrate the skin. Its packaging is recyclable, too.
Sold by Amazon
Murad Vitamin C Dark Circle Correcting Eye Serum
With a unique vitamin C complex, this eye cream helps brighten the under-eyes in as little as two weeks. It also contains red algae and kelp extract to help illuminate and depuff the skin. And its cucumber extract can help hydrate and diminish the look of fine lines and wrinkles.
Sold by Sephora and Ulta Beauty
Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Jennifer Blair writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
