REN eye gel – Everyday Lipstick

Other eyecreams continue to fall short

I feel strongly about eye creams and if you’ve been reading Everyday Lipstick for a while, you know all about this. I believe that you get what you pay for, you only have one set of eyes so you should take care of them and that eye cream is an important part of your daily beauty routine.

Despite finding some great eye creams, I’m always on the lookout for something even better. Here are a few I’ve tried in the past two years(eye creams last a long time!):

1. REN Active 7 Eye Gel for $30

2. Clinique All About Eyes De-puffing Serum for $28

3. Philosophy Eye Hope Cream for $49

4. Shiseido ‘Bio-Performance’ Super Corrective Eye Cream for $60

Of those 4, there’s only one I would buy again: Shiseido Bio Performance. In fact, I just ran out of the REN Active 7 eye gel, which I had been using for 21 days. Instead of going straight back to the Shiseido Super Corrective, I’m going to try the Super Contour to see if I can tell any difference. I love Shiseido products and feel you get a lot of bang for your buck. My last Shiseido eye cream lasted me about 5 months.

Between the eyes: Comparison of two eye creams

I’ve long been on the search for a really really great eye cream. I don’t want saggy lids when I’m in my 40s and 50s so I’ve always thought of it as an investment. Eye creams really are an investment too, because they are pricey. I’ve rarely seen anything worth buying (ie- that will have any chance of working) for less than $30.

After testing many samples (including Boscia Amino eye treatment for $38, Fresh Black Tea Eye Cream for $68 and a few others) it came down to two: REN Active 7 Radiant Eye Gel and Shiseido Bio-Performance Eye Contour Cream. Shiseido actually makes a few eye products, including options for dark circles and wrinkle-resist. I was specifically looking for something that would be moisturizing and tightening for that area so I went with Bio-Performance.

As you can see from the image below, they are REN and Shiseido are completely different styles of eye creams. REN (on the left) is really a tightening gel and Shiseido (on the right) is a lifting and moisturizing cream.

Fact of the matter is I really like them both. But here are some nitty gritty details:

1. REN, because it’s a tightening gel, can feel uncomfortable if you wear it during the day. Almost as if your eyes are dry and slightly irritated

2. Both have excellent dispensers that with one pump dispense exactly the right amount. I’ve heard so many people review and complain about eye creams on Sephora.com because the dispenser dispenses too much at a time. These two brands have it figured out.

3. REN is less expensive by about $20.

4. But here’s the real kicker: I could tell visible results with Shiseido. The skin around my eyes was brighter, softer and felt very moisturized. I have been using it twice per day for nearly 6 weeks and could see some results at around 4 weeks.

So the winner is…