Much like yoni eggs and rose-quartz facial rollers, I used to consider eye cream a little bit of a novelty, a nice idea with minimal payoff. That is, until one morning, half-asleep, I mistook my cheap-o drugstore eye cream for daily moisturiser, applying a heaping finger-full to my entire face before I did my usual thing. I didn't think much of the small switch-up, until people started complimenting my skin and asking me what was "different" about me. That's when I caught on: the stuff's actually legit.
Years have passed since that day, and countless expensive, ultimately useless eye gels, masks, and rollerballs have reverted me to my original cynicism. Not one of the eye-specific formulas I tried really did much of anything to plump or brighten the permanent cast of puffy blue-ish purple scaling from the inner corners of my eyes down the sides of my nose.
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But I recently got my hands on a little pink pot that's finally made me excited about eye cream again, just like the time I accidentally used it as moisturiser. Because let me tell you, if this stuff didn’t cost £90 for a 2ml jar, I’d be slathering it all over my entire face every damn day.
You might call me a super-fan of MZ Skin's Soothe and Smooth Eye Collagen Activating Eye Complex, formulated by facial aesthetics doctor Maryam Zamani, MD, and turns out I'm in good company: Every morning, the Gisele Bündchen dabs her ring finger in the same buttery, whipped collagen- and elastin-producing miracle cream as I do. And if you don't believe me or Gisele, take it from her makeup artist, Erica Sauer: "It's an absolute staple for beautifully restored under-eyes, especially for models who need to keep their delicate skin protected from constant makeup application and removal."
The magic of the eye cream might come from the formulation, made with Albazia bark extract, which helps strengthens capillaries (those pesky blue blood vessels), and a cocktail of moisture-locking and plumping hyaluronic acid and ceramides. It could be the fact that after I dab it on, my Glossier Stretch concealer glides on like a dream, and stays that way all day. Or maybe it's the Gisele endorsement that makes me want to swim in the stuff. I mean, I'm not saying I'm a supermodel now — but I'm also not not saying that this eye cream makes me feel like one.
MZ Skin Soothe & Smooth Collagen Activating Eye Complex, £90, available at Net-a-Porter.