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The top 9 natural eye creams with great ingredients that you’ve got to see.

Last Updated: May 24, 2021

When it comes to the delicate skin around your eyes, special care is required. Grove is here to help open your eyes to the best natural eye creams determined by Grove experts and editors plus info on the ingredients that make a difference.

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The eyes are windows to the soul, so let’s not neglect the window frames. The delicate area surrounding your eyes deserves special focus, because the skin is much thinner and fine lines and tiny blood vessels under the dermis are more visible — hence the mind-boggling selection of eye cream products available.

So, let's delve into how some of the best clean eye cream products work, what ingredients are best, whether they’re worth your money, and the top 9 best natural eye creams our customers and staff love.

Between you and eye, let’s take a look …

What is Grove Collaborative?

From natural household to personal care, everything at Grove is healthier for you and the planet — and works! We recommend monthly shipments and product refills that you can edit or move at any time. No monthly fees or commitments required.

Learn more (and get a free starter set)!

What is in natural eye cream?

The best answer to this question is to look at what’s NOT in natural and organic eye cream. Top toxic offenders in many mass-market eye creams include the following common ingredients:

Artificial fragrance
Phthalates
Parabens
Sulfates
Triclosan
Hydroquinone

Here at Grove, we’re committed to carrying only the finest, most natural products, especially when it comes to your skin—and even more so around your precious and delicate eye area. Gentle, eco-mindful, and pure ingredients are the only things that should come near your eyes and skin.

You’ll see essences of plants and flowers, vitamins found in natural ingredients, and soothing, nontoxic emollients in natural eye creams. Best of all, our customers love them.

Does eye cream really work?

Eye cream is to facial moisturizer as hot fudge is to chocolate syrup: richer, usually thicker, and totally worth it.

Dermatologists agree, pointing out that eye creams address specific needs for this thinner-skinned, more-delicate area, so they’re often thicker, more emollient, and contain targeted ingredients.

And a 2009 study noted in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology showed actual improvements in the appearance and smoothness of skin around the eyes when topical treatments—especially those containing peptides, antioxidants, caffeine, and retinol—were applied for four weeks compared to no treatments. So overall use of products geared toward the face does prove to be effective at smoothing the skin.

What can I use instead of eye cream? Can I use coconut oil as eye cream?

We see you, DIYers! Whenever we discuss homemade moisturizers, our lifelong love — coconut oil — always makes an appearance. Most DIY eye cream recipes call for a base of coconut oil or shea butter — another skin-loving go-to — since both are super emollient and help create supple, soft skin. Shea butter even contains a bit of natural SPF plus vitamins A and E, and it won’t clog your pores.

Find Grove's 14 best coconut oil products reviewed by Grove members in this list (if you're looking for more)!

These are just some of the ingredients you can add to an ounce of coconut oil or shea butter to whip up a homemade eye cream:

Aloe vera gel

Add: 1 ounce
Why: Soothe, cool, and fight inflammation — and get vitamins A,C, and E.

Vitamin E

Add: one-half teaspoon from punctured vitamin capsules
Why: Firm the skin and reduce signs of aging.

Coffee (caffeine!)

Add: one-half teaspoon brewed, cooled coffee
Why: Brighten skin and reduce inflammation.

Vitamin C powder

Add: just a pinch — too much can cause irritation
Why: Brighten skin tone and fight visible signs of aging

African american woman smiling and delicately holding a single flower over her eye in the sunlight

Add 8-10 drops of one or more essential oils to your DIY cream for added benefits:

Almond oil: moisturizes, clears skin, reduces fine lines
Avocado oil: nourishes and softens skin
Chamomile oil: reduces inflammation, redness, and irritation
Evening primrose oil: softens dry skin, diminishes fine lines and puffiness
Frankincense oil: tones, strengthens, and calms skin, reduces inflammation and bacteria
Rosehip oil: tightens, reduces age spots, regenerates skin cells

What is the best natural eye cream? Here are Grove's top 9.

We’ve sifted through the many natural eye creams we carry to arrive at our top 9 best natural eye creams that target common eye-area complaints.

Target: puffiness and bags under the eyes

Image of Asian woman holding bottle of oil with dropper up over her left eye

Tree to Tub Anti-Aging Eye Cream with Retinol & Hyaluronic Acid

Why we love it: Hyaluronic acid is music to our ears when it comes to locking in moisture, and retinol is the magic anti-aging miracle long known to regenerate cells. Ginseng, green tea, and botanicals de-puff, soothe, and freshen the skin.

Rooted Beauty Purifying De-Puffing Eye Gel

Why we love it: Rooted Beauty’s signature 7 antioxidant, healing root extracts — plus green tea, apple, and a long list of other fruit and flower extracts — help wake up the area around your eyes, lessening the appearance of dark circles and puffy eyes. If you like the coolness of gel, this one’s for you.

Oars + Alps Wake Up Eye Stick

Why we love it: This Wake Up Eye Stick with Caffeine helps de-puff the bags under your eyes, reduce fine lines and dark circles, brighten and cool.

Lavido Alert Eye Cream

Why we love it: Brighten, moisturize and reduce puffiness around your eye area with this lightweight hydrosol water-based cream, formulated with plant-based hyaluronic acid, cold-pressed avocado, and pomegranate seed oils and citrus extracts.

Mad Hippie Eye Cream

Why we love it: Ingredients including vitamin E, vitamin C, and peptides that address puffiness and signs of aging, along with white tea and a boat load of natural moisturizers make this a great go-to eye cream.

Target: dark circles

Image of Superbloom product jar floating with white flowers in background

Superbloom "Bright Eyes" Peptide Eye Cream

Why we love it: Superbloom’s Bright Eyes Peptide Cream has a silky, lightweight texture that hydrates without feeling heavy on the delicate skin under and around the eyes. Combining extract from the eyebright flower with natural peptides, it helps to revive and illuminate the entire eye area.

Indie Lee I-Waken Eye Serum

Why we love it: It’s clinically proven to improve dark circles and to moisturize dry skin. Horse chestnut, arnica, witch hazel, and other natural ingredients in a lightweight serum make a real difference to skin tone and texture.

Beauty by Earth Coffee Bean Awakening Eye Cream

Why we love it: Coffee seed extract is the superpower here — customers swear by it, and the other natural ingredients in this eye cream, like pineapple, cranberry, and aloe, brighten and soothe skin.

Harlow Skin Co. Eye Repair Elixir

Why we love it: Even the word “elixir” suggests a magical potion, and we’re believers. With a simple yet concentrated mix of borage, coffee, cumin, and avocado oils that provide key vitamins A, C, and E, Harlow’s Eye Repair requires just one drop to brighten, lighten, and hydrate your skin.

Rooted Beauty Sensitive Brightening Eye Cream

Why we love it: Rooted Beauty made our list twice, so take your pick between the one mentioned earlier, and this one specifically designed for sensitive skin with dark circles. Rooted’s patented R7 mix of nourishing root extracts — plus soothing aloe and vitamin E — keep skin supple, while the addition of mica adds a light-reflecting shimmer that helps address dark under-eye circles.

Grove Beauty Tip

Pat, don’t pull!

Apply eye cream (or anything else you’re putting on the eye area) with the soft pad of your middle or ring fingertip. Always avoid pulling the skin around or on the eyes, and keep that window frame to your soul looking lovely.

Here at Grove Collaborative, we’re big believers in the power of natural products — both for ourselves and for the planet. But we know making the switch can be daunting, especially if you’re accustomed to conventional products and are new to the world of natural, eco-friendly alternatives. That’s why we’ve created Beginner’s Guides to Natural. Each week, we’ll give you a primer on the ins and outs of transitioning to a natural version of a common household item, plus a few of our favorite brands for making the switch. Let’s get to swapping!