Clinique All About Eyes Rich likes to boast. It claims it can do everything: it moisturises skin, fights wrinkles and makes dark circles go away.
But when I put it to the test, it didn’t exactly live up to the hype. Here’s why:
What’s In Clinique All About Eyes Rich?
SHEA BUTTER
Clinique All About Eyes Rich is loaded with shea butter, one of the most moisturising ingredients on this planet.
Shea butter works by creating a protective barrier on the skin that keeps moisture in, where it needs to be to hydrate skin and make it soft.
Studies show that shea butter works better than mineral oil (what derms think of as the gold standard for moisturization). Its effects last for up to 8 hours!
Related: Why Shea Butter Is A Godsend For Dry Skin
SILICONES
Clinique All About Eyes Rich contains its fair share of silicones to minimise fine lines. It works like this: silicones fill in fine lines and wrinkles so they look smaller to the naked eye.
Of course, the effect is only temporary. When you wash off your skin at night, the silicones end up down the drain and your wrinkles look as deep as before.
Silicones go a step further: they also give slip to a product and allow it to spread smoothly on the skin.
They’re not even as suffocating as you think. It’s true that silicones create a protective barrier on this skin. But this barrier has holes all over the place.
Due to their molecular structure, you’ll find little gaps in between each silicone molecule. That allows them to keep water in the skin and let it perspire at the same time.
Related: Do Silicones Prevent Active Ingredients From Penetrating Skin?
ANTIOXIDANTS
Clinique All About Eyes Rich is loaded to the brim with antioxidants. Here are the highlights:
- Birch Extract: It has powerful antioxidant properties that neutralise free radicals before they give you wrinkles.
- Green Tea: An antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties that fights free radicals, prevents sun damage and soothes irritations.
- Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate: A derivative of Vitamin C that fights free radicals, boosts collagen production and brightens skin.
- Vitamin E: A powerful antioxidant that fights free radicals and hydrates skin.
All together, these antioxidants help you fight free radicals and keep wrinkles at bay.
The catch? Every time they’re exposed to light and air, they lose some of their effectiveness. Guess what? This eye cream comes in a jar.
While you won’t make the antioxidants completely useless as soon as you open it, this packaging can compromise their effectiveness somewhat.
Related: Why I’m Not A Fan Of Jar Packaging
Texture
A pale ivory in colour, Clinique All About Eyes Rich has a fairly thick, creamy consistency that isn’t greasy and absorbs quickly.
Fragrance
It’s fragrance-free. That’s good. Fragrance is irritating. You do NOT want it anywhere near your eyes.
How To Use It
Before moisturiser, apply a couple of small dots on your under-eye area. Pat the cream in with your ring finger. Apply any leftover on your eyelids, too.
Performance & Personal Opinion
Clinique All About Eyes Rich keeps good on one promise: it hydrates and soothes skin, leaving it soft and smooth.
I was a bit worried the richer texture would give me milia seeds, but thankfully that didn’t happen. It also didn’t sting, burn nor irritate my eyes.
I also noticed the fine lines around my eyes looked slightly smaller (thanks silicones!), but the effect only lasts for a few hours.
So far so good. So, where does this cream fail?
For starters, it can’t do anything for dark circles. I’ve used this cream for weeks and didn’t see the slightest difference. Both the darkness and the puffiness is still there.
Related: How To Deal With Milia Seeds
Who Is This For?
Dry skin who needs the extra moisture.
Who Is This NOT For?
Honestly? NO ONE needs eye cream.
Related: Why You Do NOT Need An Eye Cream
Packaging
Clinique All About Eyes Rich comes in a cute salmon jar with a silver lid. It’s practical, but not the most hygienic. Plus, it compromises the effectiveness of the antioxidants. These little molecules degrade in the presence of light and oxygen (guess what happens every time you unscrew the lid?)
Related: Is Jar Packaging A Waste Of Money?
Does Clinique All About Eyes Rich Live Up To Its Claims?
| CLAIM | TRUE? |
|---|---|
| Moisture-rich eye cream instantly diminishes the look of under eye circles, darkness and fine lines. | It helps with fine lines, but NOT dark circles or darkness. |
| De-puffs, calms the look of skin with botanicals. | Didn’t for me. |
| Strengthens skin’s moisture barrier. | Yes, it has natural butters that can do this. |
Price & Availability
$32.50/ÂŁ27.50 at Asos, Sephora and Ulta
Do You Need It?
No. No one needs a separate eye cream. But if your under-eye area is drier than the rest of your face, this can help moisturize it.
[penci_review]
Dupes & Alternatives
- CeraVe Eye Repair Cream ($15.99)
- Paula’s Choice Resist Anti-Aging Eye Cream ($34.00)
Have you tried Clinique All About Eyes Rich? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Ingredients
Water\Aqua\Eau , Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) , Cetearyl Alcohol , Butylene Glycol , Hydrogenated Polyisobutene , Phenyl Trimethicone , Polyglyceryl-3 Beeswax , Polybutene , Sucrose , Cetyl Esters , Polymethyl Methacrylate , Isostearyl Neopentanoate , Glycerin , Cetearyl Glucoside , Tocopheryl Acetate , Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Extract , Hordeum Vulgare (Barley) Extract\Extrait D’Orge , Sigesbeckia Orientalis (St. Paul’S Wort) Extract , Peg-100 Stearate , Coleus Barbatus Extract , Betula Alba (Birch) Extract , Polysilicone-11 , Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate , Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract , Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Leaf , Glyceryl Polymethacrylate , Yeast Extract\Faex\Extrait De Levure , Gentiana Lutea (Gentian) Root Extract , Stearic Acid , Whey Protein\Lactis Protein\ProtĂ©ine Du Petit-Lait , Palmitoyl Oligopeptide , Squalane , Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate , Cholesterol , Caffeine , Peg-8 , Phytosphingosine , Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer , Aminomethyl Propanol , Dimethicone , Isomerized Linoleic Acid , Linoleic Acid , Sodium Hyaluronate , 1,2 Hexanediol , Decarboxy Carnosine Hcl , Potassium Sulfate , Caprylyl Glycol , Disodium Edta , Sodium Dehydroacetate , Phenoxyethanol , Yellow 5 (Ci 19140) , Iron Oxides (Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499) , Mica , Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891)
Hi! I have this too! You’re absolutely right that it doesn’t lighten dark eye circles. Mine are so bad they look like dark bruises — this makes them even darker, like an opaque shade of purple. However it de-puffs my eyes beautifully, at the cost of darkening the circles. The cream smells oddly like grape!
My friends really rave about this cream but I never bought it. I can’t think of a way to justify spending 30+ dollars on a tiny jar of cream. Avon has a good dupe of this cream and I bought it for my friend, who has severe puffy eyes in the morning. It works for her and saves her a lot of money, too!
.-= Dao´s last blog ..You Know You’re a Makeup and Beauty Addict When… =-.
The only skin care product I’ve tried from Clinique was Moisture Surge and I loved it. Its so hard finding a good eye cream that does the job. I’m glad this didn’t give your milia seeds. I usually don’t wear eye creams due to this. Thanks for the review Gio!
.-= Dee´s last blog ..Fact or Fiction: Drinking 8 Glasses of Water Necessary? =-.
Dao: there is enough in the jar to last for about six months so I think that could justify the price if the cream worked well for so long. But the jar exposes the antioxidants, which would otherwise be beneficial, to light and air so they would lose their efficacy pretty soon. And after a while you’d end up applying a cream that doesn’t provide any anti-aging benefits at all which is a huge waste of money imo. I’m glad I got a sample of it so I didn’t feel too guilty throwing it away even though there was still plenty of product left in it. I’d recommend it if it came in a tube, though. And I’m glad that your friend has found a better and cheaper option, well done getting it for her, that was nice of you.
Jasmine: sounds like we have the same problem with dark circles. I was hoping this would help but sadly it doesn’t. But I’m glad it de-puffs your eyes at least 🙂
Dee: you’re welcome. I find most eye creams to be pretty basic. I actually don’t use an eye cream that often as it’s not really necessary. They usually contain pretty much the same ingredients as facial moisturizers but come in smaller packaging with a higher price tag! And I always worry about milia seeds too, I’m glad I didn’t get any while using this.
I love this eye cream too! I’m glad you had a good experience with it 🙂 This is one of the best eye cream that works for me from Clinique, others give me the puffiness the next morning!
.-= Nikki´s last blog ..I Wonder: "What’s Your Favorite Neutral Eyeshadow?" =-.
What are milia seeds?
Nikki: yes, it’s nice cream and worked well for me. I just wish it came in a tube so the antioxidants wouldn’t degrade so quickly.
J: milia seeds are white bumps on the skin.They occur when skin cells get trapped underneath the surface and, once they appear, they’re not that easy to remove. I wrote a post about milia seeds if you are interested: http://beautifulwithbrains.com/2009/04/14/how-to-prevent-and-treat-milia-seeds/
I’ve been using this cream a few years ago, was ok at the time cause I don’t have dark circles anyway but after a while I try La Prairie anti-aging eye cream with SPF 15 because it has also an anti aging effect, reduces dark circles, puffiness, has SPF and can combat many signs in the same time. This cream from Clinique is more like a moisturizing and does nothing more ( NO SPF which is a minus).
Tavia, I agree: This is a very basic moisturizer and it bugs me that it doesn’t contain SPF. But finding a cheap eye cream with sunscreen isn’t easy *sighs*. The La Prairie cream sounds great and I’m glad it works so well for you. I just wish it wasn’t so expensive!
Hey i have horrible dark circles and i wanna reduce them, can u pls suggest me an undereye cream thats not so expensive but still works
Mazeda, that depends on what causes your dark circles. If hyperpigmentation, using a skin-lightening cream can help a bit. If to poor blood circulation, a combination of retinol and vitamin K has been shown to improve things a little bit. But no cream can get rid of dark circles completely.
What a coincidence, I just reviewed this cream’s twin sister in my blog! (all about eyes) I already think ‘all about eyes’ is a waste of money, so I cant justify wasting more money on this ‘rich’ version of the cream. I have bad dark circles too so it was a huge letdown for me after trying out the cream.
BTW thanks u for the highly-informative review Gio. =D
.-= HaNNa_HuLLaBaLoo´s last blog ..Review: Clinique All About Eyes =-.
Hanna, that is a concidence! I’m sorry all about eyes didn’t work for you. I haven’t tried that but I don’t think this one is much better. It’s a pretty basic and overpriced moisturizer that doesn’t cover dark circles. That was a real bummer, I understand your disappointment! And you’re welcome hun 🙂