Kellett Eye Cream


Posted on September 13th, by staff in Expert Tips, Obsessions, Products, Reviews, Skincare. 8 comments

Kellett Eye Cream

Reviewed by Louise Hidinger, Ph.D.

One of the questions I get most often is “Can you recommend a good eye cream?” Finding an effective eye cream is a major challenge as everyone is looking for something that can fix a whole host of different concerns: puffiness, dark circles, and fine lines. As you can imagine, this is a lot to ask from a cream, especially one that is going to be applied around the eye area. The eyes are supposed to be the windows to the soul and for good reason. The skin around the eyes is extremely thin and delicate, and it is the first area to show lack of sleep, poor health, sun exposure and ageing. Because the skin around the eye is so thin, any changes in circulation through the facial blood vessels and sinuses will be immediately apparent.

TIP: Sleep on back with extra pillows to prevent puffy eyes.

Puffiness is mainly caused by fluid retention and may be the result of various factors, including respiratory infections (e.g. flu, cold), seasonal allergies, crying, or poor lifestyle habits (e.g. heavy drinking). Meanwhile, dark circles are primarily due to thinning skin, which exposes the network of blood vessels below. If there is poor blood circulation, then venous blood (oxygen-depleted blood) will collect in these blood vessels and be visible as a purplish or bluish colour around the eye. Dark circles may also be due to the natural loss of volume that occurs with ageing; as the subcutaneous fat that pads out the face gradually disappears, the orbital bone surrounding the eye becomes more prominent, and the hollow around the eye appears as a dark circle. Finally, dark circles may be due to pigmentation, a common trait in those of Asian or African descent.

There are some simple things you can do to improve puffiness, such as using cool compresses, using a saline nasal wash in the case of a cold or seasonal allergies, and sleeping on your back with an extra pillow to raise your head.

Unfortunately, fighting dark circles and signs of ageing is much tougher.  Keeping the eye area hydrated with an eye cream definitely helps to improve signs of ageing, but this can be tricky. The skin around the eye is so thin that a rich cream may cause problems such as unsightly whiteheads. A lightweight eye cream with humectants to help the skin retain moisture is your best bet.

Kellett Intensive Radiance Eye Treatment is an excellent option, as it is a light-textured cream packed with active ingredients that are known to be beneficial for skin health. It contains a number of powerful moisturizers, humectants and skin conditioners, including squalane, panthenol, hydrolyzed soy and rice bran proteins, sodium PCA and sodium hyaluronate.

Cumulative oxidative damage is thought to be one of the causes of ageing. The Eye Treatment contains a number of ingredients to protect skin tissue from oxidative damage.  There are antioxidants, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate (an oil-soluble form of Vitamin C) and tocopherol (Vitamin E). In addition, it contains superoxide dismutase, an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of superoxide anion, a reactive oxygen species, to oxygen and hydrogen peroxide.

Inflammation is believed to be another major factor in the appearance of signs of ageing, and a major cause of inflammation is sun exposure. The Kellett Eye Treatment contains plant extracts that help calm inflammation. Evodia rutaecarpa is a herb that is used in traditional Chinese medicine, but recent scientific studies shows that it is an effective anti-inflammatory agent. It also contains stearyl glycyrrhetinate, a derivative of glycyrrhetinic acid, which is found in licorice root extract; this compound has also been found to have anti-inflammatory activity.

Given that this cream contains so many active ingredients, it is packaged in an opaque, air-excluding pump that only dispenses as much as is needed for a single application. The air-excluding pump helps to preserve and protect the contents from degradation.

I tested the Kellett Eye Treatment for about a month, applying once or twice daily. I found that it was good for brightening the eye area, but not as effective for reducing puffiness. It is very light feeling and absorbs quickly to a velvety finish with no greasy after-feel. A nice side benefit is that it contains a small concentration of mica, a shimmery mineral pigment, that diffuses light and helps to blur and disguise fine lines. This makes it especially good for daytime use, as the mica disguises fine lines, and the velvet finish serves as an excellent base for makeup application.

It is free of parabens, synthetic fragrance, synthetic dyes. However, it does contain methylisothiazolinone as a preservative, which may cause an allergic reaction in a few individuals.

As it so happens, the packaging only includes the first half of the ingredient list. This is unfortunate, because many of the active ingredients are in the second half of the ingredient list. The full list is provided below:

Ingredients/ Ingrédients: Water, Dimethicone, Glycerin, PPG-3 Benzyl Ether Myristate, Pentylene Glycol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Mica, Hydrolyzed Soy Fiber, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Methylsilanol Hydroxyproline Aspartate, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetyl Alcohol, Panthenol, Behenyl Alcohol, Dimethicone Crosspolymer-3, Hydrolyzed Rice Bran Protein, Citrullus Vulgaris (Watermelon) Fruit Extract, Pyrus Malus (Apple) Fruit Extract, Lens Esculenta (Lentil) Fruit Extract, 1,2-Hexanediol, Titanium Dioxide, Squalane, PEG-75 Stearate, Steareth-20, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Butylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol, Ceteth-20, Tocopherol, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Titanium Dioxide, Silica, Superoxide Dismutase, Ethylhexylglycerin, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hydroxide, Evodia Rutaecarpa Fruit Extract, Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate, Retinyl Palmitate, Disodium EDTA, Spilanthes Acmella Flower Extract, Chrysin, Sodium Lactate, N-Hydroxysuccinimide, Chlorella Vulgaris Extract, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Protein, Geranylgeranylisopropanol, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Oxido Reductases, Sodium PCA, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5, Sodium Hyaluronate, Methylisothiazolinone, Tropolone, Palmitoyl Dipeptide-5 Diaminobutyroyl Hydroxythreonine, Palmitoyl Dipeptide-5 Diaminohydroxybutyrate.

 

Receive 20% off this eye cream (retail $75) at KellettSkincare.com with the checkout code “theskiny.”

 


Louise Hidinger

 

About the Reviewer Louise Hidinger, Ph.D., is a chemist and founder of the blog INGREDIENTS





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