Review: The Inkey list Brighten-I Eye Cream

Where to purchase: It’s available from numerous websites, but here’s a Cultbeauty link

Price: £8.99

Volume: 15ml

What is it?: A Brightening and moisturising eye cream

Description: an eye cream to help tackle dark circles, puffiness and dryness around the eyes. Contains an active ingredient called ‘Brightenyl’ which apparently is 4x more potent than vitamin C (i’m taking this with a pinch of salt).

What does it do?: Evens the tone of the eye contour by decreasing dark circles and redness. Hydrates the eyes and ‘blurs’. To make your eyes look well rested. So basically, ‘illuminates’ the eyes.

NOTE: Please understand that eye creams cannot fix under eye darkness and usually fillers or other medical means are required, especially for those who are genetically pre-dispositioned to them. But of course, eye creams can help levy this a bit!

Targeted at: Those with dry, dark and puffy under eyes.

Directions: ”Use AM and PM. Apply to a clean eye area. Pat product into eye contour.”

How I use it: I don’t use the metal cap under my eyes, I just put some product on my finger tip and tap. The good thing about this cream is that a little goes A LONG WAY. so I usually accidentally put tooooo much and end up spending ages trying to pat all the product in.

– I CAN’T USE THIS IN THE PM: This is because I wear an eye sleeping mask AND it took me few night to realise that this product basically was making a mess on the mask. Basically this eye cream contains what looks like glitter (which I guess is supposed to brighten the under eyes) – what was happening was that the glitter was sticking to the eye mask. So therefore I use this in the AM to make myself look a bit more awake and de-puffed.

Packaging: Plastic Tube with a metal cap (for cooling effect when you rub under your eyes). Easy to squeeze this tube, sometimes I do accidentally squeeze out too much product, so I would prefer a pump like the glossier eye cream.

Full Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Glycerin, Cyclopentasiloxane, Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glyceryl Stearate, Candelilla/Jojoba/Rice Bran Polyglyceryl-3 Esters, Trichilia Emetica (Mafura) Seed Butter, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Mica, Sodium Levulinate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Hydroxyacetophenone, Tocopheryl Acetate, Phenoxyethanol, Polysilicone-11, Benzyl Alcohol, Aminobutyric Acid, Barium Sulfate, Sodium Anisate, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Sodium Gluconate, Silica, Centella Asiatica, Ethylhexylglycerin, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Diglucosyl Gallic Acid, Dehydroacetic Acid, Trihydroxystearin, Tin Oxide, Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Hyaluronate, Glucomannan, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide).

• I’m guessing the Titanium Dioxide and Tin oxide are the ‘brightening’ ingredients in here for the temporary effect of brightening dark under eyes. The addition of Mica could also attribute either to what I find on my eye mask – therefore an additional ingredient for that brightening look. So not a complete problem-solver of under eye circles. (But we know that in order to fully get rid of under eye pigmentation/circles usually requires cosmetic procedures.)

• I like the addition of Centella Asiatica (calm down perhaps that puffiness), Ginseng Root (might do something). And of course the addition of Glycerin, Sodium gluconate and Rice Bran for moisturisation/hydration.

Fragrance?: NO! 🙂 – I appreciate that all Inkey list products don’t have fragrance.

Texture: It’s a nice creamy texture. Got some oil in there, some separation occurs if you don’t shake the bottle beforehand a bit (i.e. you get that oil outside layer with the cream sat on the inside, it mixes better if you shake in my opinion). It glides beautifully. Not sticky or tacky, even when it dries.

LIVE VIDEO SWATCH! – this video has already been earmarked for the moment I swatch the Brighten Eye cream. It also shows you the ‘glittery’ effect of the cream I’m talking about, in better detail.

Good under makeup?: It seems to be fine for me.

How long have I been using this?: About a month.

The Effect: Hydrated and moisturised under eyes. This does help under eye puffiness and as for the darkness, I believe it is coming from the slight pigment and ‘pearl-like/glitter’ appearance the cream gives once rubbing it in (i.e. light-reflecting). But I do like it in the AM then! it’s sort of like a skincare concealer, for those who don’t want to wear makeup/concealer. I do look more awake in the mornings compared to applying nothing.

What I like:

• It does make the eyes look more awake and brightened – but to me, this is a temporary effect (due to the pigment/light reflecting effect).
• Easily spreadable (doesn’t tug on the skin).
• Moisturises the skin
• No fragrance
• Fine under makeup

What I don’t like:

• The glitter – it messes up my eye mask so I can’t use this in the PM.
• I don’t know how much this genuinely colour corrects/brightens long-term or simply temporarily i.e. when it’s applied (due to the glitter/pigment-type effect).
• Would prefer this in a pump (I always find the metal tip of this product redundant).

Overall Rating and Conclusion: 3.6/5 – this is hydrating and moisturising. This also helps illuminate the eyes in the AM when I apply it. It’s not a PM cream for me so I can’t give it a higher score because I need to add another eye cream for the evening. I don’t know how much this is correcting the under eyes (long term) as I think it’s just a temporary brightening effect overall – but this temporary effect is nice if you don’t want to wear/use concealer.

Would I purchase?: I would if I didn’t want to apply concealer. But because I can’t use this in the PM, I don’t know if I really need it. Also it is a bit messy as it’s so easy to squeeze out too much (would prefer a pump).

Disclaimer: I am a skincare enthusiast and not a skin expert. I am not qualified to give out dermatological advice. This type of advice should only be given by a medical practitioner. Upon trying / using any of the reviewed products on the blog, please follow the manufacturer’s instructions and warnings and please seek medical advice if needed.