Kelly Driscoll has looked at more than ten eye care products and approved just over half of them, giving her an approval rate of 61%. That is a pretty honest record for a category that is crowded with products that promise a lot. She has strong views on what actually works around the eyes, and even stronger views on what does not.
What does Kelly Driscoll recommend in eye care?
Caffeine comes up again and again in the products she approved. She found that The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG genuinely brought down puffiness during allergy season, and praised The INKEY List Caffeine Eye Cream for its gel texture that feels plumping without being heavy. Good Molecules Caffeine Hydrogel Eye Patches won her over partly because they are fragrance-free, which she says matters a lot when so many eye patches are not. Texture is a big deal for her too. She rates the Pyunkang Yul Black Tea Time Reverse Eye Cream for its buttery feel that still absorbs well, and loves the Klairs Fundamental Eye Awakening Gel for being light enough to wear in hot weather or under makeup. For brightening and fine lines, she called out Beauty of Chosan Revive Ginsing Plus Retinol Eye Serum as something that works better than others she has tried, saying the retinol and ginseng together make it genuinely good for firming and reducing the look of wrinkles.
In her words
"I picked up this because I remember the caffeine is supposed to be good for puffy eyes, so I started using this and it worked. [...] I haven't had puffy eyes the entire time I've been using it until now, and so it really did take down the puff. [...] There's like ever so slight redness just beneath the surface, and it really helps to make my eyes look less allergic. They still feel allergic, they're still gloopy, but they don't look it, and this has been really really helpful."
"This is the Caffeine Eye Cream from The Inkey List, and it has that creamy gel type texture. [...] If you don't like super thick eye creams, look at that, it's not super creamy, it's got more of a gel type of texture, and it just feels really plumping, which I love. I love to plump up my under eye area with eye creams. It's quickly absorbed and really just fresh feeling, which I really appreciate."
"I love these eye patches because they are fragrance-free, which was so important to me. [...] I found that so many eye patch products actually had fragrance in them, and this one did not. [...] It's a good eye patch that's hydrating and plumping for the eye area. Caffeine is super good if you do get puffiness under the eye, which I do when allergy season is at its worst, and the caffeine can really help take down that puffiness."
"Pyunkang Yul Black Tea Time Reverse Eye Cream. I've been loving this one since I think 2019 as well. [...] I really like this eye cream because it's got this really gorgeous, luxurious, buttery texture. This is a moisturizing eye cream. So, it's not going to be appropriate for all skin types, but I happen to have quite dry under eye area that responds to moisture very, very well. This has a buttery texture, but it's got great absorbency."
"It's also great for soothing the skin as well. This is one of my favorites to go towards in the hot months because I don't want a lot of heavy dense creams around my eye area, especially underneath makeup when it's hot and humid. So this is a really good one for humid climates, hot temperatures, or if you just need something lighter. Maybe you have oily eyelids and all this cream and moisturizing is not your jam, this one will be lovely. We do have a couple of peptides here."
"It brightens better than others, and it is really the combination of the main ingredients here: the retinol as well as the ginsing, two powerhouse brightening ingredients. Retinol or retinaldehyde is a retinoid, it is a collagen stimulating ingredient and one of the best ones. This is really great for addressing fine lines, wrinkles, loss of elasticity and firmness for the eye area. This is a retinoid, it is formulated for the eye area."
How many eye care products has Kelly Driscoll reviewed?
Kelly Driscoll has reviewed 18 eye care products, for an approval rate of 61%. 11 approved, 4 mixed, and 3 skipped.
What has Kelly Driscoll skipped in eye care?
Packaging is where Kelly Driscoll has been most unforgiving. She skipped The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Eye Serum not because of the formula but because the dropper made her lose more than half the bottle to spills, saying it needs a more precise delivery system. The Remedy Super Stacked Under Eye Dark Circle and Depuffing Treatment also got a skip, and she pointed to the packaging as a key reason. She skipped the Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Bakuchiol Eye Cream for a different reason: the texture was not what she expected at all, going from cream-like in the jar to thick and ointment-like on the skin, which put her off.
"I don't like this product, I really struck out with this for a few reasons. [...] While I do on the whole enjoy their formulas, uniformly this brand has some of the worst packaging I have ever encountered. [...] This is an eye cream that has one of those ceramic applicators, there's a lightness to this, it's not as thick as the Clarins eye cream, there's more of a hydrating, looser kind of texture to it."
"It's the texture. It's gross. I don't like it. It is so strange. It is a cream, it almost looks like it's going to be like a cream gel type of texture, but it's not. Once you spread it, it feels like almost balmy and ointment-like. It almost feels like a cream with some Vaseline in it. I was expecting something a little bit lighter, more lotion-like, but it's actually a lot thicker than it first appears. It's definitely occlusive, it's definitely balmy. There's a little bit of a rich slip to it."
"I would always knock this over, I would never have enough time to close this before it started running down my hand. I lost so much product, I lost over half of the bottle because it would tip over and spill out into the sink. The packaging sucks. This formula really does need a more precise kind of packaging."
What should you take from Kelly Driscoll's picks?
Kelly Driscoll is a useful guide for anyone who wants to cut through the noise in eye care. She responds well to caffeine-based products for puffiness, values lightweight textures for everyday use, and takes fragrance-free formulas seriously for the eye area. Her skips are just as informative as her picks, because she is specific about why something did not work, and bad packaging is reason enough for her to walk away from a formula she might otherwise like.
Watch Kelly Driscoll say it
Every verdict here comes from a video. These are the moments themselves, each one jumping straight to the bit about that product.
- Remedy Super Stacked Under Eye Dark Circle and Depuffing TreatmentSkipped itWatch at 14:19
- Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Bakuchiol Eye CreamSkipped itWatch at 15:21
- The Ordinary Multi-Peptide Eye SerumSkipped itWatch at 8:24
- The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCGRated itWatch at 13:05
- The INKEY List Caffeine Eye CreamRated itWatch at 7:10
- Good Molecules Caffeine Hydrogel Eye PatchesRated itWatch at 8:07
- Pyunkang Yul Black Tea Time Reverse Eye CreamRated itWatch at 15:17
- Klairs Fundamental Eye Awakening GelRated itWatch at 14:14
- Beauty of Chosan Revive Ginsing Plus Retinol Eye SerumRated itWatch at 17:21
- AXIS-Y Vegan Collagen Eye SerumRated itWatch at 7:43
- Then I Met You Snail Mucin Eye CreamRated itWatch at 13:41
- Stratia Liquid Gold Eye CreamRated itWatch at 1:31
- Jin jangs Hybrid face and eye creamRated itWatch at 15:00
- Mary&May Tranexamic Acid + Glutathione Eye CreamRated itWatch at 13:22
About this expert
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This guide reflects what Kelly Driscoll said across her videos about 18 products in eye care, aggregated by The Guru Index. Sponsored takes are excluded. The approval rate is the share of these products she approved. It is general information, not medical advice.