Caudalie Premier Cru The Eye Cream

Allergy season has been quite vicious this year. There were more mornings than I care to count that I found myself either puffy, snotty and itchy or doped up on Benadryl. Neither option was doing much for the glamour factor. A lifetime of coping has taught me that skincare helps tremendously, at least with not looking as diseased as I feel, and as I get the puffy eyes under control, the rest follows quickly. Enter Caudalie Premier Cru The Eye Cream.

I tend to raise a (yet unbotoxed) brow when a product claims to heal the world, feed the hungry and fix everything from wrinkles, loss of elasticity, dehydration, dark circles, dark spots, puffiness, malnourishment, and loss of radiance. I don't expect miracles, but I do know that Caudalie uses a lot of good-for-you grapevine and grape seed derivatives that actually make some difference in skin appearance.

Here's the ingredient list, copied from Sephora's website (red fonts are mine):

Aqua (Water), Cetearyl Alcohol*, Butylene Glycol, Ethylhexyl Stearate*, Cyclopentasiloxane, Glycerin*, Triisostearin*, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Bisbehenyl/Isostearyl/Phytosteryl Dimer Dilinoleyl Dimer Dilinoleate*, Silica, Peg-20 Stearate, Ci 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), Imperata Cylindrica Root Extract*, Mica, Hydrogenated Avocado Oil*, Hydrogenated Stearylolive Esters*, Palmitoyl, Grape Seed extract*,Tocopherylacetate*, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil*, Hydrolyzed Hibiscus Esculentus Extract*, Dextrin*, Caffeine*, Benzyl Alcohol, Palmitoyl Grapevine Shoot Extract*, Caprylyl Glycol, Coffea Arabica (Coffee) Seed Extract*, Carbomer, Xanthan Gum, Tocopherol*, Parfum (Fragrance), Lecithin*, Hyaluronic Acid, Dehydroacetic Acid, Sodium Hydroxide, Polysorbate 20, Sodium Carboxymethyl Betaglucan, Ci 77491 (Iron Oxides), Acetyl Tetrapeptide-5, Tin Oxide, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylatecrosspolymer, Palmitoyloligopeptide*, Palmitoyltetrapeptide7*. *Plant Origin.

Some of this stuff are proven de-puffers and hydrating materials, and as such Caudalie Premier Cru The Eye Cream is a very gentle and satisfying eye cream that delivers on the promise to calm and nourish my poor eye area. Using it during some big-time irritation was a gamble but it worked (for me. Your mileage might seriously vary, especially considering I have very few skin sensitivities) . The light texture sinks in very quickly, calms and cools the skin and makes it ready for concealer and other makeup right away. There's no residue, grease or anything that gets in the way of other products.

 There was some immediate improvement in feel and texture but not much in the overall skin appearance after using this Caudalie product for at least 6 weeks. What I men is that I still wake up with puffy dark circles and I'm still 40. Using Caudalie eye cream makes the area look better temporarily but doesn't perform miracles. It's fine as I didn't expect more. I needed a gentle and compassionate eye cream and that's what I got.

Some things that must be noted:
Caudalie Premier Cru The Eye Cream  is scented (a very light woody-vegetal-floral fragrance). I like it, but I tend to enjoy scented products and have no perfume allergies. In any case, the fragrance disappears within minutes.
The eye cream also contains mica, which the part responsible for "radiance". Basically it's a shimmering mineral you find in makeup. I'm not sure I want it in skincare, but it's pretty harmless (again, as long as you're not allergic).

Bottom Line: a feel-good cream.

Caudalie Premier Cru The Eye Cream ($95, 1/2 oz) is available from Sephora, online and in store. A press sample was supplied by the company's PR.

Photo: mi9.com