What Are the Benefits of Caffeine in Eye Care Products?

Caffeine is an alkaloid belonging to the Xanthine family found in many plants such as coffee, but also tea, mate, kola nut, guarana and, to a lesser extent, cocoa beans. Well known for its stimulating effects on the central nervous system and cardiovascular, caffeine also acts on the skin, especially around the eyes. Due to its small size, caffeine in cream infused can easily penetrate the skin to the dermis, where the blood capillaries are located to exert its decongestant power. Moreover, the skin around the eyes is very thin, which facilitates assimilation. In fact, five times thinner than the rest of the body, the skin around the eyes is the first to suffer from fatigue and the signs of aging: dark circles, puffiness and fine lines. Thus, the most important factor in the effectiveness of caffeine for the eyes is the absorption.

An excellent vascular tonic, caffeine is an active ingredient whose properties are used to drain the area of the eyes. By stimulating the microcirculation of the eye contour, caffeine allows a vasoconstriction, i.e., a narrowing of the caliber of the small blood vessels. Thus, the purplish pigmentation of the dark circles, held by the color of the blood capillaries, fades away durably. The ingredient is also very effective on puffiness: Caffeine cream or serum reduces water retention under the eyes and thus visibly reduces swelling in the sensitive eye contour area. 

Caffeine is therefore an ingredient of choice with many benefits in skin and eye care products to reduce dark circles and puffiness around eyes, particularly in the form of a concentrated serum, a caffeine eye cream or a tinted concealer. However, the vasoconstriction and the draining action of this molecule will unfortunately not be effective on dark circles caused by periorbital hyperpigmentation or hollow eyes. Fortunately, other ingredients do exist therefore, such as niacinamide with its depigmenting properties.