Most under-eye routines fail because they are too long. Five products, a jade roller, a sheet mask on Sundays, and a sense that skipping any of it means starting over. Then a busy week happens and the whole thing collapses. This page lays out a routine that takes about ninety seconds in the morning and a minute at night, uses three or four products you probably already own, and puts an eye serum in the one slot where it can actually do its job. It sits under the eye serum guide, which covers whether a serum or a cream is the right choice for your under-eyes in the first place.
What you need
- A gentle cleanser you already use on your face.
- An eye serum with a metal-tip applicator. The EYE Serum pairs caffeine with platelet-derived exosomes and comes with one.
- Your face moisturizer. A separate eye cream is optional; a section near the end covers when it earns a place.
- A broad-spectrum sunscreen for the morning.
- Optional: a retinol product for night, if you already use one.
- A cool place to keep the serum. A bathroom shelf away from the shower is fine; a fridge shelf is better.
The morning routine, timed
Ninety seconds, most of it waiting. Set the serum out before you start so it is cold and in reach.
- Rinse and pat dryLukewarm water or a quick cleanse. Twenty seconds.
- Serum on the boneA grain of rice per eye, cold tip, inner corner outward, tapped in.
- Wait, then finishA minute to dry, then moisturizer and sunscreen to the orbital bone.
0:00 Rinse or cleanse
If you cleansed properly the night before, a splash of lukewarm water is enough in the morning. If you wake up oily or slept in product, a quick pass with your gentle cleanser. Pat the under-eye dry with a towel; do not rub it. Twenty seconds.
0:20 Eye serum
Uncap the serum and lay a thin line along the orbital bone under each eye, from the inner corner outward, using the metal tip. Then tap it in with the tip or the pad of your ring finger. Stop below the lash line and keep it off the moving part of the lid. A grain of rice per eye is the right amount. Thirty seconds for both eyes, including a few extra taps at the outer corner where lines show first.
0:50 Wait
Let the serum dry to an invisible film. Brush your teeth, or do the rest of your face. This is the step people skip, and it is why serum and concealer sometimes pill together. Give it a minute if you can, thirty seconds at the least.
1:20 Moisturizer
Your usual face moisturizer, applied to the whole face and carried up to the under-eye with a light touch. If you use a dedicated eye cream, this is where it goes instead of the moisturizer; the area needs only one of them. Fifteen seconds.
1:35 Sunscreen
Broad-spectrum, applied last and taken right up to the orbital bone. The under-eye shows sun damage early and it is easy to stop sunscreen an inch short of it. Fifteen seconds, and you are done. Makeup goes on whenever you are ready.
The serum this guide is about
EYE Serum
Caffeine and platelet-derived exosomes with a cooling metal tip, for brighter-looking under-eyes.
$138. Free shipping. Refill and save $14.
The night routine, timed
One minute. The night version has fewer steps because there is no sunscreen and no rush.
- Remove makeup gentlyBalm or micellar water held on the eye, then cleanse and pat dry.
- Serum on the boneSame line, same taps, stopping short of the lash line.
- Retinol, then moisturizerRetinol only on its nights and only once the serum has dried, then a light layer of cream.
0:00 Remove makeup and cleanse
Gently. A cleansing balm or micellar water on a soft pad, held against the eye for a few seconds so mascara lets go on its own, then wiped with as little dragging as possible. Follow with your cleanser. Pat dry. Twenty-five seconds.
0:25 Eye serum
The same application as the morning: a thin line on the orbital bone, tapped in, stopping short of the lash line. The nighttime application is for the slow-acting half of the formula, the exosomes, which get several uninterrupted hours on clean skin. Twenty seconds.
0:45 Retinol, if you use one
Once the serum has dried, a small amount of your retinol product on the under-eye if that is part of your routine, on the nights you use it. Start with two or three nights a week and watch for dryness. If a dermatologist has prescribed a retinoid, that is a medical decision, so ask them how to sequence a cosmetic serum with it. More on this in can you use eye serum with retinol?.
0:50 Moisturizer
Face moisturizer or eye cream, whichever you use, tapped lightly over the top. Done. Ten seconds.
Why the order goes the way it does
The rule is thin to thick. A watery serum is meant to sit directly on skin and dry down; put it on top of a cream and it cannot get there. Moisturizer goes over the serum to seal the area and stop it feeling tight. Sunscreen goes last in the morning because it works as a top layer, and anything applied over it thins it out. The one exception is a rich, balm-like eye product, which is really a cream and belongs in the moisturizer slot. The answer do you apply eye serum before or after moisturizer? covers this in more detail.
Where the serum goes, and where it does not
Picture the bony rim around your eye socket. The serum goes along the lower half of that rim and out toward the temple, where crow's feet start. It can go on the brow bone above the eye. It does not go on the eyelid itself, the part that moves when you blink, and it does not go along the lash line, because skin there is thinner still and product can migrate into the eye as the day warms up. If it ever does, rinse with water. See can you put eye serum on your eyelids? for the full answer, and how to apply eye serum so it actually works for the technique from start to finish.
Cold, and why the metal tip matters
Caffeine is at its best on the look of morning puffiness when the product goes on cold. Cold makes the skin feel tighter and helps the fluid that settled overnight look calmer sooner. A metal-tip applicator holds a chill against the skin better than a fingertip, keeps fingers off the formula, and measures out the same small amount each time. If you store the bottle in the fridge, the effect is stronger. If you store it on a warm bathroom shelf, you lose some of it. Both work; the fridge just makes the cooling more noticeable.
Building the habit
The routine only works if it happens every day, and it only happens every day if it is easy to start. Keep the serum next to the toothbrush, where you will see it. Do the morning application before coffee so it never gets pushed to later. Take a photo of your under-eyes on day one, in daylight, face relaxed, no makeup, and put a reminder on your calendar for four weeks and twelve weeks out to take the same photo. The change you are looking for from the exosome half of the serum is slow, and a photo is the only fair judge. The caffeine half you will feel by the end of the first application.
Ways this routine gets overbuilt
- Serum plus eye cream plus eye oil. Pick the serum and one moisturizing layer. The third product mostly sits on top of the second.
- Daily eye masks. Pleasant and occasionally useful, but an extra rather than a step. If you enjoy them, use them on a weekend after cleansing and before the serum.
- Rollers and tools with pressure. Dragging a stone across the thinnest skin on the face does not help it. The metal tip and a tapping finger are enough.
- Exfoliating acids under the eye. Keep them on the rest of the face. The under-eye rarely needs them and often objects.
- Reapplying serum through the day. One morning application. If the puffiness is back by 3 pm, look at salt, sleep or allergies before you look at the dose.
Do
- Keep the serum cold and next to the toothbrush
- Pick the serum plus one moisturizing layer
- Take sunscreen right up to the orbital bone
- Take the window photo at four and twelve weeks
Don't
- Stack serum, eye cream and eye oil
- Drag a roller across the under-eye
- Use exfoliating acids under the eye
- Reapply through the day to chase 3 pm puffiness
Adjusting for your skin
Dry skin. Keep the moisturizer step, and consider a slightly richer cream at night. The serum on its own will feel too light. Oily skin. A gel moisturizer or none at night, but do not skip the morning sunscreen. Sensitive skin. Patch test the serum on the inner arm for a few days first, keep everything fragrance-free, and introduce retinol last, if at all. Contact lenses. Put lenses in before the morning serum, or wait until the serum has fully dried, so nothing transfers to the lens.
Eye cream or face moisturizer?
You do not need both, and you do not automatically need the eye cream. A face moisturizer carried up to the under-eye with a light touch usually does the sealing job on its own. An eye cream earns its place when the area is noticeably drier than the rest of your face, when your face moisturizer has ingredients you would rather keep away from the eye (fragrance, strong acids, a high dose of retinol), or when you simply prefer a richer texture there at night. Whichever you choose, it goes on after the serum has dried, never before. Applied under the cream, the serum reaches the skin; applied over it, the serum mostly sits on the cream.
Missed days and travel
If you miss a morning, let it go. Do the night application as usual and pick up tomorrow; do not double the amount to catch up, because the extra just sits on the surface. For travel, the serum is small enough to go in a wash bag, and the metal tip means you can apply it without clean hands, which matters on a plane. It will not be cold in a hotel bathroom. It still works; the cooling feel is just quieter. If you know a trip will wreck your routine, keep the morning application and let the night one go, since one application every day does more than two applications on three days of the week.
When to stop and see a dermatologist
The under-eye is quick to complain. Stop the routine and get advice if you notice stinging that does not fade, redness or flaking on the eyelid, swelling that gets worse over days rather than better, puffiness on one side only, or any change in your vision. A rash, itching or scaling around the eye belongs with a doctor. A dermatologist will want to see the ingredient lists, so bring the bottles.
The habits under the routine
A ninety-second routine is a small thing set on top of bigger things. The American Academy of Dermatology's list of habits for healthier-looking skin starts with daily sunscreen and not smoking, then gentle cleansing and managing stress, and none of those come from a bottle. Sleep with your head slightly raised if you wake up puffy. Go lighter on salt at dinner. Take makeup off gently every night. The serum sits on top of those habits and does its best work when they are in place.
The routine on one card
Morning: rinse, eye serum on the orbital bone, wait a minute, moisturizer, sunscreen. Night: gentle makeup removal, cleanse, eye serum, retinol if you use it, moisturizer. Serum cold, amount small, taps not rubs, every day, photos at four and twelve weeks. For a closer look at what the caffeine is doing in the morning slot, read what caffeine actually does for under-eyes, and for what each ingredient on the label is for, eye serum ingredients, explained one by one. Still deciding between a serum and a cream? Start with the eye serum guide.
