The BEST eye cream – and it’s from the drugstore

I found – and I don’t say that lightly and actually haven’t ever made such claims here before – the best eye cream. Yup. It’s a German brand, it’s a drugstore brand, it’s 3,95€. I’ll give you the deeds, and also explain how you can buy it if you don’t live in Germany. It’s not only the best drugstore eye cream, but the best I’ve ever used.

Balea Men Lift Effect eye cream: best from the drugstore

What Balea claims (paraphrased)

Balea Men Lift Effect is mainly for ‘tired’ looking skin, and supposed to help with puffiness, wrinkles, and dark circles. It’s fragrance-free. On top of that, it has a hydrating formula enriched with shea butter and canola oil for sensitive, older skin.

Ingredients

Aqua, Coco – Caprylate / Caprate, Diethylhexyl Carbonate, Glycerin, Cetearyl Isononanoate, Cetearyl Olivate, Sorbitan Olivate, Butylene Glycol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Canola Oil, Caffeine, Chondrus Crispus Powder, Acetyl Hexapeptide – 8, Glyceryl Oleate, Mannitol, Lecithin, Acetyl Tetrapeptide – 5, Dimethicone, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Laminaria Digitata Extract, Carbomer, Xanthan Gum, Glycogen, Caprylyl Glycol, Glyceryl Stearate, Tocopherol, Sodium Hydroxide, Phenoxyethanol, Benzoic Acid, Dehydroacetic Acid, Citric Acid

Formula

Let’s highlight a few of the hero ingredients: we have some nice emollients and hydrators. Also, don’t be afraid of the texture: although this has shea and canola oil, it’s nevertheless a very pleasant, lotion-y texture that’s not heavy or thick.

Caffeine

Incidecoder says: “it (caffeine) has nice antioxidant properties, meaning that it reduces the formation of evil free radicals and it might even be useful in preventing UV-induced skin cancers.” Nice!

Peptides

In the middle of the list we come to the main players: the peptides. Paula’s Choice Beautypedia says about Acetyl-Tetrapetide-5:

A synthetic peptide that has calming, smoothing, hydrating, and firmness-enhancing benefits when applied to skin. Its calming properties are believed to reduce undereye puffiness due to fluid accumulation, such as from allergies. (…)Acetyl tetrapeptide-5 seems to step in and help skin maintain a smooth resilience that results in a more youthful look.

Paula’s Choice

You may know Acetyl-Hexapeptide-8 under its trade name Argireline (The Ordinary more or less uses it as a single ingredient product). While it’s been touted to have botox-like effects, it’s very likely much less effective, but it still has water-binding properties and skin-restoring ability.

Vitamin C

Ascorbyl Palmitate: A Vitamin C derivative that’ll brighten to a certain point. Because it’s a derivative, it’s not as potent as L-Ascorbic Acid.

Mannitol

Instead of the ubiquitous hyaluronic acid, this is a sugar molecule that has water-binding properties and helps to keep your skin hydrated. (Incidecoder)

Application

My only beef with the balea eye cream is the packaging: it comes in a black pump dispenser. (Oh, the gender branding in full force – eyeroll.) One full pump will yield the amount of eye cream you’d need for a party of five. Also, black packaging is notoriously difficult to recycle.

I use less than one pump for both my eyes and apply it with a fingertip all around my eyes. My eyes don’t react to it. Therefore, I haven’t experienced any puffiness or milia that might stem from very rich formulas that don’t agree with my skin. The ‘skin feel’ is very pleasant, and my eye area seems nourished after application.

My experience – long-term effects

I went into my trial of the Balea eye cream without any expectations. I was looking for a basic cream that would hydrate and work under concealer (it does). I’d just used up my Paula’s Choice’s eye cream that I found unpleasant and didn’t do anything.

So imagine my surprise when, about two months in of using it, I looked into the mirror and thought to myself ‘oh, my eye area looks rather – good?!??!’. I’ve allergies that are particularly bad in early Spring, making me usually looking like a puffy eyed angora bunny: all read eyes. But instead, the whole area looked smooth and rested (well, it doesn’t do anything about the redness, sadly). I even thought that my fine lines around the outer corners of my eyes look diminished.

Dupes?!?

I find the formula phenomenal. The price is incredible. I never want to be without it, EVER. Btw, Paula’s Choice’s Clinical Ceramide-Enriched Firming Eye Cream has a similar caffeine/Vitamin C/peptide combo for significantly more money. (Ok, it also has retinol and some fancy ceramides and antioxidants). BUT STILL!

Where to buy

Even if you aren’t in Germany, it’s not totally impossible to buy Balea’s eye cream.

In Europe, you’ll find dm (the drugstore whose store brand is Balea) in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Italy. If you’re not close to a store, you can order via the Austrian dm online store IF you’re living in Italy, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic or Hungary.

Also, in China you can order via TMall, and in Korea via Lotte online. Amazon also has a limited balea range.

If you can get it, I can guarantee that you’ll buy a spectacular eye cream for little money. In Germany, it’s 15ml for 3,95€.

Please note that this post is not sponsored in any way. We buy products ourselves, with our own money, and don’t accept exchanging goods or money for reviews. We are completely independent, and our reviews reflect that.