15 Best Korean Eye Creams for Dark Circles, Fine Lines, and Puffiness

“This eye cream is just incredibly luxurious, without the luxury price tag,” says Wu. “The texture is on the thicker side, but it’s not greasy and doesn’t cause any irritation or milia around my eyes. I love how hydrating the formula is, and the ingredients really help my eye area feel bouncier and smoother as soon as I apply.”

Best Korean Eye Cream for Mature Skin: TirTir Collagen Lifting Eye Cream

TirTir Collagen Lifting Eye Cream pairs hydrating, firming, and smoothing ingredients with a cooling metal roller that instantly helps take down your morning puffiness. While all skin types can get in on this formula, it’s particularly great for mature skin and for targeting the signs of aging like fine lines and crepiness. Along with popular hydrating ingredients like avocado oil and plant-based collagen, it also contains peptides to help firm and niacinamide to help smooth and keep your skin supple.

“I always enjoy an eye cream with a built-in massager,” says Wu. “This formula makes my undereyes feel firmer and look more refreshed, and I love that the ingredients list features dermatologist favorites like peptides. The texture is both lightweight and nourishing, so I can easily use this in both my morning and evening skin care routines.”

Best Korean Eye Cream for Puffiness: Chasin Rabbits Bunny Line Smoother

The cooling sensation of this eye cream roller not only helps with blood circulation, but it also makes for an enjoyable sensory experience during your skincare routine. Sarah Chung Park, founder and CEO of Landing, agrees and loves the Chasin Rabbits Bunny Line Smoother for that reason. “It’s a refreshing roller that instantly cools and smooths my undereyes, [making it] perfect for mornings when I wake up puffy,” says Park. You’ll find a lightweight formula made with probiotics, matcha, and Plukenetia Volubilis seed oil, a cold-pressed oil from a vine plant found in the Amazon rainforest, to reduce the appearance of those under eye bags.

Glamour senior commerce editor Jenifer Calle is also a fan. “I wake up with very puffy eyes and I love the cooling sensation of this eye cream roller. I also like that it’s so lightweight. In the past I’ve been plagued with milia from using heavy eye creams but I don’t have to worry about that with this one. I actually use it in the evenings and mornings.”

Best Korean Eye Cream for Dark Circles: Belif Aqua Bomb Eye Gel

Glamour editors chose Belif’s The True Cream Aqua Bomb as one of the best Korean moisturizers, and the Belif Aqua Bomb Eye Gel is just as good. It’s also a dermatologist pick for its instant depuffing effects. “I love the instant cooling effect you get when applying this eye gel,” says Dr. Chang. “It also absorbs into the skin well so that makeup can be applied smoothly after, without any pilling.” The formula contains caffeine, which Dr. Chang says “reduces swelling around the eyelids,” along with niacinamide and vitamin C “to brighten dark circles” and hyaluronic acid “to improve hydration.” Part of the depuffing effect comes from the cooling ceramic tip, which she advises using “to massage the eye area and help drain away swelling.”

Wu has used this eye gel since it launched and still keeps it in her regular rotation for combatting dark circles. “I give myself a little massage with this every morning, and it feels heavenly. Combined with a giant iced coffee and a layer of concealer, it actually makes me look and feel like I got a solid night’s sleep,” says Wu.

Best Korean Eye Cream for Mature Skin: Sulwhasoo Concentrated Ginseng Rejuvenating Eye Cream

Original photo from Audrey Noble testing Sulwhasoo Concentrated Ginseng Rejuvenating Eye Cream

Sulwhasoo Concentrated Ginseng Rejuvenating Eye Cream

The hero ingredient in this Sulwhasoo eye cream is ginseng, which firms the skin to smooth out fine lines and help boost your skin’s natural radiance. As an added bonus, it’s super lightweight and blends so smoothly into the skin for easy application. In terms of cost per use, Glamour contributor Audrey Noble says it’s an investment that pays back in dividends—skin wise of course. “Can a $120 eye cream live up to its hype (a.k.a. steep asking price)? In the case of the Sulwhasoo Concentrated Ginseng Rejuvenating Eye Cream, absolutely,” she says.

Best Korean Eye Cream for Dry Eyes: Mixsoon Bean Eye Cream

Original photo from Audrey Noble testing

Another pick from Park, the Mixsoon Bean Eye Cream is ideal for those with dry skin. “It’s lightweight yet deeply hydrating; a perfect daily eye cream that layers well under makeup and brightens [skin] over time,” she says. It uses soybean amino acids, hibiscus syriacus callus extract, and phytoestrogen to improve uneven texture and your skin’s elasticity to smooth over those fine lines. As an added bonus, she says it’s gentle enough for even the most sensitive skin to use.

Best Korean Eye Cream for Fine Lines: CosRx Advanced Snail Peptide Eye Cream

Snail mucin is one of K-beauty’s most popular ingredients, and you can find it in Korean eye cream. Dr. Chang says “snail mucin contains a complex mix of glycoproteins, hyaluronic acid, glycolic acid, copper peptides, and antimicrobial peptides,” and the “potential benefits” include “improved hydration, brightening, soothing, and antiaging.” Although she adds that “unfortunately, large, randomized, controlled trials that specifically evaluate impact of snail mucin on human skin are lacking.” Still, CosRx Advanced Snail Peptide Eye Cream remains one of her personal favorite formulas. (The brand also makes one of the most popular Korean toners.) “It has 72% snail mucin to hydrate, soothe, and brighten the skin,” she says. “It’s also formulated with my favorite brightening ingredient, niacinamide, as well as five types of peptides to increase collagen production.”

Dr. Chang also recommends this eye cream if you have sensitive skin. “It’s very lightweight and has no fragrance,” she says. Cho swears by this formula for “gently filling in fine lines when my undereye area is dry, irritated, and crepey.” Like Dr. Chang, she notes that the formula “does not irritate,” so she applies it “all over my undereye and on my eyelids.”

Best Retinol Alternative Korean Eye Cream: SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Probio Cica Bakuchiol

Though it comes with loads of benefits, the sad truth about retinol is that it can be harsh on the skin. That’s where bakuchiol comes in. The retinol alternative gives the same exfoliating and smoothing benefits sans the irritation. Dr. Chung adds that the SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Probio Cica Bakuchiol eye cream also has hyaluronic acid and ceramides to help skin retain moisture.

Best Korean Eye Cream for Skin Barrier: Mizon Snail Repair Eye Cream

Vivian Chin, MD, MPH, cosmetic physician and founder of Koru Wellness & Aesthetics NYC, explains that Korean skincare’s snail mucin formulations can reach high concentrations compared to their western products, making them more effective.“It’s really the precise formulation methods and concentration balances that set them apart,” says Dr. Chin. Her pick is the Mizon Snail Repair Eye Cream, which contains 80% snail mucin, niacinamide, squalane and hyaluronic acid to maintain skin health and tackle the most pressing anti-aging concerns such as fine lines and dark circles.

Best Korean Eye Cream for Plumping: Swanicoco Fermentation Peptide Eye Cream

A personal favorite pick from Winnie Zhong, founder of the viral New York City-based Asian beauty store Senti Senti, the Swanicoco Fermentation Peptide Cream does a lot to help your eyes look brighter and more awake. It is packed with fermented peptides and epidermis growth factors to lift any sagging skin and strengthen the skin barrier. It’s also made with wild ginseng root to brighten those dark spots and glycerin to provide any needed hydration. Zhong’s pro-tip on finding the right Korean eye cream: find one you’ll actually use. “Wear one that you like in terms of texture,” she says. “And then focus on the functionality of the eye cream.”

Meet the experts

• Y. Claire Chang, MD, board-certified dermatologist at UnionDerm in New York City
• Christina Chung, MD, board-certified dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology in Pennsylvania
• Charlotte Cho, licensed esthetician in New York City and cofounder of Then I Met You skin care brand and Soko Glam online beauty retailer
• Fiona Stiles, celebrity makeup artist based in Los Angeles and founder of Reed Clarke online beauty retailer
• Vivian Chin, MD, MPH, cosmetic physician and founder of Koru Wellness & Aesthetics NYC
• Sarah Chung Park, founder and CEO of Landing International, a B2B platform bringing K-beauty brands to the US
• Winnie Zhong, founder of the viral New York City-based Asian beauty store Senti Senti