Clinique All About Eyes

I completely forgot how long it took me to use up the tiny .17 fl oz. (5mL) GWP jar of Clinique All About Eyes Rich last winter and, on a whim, started using this same size .17 fl oz. (5mL) GWP tube of the "regular" All About Eyes. Well, okay, it wasn't a whim but really a safety measure to all the new sunscreens I'm trying out lately. 

I have combination skin that's dry around my eye areas, my cheeks, mouth area, and chin but is oily on my eye lids and t-zones. Very annoying, and tricky. Earlier in the trial phase of the Mentholatum Skin Aqua UV Sara Sara Milk, I skipped moisturizers because I liked the sunscreen's matte finish better, especially since it lasts a couple of hours longer than the semi-matte finish with moisturizers underneath. I did not skip eye cream however, given my eye area is extremely dry (aside from the oily lids). When Estee Lauder Re-Nutriv Ultimate Youth Eye Cream was not enough to counter the alcohol in this sunscreen, I traded it for this Clinique All About Eyes. 

Everything seemed fine at first. All About Eyes is a semi-translucent skin-colored gel-cream that feels moisturizing and comfortable going on. It does take longer to absorb and when it did, it left a slight greasiness, which should have been a red flag but, silly me, I ignored it. Big mistake. It totally melted the sunscreen I layered on top and stained my contact lenses even though I made an effort to work around my oily lids. That means I can no longer use it during the daytime and had to revert to the safety of the BeautyMate Nano Eye Essence, which has not melt any of my sunscreen yet, knock on wood. And all the claims Clinique had for this, how it helps to keep eye makeup in place and depuffs, nope, not with me. Hell, if it melts even my water-resistant sunscreen, what eye makeup will stand a chance? Who are they kidding?

***Picture from Clinique USA.

For night use, though it's great. Then again, I'm not looking for a nighttime eye cream because pretty much every other eye cream out there is a nighttime eye cream for me since they all melt my sunscreen. I guess that means I'm still on the hunt for a new daytime eye cream that is moisturizing enough to counter my sunscreen but at the same time will not dissolve it and stain my contact lenses, both of which have been proven to be quite a task. 

Out of all the eye creams I have tried so far, only the below can be worn during the daytime for me. Some of them are better than others, but none of them are quite right:

- Caudalie Pulpe Vitaminee Eye and Lip Cream: the best of the bunch, works perfectly well year round but its retail price is too expensive for my taste. But I'll have you know I've been watching Caudalie like a hawk, waiting for a good promotion ^.^

- BeautyMate Nano Eye Essence: budget friendly and good for the summer but only okay for the winter, sometimes still not moisturizing enough.

- DHC Eye Bright: Not cheap, but not too pricey either. For summer use only and even then, nowhere adequate for the more drying sunscreens like the Mentholatum Skin Aqua UV Sara Sara Milk.

- Avon Solutions Plus Total Radiance Eye Gel: same price range as the BeautyMate eye cream. For summer use only and even then, it's just average. Damn, I sound like a picky beeyotch! ^.^'

- Avon Hydrofirming Eye Cream: budget friendly and is decent for year round use. I just got bored of it after using up several jars, and Avon discontinued it anyway. Oh well...

- Olay Age Defying Revitalizing Eye Gel: budget friendly but is for summer use only and not adequate for winter use. I just checked out its official Olay page again and it seems this eye gel has been reformulated with a longer list of ingredients, one of which is alcohol. Too bad.