Best Eye Cream for Ocular Rosacea?

You've found the best eye drops for ocular rosacea, but that's not the only consideration. You need an eye cream. You need to make sure your eyelids, both upper and lower, are healthy.

My dermatologist recommends washing my eyelids daily and using an eyelid wipe before bed. This removes any dirt and oil from getting into the pores in the lash line. That's easy, but what about a moisturizer for around the eyes?

Keep It Simple

What you don't want are creams that are heavily fragranced or contain ingredients that your body finds irritating. Perfumes can make your eyes sting and water. Some ingredients can lead to contact dermatitis. You'll find your eyelids become red, irritated, and can even blister and peel.

I try to stick to products for sensitive skin or babies. I look specifically for creams with natural ingredients that I know my skin can tolerate. The eyelids are delicate, so I am very careful with what I put on them. In my family, quarternium is a problem. Some of the natural products, such as Aveeno Positively Radiant, can contain quarternium. I read labels and avoid products that list it.

My Three Favorites

Unlike the rest of my face that can range between normal/oily in the summer to normal/dry in the winter, my eyelids rarely get dry and oil's never been a problem. Given that, these are the three eye creams I stick to.

• Rosacea Care - Sensitive Skin Eye Cream : I like this cream because it has natural ingredients. It contains borage oil, chaste tree extract, fatty acids, glycerin, jasmine, meadowfoam seed oil, shea butter, vitamin K, water, and whey protein. It does have mica, which may irritate some people's skin, but it doesn't mine. The other ingredient to know about is titanium dioxide. It's a mineral that protects against some UV rays. If you're sensitive to it, avoid this cream.
• Soothe: E-raorganics is a very gentle moisturizer with ingredients that soothe irritation and ease redness. Ingredients include aloe vera, avocado oil, chamomile, cocoa butter, coconut oil, milk thistle, and a sulfur compound known as methylsulfonylmethane (MSM). MSM is still being discussed, but many have found it useful in reducing irritation and inflammation.
• Weleda Baby Calendula Face Cream : Weleda has been around since 1921. Ingredients in their products are natural and kept to a minimum. Ingredients in the face cream are almond oil, water, lanolin, beeswax, calendula, and some other oils such as limonene (found in citrus peel) and geraniol (rose, palm rose, and citronella). They do add fragrance. I can use it because the fragrance is mild. I highly recommend getting hold of a sample if possible to see if your eyes are sensitive to the mild fragrance.

When possible, reach out to companies and see if they have sample packs of eye creams for rosacea available. It's best to start small and see how it goes. I'm always scanning for samples and posting them in the Facebook group.