Becca Anti-Fatigue Under Eye Primer Not Doing Much for These Puffy Eyes
I recently purchased Becca Anti-Fatigue Under Eye Primer not only because I wanted to review it but also, because it was a product I was highly interested in trying out for myself since I fit right into the target audience for this type of product.
It’s actually an eye balm which promises to have a cooling effect once applied that smooths and blurs finer lines while reducing puffiness. I am a strong believer that in order to conceal my puffy eyes I need a solid, pigmented concealer. And for finer lines? Moisture is the key element for making them less visible in my opinion. There’s nothing like dryness to make finer lines look more prominent.
At a glance, with its bright blue tint I expected this to be something along the lines of Thierry Mugler Cooling Effect Concealer but after reading the ingredients I realized there were going for a more Mally Beauty Poreless Face Defender style of product. Speaking of which Mally Beauty Perfect Prep Eye Primer or Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch would actually do a much better job of prepping your eyes compared to Becca Anti-Fatigue Under Eye Primer did for me.
So, buckle up kids, save your money, and jump ahead for my thoughts and review on this product.
I love the idea of a product that can be used to prep for concealer which also acts to depuff. According to Becca they load this up with caffeine which is actually quite a great ingredient for puffy eyes however, it won’t necessarily work if your puffiness is due to aging issues. I have actually given up hope on products that promise to depuff my eyes and just rely on concealer to diffuse their appearance because my puffiness is simply due to aging and no eye cream or special treatment is going to help me. Sometimes you have to be real with yourself and stop convincing yourself that $90 eye cream is going to reduce puffiness, treat dark circles, and make you like 16 again.
If you look at the ingredients on Becca’s balm a lot of it is silicone based which isn’t a bad thing at all. The silicones act to thicken these balm up and allow it to “fill” finer lines. If you’ve used products like Mally Beauty Poreless Face Defender, Covergirl Tru Magic Skin Perfector Mattifier, or Revlon Photoready Prime + Anti Shine you’ll completely understand the texture. In some of my reviews of those products I compared the consistency and formula to a solid form of a silicone facial primer. It’s like they took Smashbox Photo Finish Primer and squeezed it into a compact and left it to set. That’s essentially what this is! A solid silicone-based primer. That means, you actually don’t have to spend $32 on Becca’s Anti-Fatigue Under Eye Primer because you likely already have some solid facial primer in your stash already! Maybe you even use one daily! I know I’m a huge lover of Mally’s Poreless Face Defender and it’ll do exactly what Becca’s formula does only better.
On that note, I will say that Becca has packed with a few ingredients that might prove more beneficial than ones you’d fine in a solid facial primer such as Sodium Hyaluronate and caffeine for those who just have puffy eyes due to lack of sleep, too much gaming, or allergies. Sodium Hyaluronate is lower on the list but it’ll help to retain moisture under drier eyes and will even fill out finer lines.
However, after using this several days I can’t say I experienced much difference. I find the formula isn’t as soft and pliable as some of the solid facial primers I already have. When I run my finger across it I barely pick up product. If you press hard in you’ll break the surface and get a creamier, silky balm however, you have to be careful with placement as too much will pill under drier, finely lined eyes which will result in less than smooth coverage of your concealer. I tried it using this method and didn’t really love the results. It pilled really badly and I had little chunks of primer under my eyes.
So, here’s the deal.
If you already have very smooth, soft under eyes you’re in lucky as this might just make a great silky base for your concealer to adhere to. I’d say if you’re in your early to late twenties you’ll notice it applies beautifully. However, if you’re pushing 30 and the finer lines are creeping in along with dryness you might not see as great a results.
In my opinion, those with drier eyes will see more benefits from applying their eye cream and a small dollop of facial oil under their eyes to prep for concealer. You really don’t need a silicone balm under your eyes that will likely pill. For those with oily skin you might experience better results as you’ll get a nice silky smooth matte surface for concealer to adhere to. But again, if you have finer lines you may notice pilling.
I don’t see how this does anything different that a solid facial primer would do aside from a few extra ingredients that may or may not plump up fine lines and reduce puffiness. I was reading reviews that mentioned seeing instant results and puffiness disappearing right away. I have to admit I felt slightly skeptical about those miraculous results but everyone is different and maybe they did experience such great results. I, however, did not. If you already own a solid facial balm I’d recommend trying that under your eyes and seeing how things go. If you like the results maybe you’ll want to step up your game and splurge on Becca Anti-Fatigue Under Eye Primer.
As for me? It was a miss.
Becca Anti-Fatigue Under Eye Primer is available now at sephora.com and ulta.com.