After six weeks, we were really impressed that our eyes looked much less puffy and this solution made the skin around our eyes feel smooth and firm.
As for dark circles, The Ordinary’s Caffeine Solution did take a little longer to make a noticeable difference to skin tone but it’s the brightest our eyes have looked in ages, so it’s worth the wait. We can only imagine what the impact would be if our dark circles were particularly bad or we had large eye bags.
If you’re after a product that targets wrinkles and fine lines, though, you may need to look elsewhere.
This Caffeine Solution does the job it sets out to do very well, but it’s not a catch-all solution for all your eye concerns.
At this price, though, we can’t ask for more than that!
| Lookfantastic | £5.85 |
The Ordinary launched in 2016 in a bid to disrupt the beauty industry. Taking all of its makeup and skincare products right back to basics, it offers super cheap yet highly effective creams, lotions, and serums including the product we’ve spent the past six weeks reviewing – The Ordinary Caffeine Solution.
Technically called The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% EGCG – which is quite a mouthful – this solution contains a high 5% concentration of caffeine alongside Epigallocatechin Gallatyl Glucoside (EGCG).
EGCG is found in green tea leaves and has been clinically proven to reduce inflammation. It’s also a great antioxidant.
READ NEXT: The best The Ordinary products for every skin concern
Eye bags are caused by a build up of water and fat, while dark circles are caused by poor blood circulation. To counteract this build up and poor circulation, the solution uses caffeine to boost blood flow and reduce water retention.
Independent studies have shown that use of both caffeine and EGCG on the skin can help puffiness and of dark circles in the eye contour. Additional studies have shown that caffeine can also reduce the appearance of cellulite.
Buy now from Lookfantastic
As you can read in our Spotlight on The Ordinary, we’re huge fans of what The Ordinary is doing with its skincare and makeup range, and what it stands for. We’ve previously covered its online consultations, and selected what we consider to be the best The Ordinary products for different skin concerns.
In order to see whether The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% EGCG is worthy of a spot on that list, we used it every day and night for six weeks on cleansed and toned skin, before we applied moisturiser.
READ NEXT: Best eye cream for dark circles and bags
This involved tapping a full dropper of solution onto the skin around the eyes, including where our Crow’s Feet are and on the skin above the eye socket, gently.
Buy now from LookfantasticPlace a drop or two of the Caffeine Solution on the skin under each eye and massage it onto the eye contour both in the morning and before bed.
Because it uses active ingredients, make sure you do a patch test first and if at any point you get any irritation as a result of using The Ordinary Caffeine Solution, stop using and speak to a skin expert.
You can also speak to a The Ordinary consultant online for advice or eye serums and solutions that are better suited to sensitive skin.
Do not use The Ordinary Caffeine Solution on unbroken skin.
The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG has a medium to a thick consistency. Its colour resembles pale amber and it has a faint chemical smell
The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG has a medium to a thick consistency. Its colour resembles pale amber and it has a faint chemical smell.
For a product called a solution, and one that costs so little, we had expected it to be really runny so this formula surprised us by how thick it is. Yet as soon as the solution came into contact with the heat of our skin, it started to feel more watery.
We’d actually put the texture of The Ordinary Caffeine Solution closed to that of a serum, and as a result it absorbs just as quickly as other serums we’ve used.
It doesn’t sit heavy on the skin (when the ideal amount is applied) not does it take a lot of rubbing and massaging in. This is a plus.
However, as we’ve experienced with a number of other The Ordinary products, namely the Multi-Peptide Hair Density Serum, the use of a dropper can prove tricky.
We either use too little, or use too much and in the case of its Caffeine Solution, it always erred on the side of the latter.
Given that a bottle of the Caffeine Solution doesn’t cost that much, it’s not quite as painful as if this solution cost a fortune and we were wasting it but this was a minor annoyance and it did result in over rubbing the eye skin. Something we try to avoid as the skin around eyes is so fragile and becomes damaged easily.
Buy now from LookfantasticOur skin tone around our eye and particularly on our eyelid is more even and less orange. Our eye doesn’t look as swollen or puffy and dark shadows on the corner of the outer edge are less noticeable
The impact on the before and after photos above don’t look hugely drastic but, as you can see, our skin tone around our eye and particularly on our eyelid is more even and less orange.
Our eye doesn’t look as swollen or puffy and dark shadows on the corner of the outer edge are less noticeable.
After six weeks, we were really impressed that our eyes looked much less puffy and this solution made the skin around our eyes feel smooth and firm.
As for dark circles, The Ordinary’s Caffeine Solution did take a little longer to make a noticeable difference to skin tone but it’s the brightest our eyes have looked in ages, so its worth the wait.
We can only imagine what the impact would be if our dark circles were particularly bad or we had large eye bags.
If you’re after a product that targets wrinkles and fine lines, though, you may need to look elsewhere. This Caffeine Solution does the job it sets out to do very well, but it’s not a catch-all solution for all your eye concerns. At this price, though, we can’t ask for more than that!
Buy now from LookfantasticGiven that The Ordinary Caffeine Solution doesn’t tick every eye care box, we’ve selected some alternatives that offer a wider range of results. The Olay cream is much more expensive, though.
You can read more about both in our best eye cream roundup.
£12.49 (on sale) | Buy now from Amazon
Olay’s fantastic Ultimate Eye Cream is a 3-in-1 wonder product. It smoothes fine lines and wrinkles, helps get rid of dark circles and reduces puffiness. It even has a colour-correcting formula with peptides and vitamins. Over time, skin tone around your eyes will even out and your skin will feel and look smoother.
It usually retails for £25 but is on offer (at the time of writing) for £12.49.
Buy now from Amazon£11.80 | Buy now from Typology
Typology Skincare’s Eye Serum contains three key active ingredients to target these problems: Caffeine, Niacinamide and Albizia Julibrissin extract
Typology Skincare’s Eye Serum contains three key active ingredients to target these problems: Caffeine, Niacinamide and Albizia Julibrissin extract.
Caffeine helps improve blood circulation and reduce water retention, helping to get rid of dark circles under the eyes.
Niacinamide, a form of Vitamin B3 similarly improves the regulation of blood circulation in the capillary veins (small blood vessels around the eyes) and can reduce redness.
Meanwhile, Albizia Julibrissin extract restores radiance to the skin. Read more in our guide to Typology Skincare.
Buy now from Typology
