Lavender Tea Eye Gel Patch
Ingredients
water, glycerin, niacinamide, carrageenan, ceratonia siliqua gum, butylene glycol, cyamopsis tetragonoloba gum, hydroxyacetophenone, glucomannan, propanediol, calcium chloride, chlorphenesin, allantoin, lavandula angustifolia flower powder, pentylene glycol, cellulose gum, polyglyceryl-10 laurate, betaine, potassium chloride, pinus sylvestris leaf extract, ci 77742, sucrose, calcium lactate, adenosine, disodium edta, cocos nucifera fruit extract, arginine, dipotassium glycyrrhizate, ethylhexylglycerin, lavandula angustifolia oil (Air-Sensitive), bellis perennis flower extract, sodium hyaluronate, ledum palustre extract, saururus chinensis extract, houttuynia cordata extract, artemisia capillaris flower extract, ecklonia cava extract, honey extract, 1, 2-hexanediol, camellia sinensis leaf extract, tocopherol, hibiscus sabdariffa flower extract, rosa canina fruit extract, lippia citriodora leaf extract, tilia europaea flower extract, lavandula angustifolia flower extract, thymus vulgaris leaf extract, mentha piperita leaf extract, rosa damascena flower extract, melissa officinalis leaf extract, salvia officinalis leaf extract, rosmarinus officinalis leaf extract, linalool
This is the worst rating I've personally given a product. The brands instructs to leave eye patches on for 20–30 minutes, but I can barely make it to 15 before the stinging around the tops of my cheekbones becomes too uncomfortable.
And I wouldn't mind stinging if this was a formula made purposefully with aggressive actives. I've used strong vitamin C and chemical exfoliant products to know that sometimes, a tingling sensation is part of the process - although that has never happened for a product marketed for the eye area.
The ingredient list starts with glycerin and niacinamide, followed by a whole collection of humectants and water-binding ingredients including butylene glycol, propanediol, pentylene glycol and betaine. There's also sodium hyaluronate, so from a purely hydrating perspective, this should be a pretty sensible eye patch. It even has some soothing ingredients, like allantoin and dipotassium glycyrrhizate, while adenosine is a legitimate anti-ageing ingredient with evidence for improving the appearance of fine lines. There's also tocopherol, plus a list of antioxidant-rich extracts.
None of these make my skin react. There's also no exfoliating acid or retinoid here that I could attribute the stinging .
So what makes this so bad? And what makes it sting?
The obvious thing to look at is the fragrance load. And ironically, the biggest culprit seems to be the thing they advertise the most. This contains lavender flower powder, lavender flower extract and, worst of all, lavender oil, quite high up in the ingredients list. It also contains linalool, a recognised fragrance allergen.
Lavender oil contains fragrance compounds that can irritate or sensitise skin, and the eye area is probably the last place where I want a product to introduce a fragrant cocktail, especially in the concentrated format of a mask.
The brand also claims that lavender flower extract is “renowned for its firming property.” That was news to me; I had never heard of "firming properties" being associated with any lavender-derived ingredients. I went looking and couldn't find good clinical evidence to back up that claim. There are laboratory and animal studies looking at lavender preparations related to collagen production, but they involve things like lavender essential oil, fermented lavender extract or wound-healing models, rather than lavender flower extract being used on intact human skin. So while there is some preliminary research around lavender and collagen-related processes, calling it “renowned for its firming property” makes the evidence sound considerably more established than it actually is.
I won't be using these again on my face. I was wondering where else I could use them (on my body) that wouldn't trigger such a reaction, but eye patches are a weird thing to repurpose. I might just toss them.