When I saw Atwater was a men’s brand, I was turned off. But when I saw it was founded by Kiehl’s former president (Chris Salgardo), I was back on it!
I used to be a giant fan of Kiehl’s products—both for the formulations and also for the return program they used to have (rip).
I don’t really believe in men’s skincare as a separate category because there are so many products that work for men in a “standard” skincare line. So why do we need to separate it out?
But my curiosity definitely got the best of me, and I tried out their Eye Armor Eye Cream ($29 at Nordstrom, Bluemercury, and Bloomingdale’s).
Atwater Eye Armor Review
Let’s get into the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good
Nourishing Eye Cream
The texture of this product is pretty thick, and it feels like you’re putting a butter onto your skin. It’s really nice and feels extremely nourishing. i would say it does melt into the skin, instead of feeling like it is heavy under your eye.
It creates a very thin layer of product on your eye, which feels super wearable through the day.
Fair Price
At $29, this eye cream is happily in the mid-section in terms of pricing. I’ve used $60-100 eye serums/creams and i think $29 is a very fair price for what this product is. It’s got a good bang for your buck without offering the full showcase of bells and whistles you could get at super-high price points.
Stacked Ingredient List
There are tons of moisturizing oils and waxes in this product, which give it that rich, buttery feel to it. But it also has your common skincare workhorses like niacinamide, caffeine, shea butter, and aloe juice. It also has multiple yeast ferments, which help give more plump-looking skin.
You’ll also find urea in this product, which has been increasing in popularity for skincare ingredients. It’s moisturizing and exfoliating, and many brands have been launching products with it recently—like the Prequel Urea Advanced Relief Moisturizing Milk.
Needle-nose Packaging
To be honest, this was the first time I used an eye cream that had a needle nose to it. The only other times I’ve seen this style of packaging was for lip products or spot products (like the Inkey List Succinic Acid Acne Treatment).
My biggest complaint with eye creams is usually that I don’t scoop out the right amount or it pumps out way too much. My eyes can truly only take so much product!
With the needle nose, you’re able to more accurately control the amount to get the Goldilocks dollop.
The Bad
Dry/Matte Finish
You’re welcome to fight me on this, but I want my eye cream to be at least semi-dewy. Like I want my undereyes to be hydrated and glowy.
The Atwater eye cream has a nice matte finish, which I would honestly love in an overall face moisturizer (and to be completely honest, the finish reminds me of the Anthony Skincare Instant Fix Oil Control). But at my big age, I do want my undereyes to look a little brighter and glowier so they don’t look as depressed and tired.
I think the silica that’s pretty high up on the ingredient list here is what’s responsible both for the matte finish and also the spread/sensorial nature of the product.
And yes, I did talk about this product being like a butter. However, it is not like body butter or other “butter”-type products that melt all over your skin and make it oily/dewy. It just gets thinner and then looks the same i.e. matte.
Uneven spreading
The thick buttery texture of this product is both a blessing and a curse. It’s nice because it feels like an occlusive layer (which we all can benefit from, at least from time to time). But it is also annoying because it created uneven spreading.
Another balm/butter-like product that I recently experienced this uneven spreading was the Biossance Squalane + Ectoin Overnight Rescue. Just like how this Atwater eye cream starts out as a thick butter, the Biossance overnight mask spreads into a thin layer on the skin but quickly becomes streaky. Some parts have lines of white balm leftover, some of them have no residue. They both just do not play well on the skin.
You can also feel just the slightest bit of “grit” from the silica when you spread the product out.
Hard to Squeeze Out
Yes, I did say the needle-nose tube was a pro before for delivering the right amount of product. However, combined with the thick balm-like texture of this eye cream, it makes it hard to squeeze out.
I have only used the Atwater Eye Armor for a few days now, but I am predicting that when I get to the end of the tube, it’ll be nearly impossible for me to evacuate all of the bulk. There will likely be a ton left over when I cut open the tube.
Final Thoughts on Atwater’s Eye Cream
I think this is a solid offering for people who want a matte eye cream. I know a lot of people do not want anything to look dewy or oily, and I think this is a great product for them. The ingredients are great, the price is reasonable, and the usage is acceptable.
If this doesn’t sound like your perfect eye cream, here are some options I loved:
Allies of Skin Peptides & Omega Firming Eye Cream: Review, $85 on Amazon
Biossance Squalane + Marine Algae Eye Cream: $56 on Sephora
Good Molecules Yerba Mate Wake-Up Eye Gel: $6 on Ulta
So, are you going to pick up any Atwater products?
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