Anti-aging for the undereye area can be such a pain. Moisturizers do help plump up and smooth out the skin, but many eye creams aren’t worth their price due to a low concentration of actives, while in my experience, many facial moisturizers irritate my eyes thanks to fragrances and the like. Actives like AHAs, retinoids, and vitamin C are fantastic for addressing fine lines and building collagen on the rest of the face, but many people (like me) are hesitant to put stronger actives around our eyes due to concerns about irritation and temporary thinning of the skin due to accelerated cell turnover. On the other hand, patch-style eye masks work great for delivering actives deeply to skin. Even dermatologists agree that sheet mask-style treatments are more effective than serums and other products. But many eye patches are just too pricey to use every day. Consistent everyday use is the most reliable way to see results from any skin treatment.

For all these reasons, I was super excited to find a tub of 60 Berrisom Placenta Firming Hydro Gel Eye Patches for a very decent price during one of my May (I think) restocks. 60 is a full month’s worth of masks if used once a day, and the price I found them for worked out to about $1 per use–a very decent cost per use compared to the other eye masks I’ve tried.

Purpose: Berrisom Placenta Firming Hydro Gel Eye Patches aim to hydrate, brighten, and firm the undereye area.

Do not use if: You have an eye condition that causes sensitivity of the eyes or undereye area, are vegan, and/or are sensitive to plant extracts or anything else in the ingredients list.

When and how to use: After cleansing and applying your normal toners, essences, serums, and/or ampoules but before your moisturizing creams, open up the jar and take out two patches with the spatula. Apply patches to your undereye area, wider side towards the center of your face. After 20-30 minutes, remove and pat in remaining serum. Moisturize.

Ingredients list:  Water, glycerin, chondrus crispus (carrageenan), butylene glycol, betaine, placental protein, camellia japonica flower water, brassica oleracea italica (broccoli) extract, solanum lycopersicum (tomato) fruit extract, brassica oleracea capitata (cabbage) leaf extract, acer saccharum (sugar maple) extract, chamomilla recutita (matricaria) flower extract, hydrolyzed collagen, rubus idaeus (raspberry) fruit extract, vaccinium macrocarpon (cranberry) fruit extract, cornus offincinalis fruit extract, prunus serotina (wild cherry) fruit extract, punica granatum fruit extract, camellia sinensis leaf extract, ceratonia siliqua gum, sodium hyaluronate, centella asiatica extract, arbutin, adenosine, cyamopsis tetragonoloba (guar) gum, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, oenothera biennis (evening primrose) oil, allantoin, calcium chloride, ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, PEG-60 hydrogenated castor oil, fragrance, methylparaben, chlorphenesin, phenoxyethanol, disodium EDTA, mica, tin oxide, iron oxides (CI 77492), titanium dioxide

Notable ingredients: Whoa. Placenta. Freaky.

A number of skincare brands both Asian and Western sell placenta-based products, many of them at horrifically inflated prices, all of them touting the anti-aging, skin-rejuvenating powers of, um, afterbirth.

(Some products use plant placenta instead, which is less freaky but also less sexy from a marketing standpoint, I suppose. I quite like the Tony Moly Pureness 100 Placenta sheet masks.)

The placenta Berrisom uses is extracted from mammals, according to the Wishtrend product page. (Which mammals???) The marketing-speak on that page claims that the nutritious, protein-rich placenta extract will firm the skin. In a Japanese study conducted in vitro and published in 2013, porcine placenta increased collagen production, thus showing promise for diminishing facial wrinkles. I couldn’t find reliable in vivo (on live test subjects) studies. FutureDerm is skeptical of placenta’s skincare potential. But if nothing else, placental protein is likely at least a decent emollient moisturizer.

Anyway, I’m more excited about the arbutin and adenosine in this product. Arbutin, a gentler cousin of hydroquinone, is an effective skin lightener, so if you have dark circles caused by pigmentation under your eyes, or if you’re like me and have stubborn sunspots high on your stupid sun-catching cheekbones, daily masking with an arbutin-containing product will likely help fade the excess color. Adenosine, as I discussed recently, is one of my new favorite ingredients for firming and anti-aging. This product is actually the reason I started paying more attention to adenosine. Berrisom also packed a whole Souplantation salad bar’s worth of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant fruit and vegetable extracts into the serum, as well as other botanical ingredients. Cool.

Performance

As I mentioned before, Berrisom Placenta Firming Eye Patches come in a tub of 60, enough for daily use for a month. Awesome.

For extra anti-puffiness power, I keep my tub of eye patches in the refrigerator, right next to my C21.5 vitamin C serum and the box of randomly selected, chilled sheet masks that I and Mr. Crazy Snail Lady dip into when we need an icy slap of hydration. Yeah, that’s right. Mr. CSL loves masking now. Talk about the perfect man.

The Berrisom eye patches are quite thin, a serious plus when it comes to eye masks. I recently tried a couple other eye gels that were incredibly thick and therefore too heavy to stay put. It’s incredibly infuriating to try to do anything while struggling to keep a pair of giant gel patches from sliding down one’s face like slugs having a swooning fit. These adhere nicely to the undereye area, and though they’re still a bit slidey at first, it isn’t unmanageable: just push them back up, and after a little of the serum sinks in, they’ll stay where they’re supposed to be. They feel almost weightless, and the cooling sensation is a bonus on groggy, cranky mornings. There’s a very faint fragrance, but it’s barely noticeable and doesn’t irritate my eyes at all. That’s a big deal, since my eyes usually water if fragrance gets anywhere near them.

After a little over two weeks, I’m about halfway through my tub of Berrisom Placenta Firming Hydro Gel Eye Patches, and I’m very impressed with the results.

Immediately after use, my eye area always feels nicely hydrated and plumped, but not wet or sticky. With most masks like these, the plumping effect will fade after a few hours, but with the Berrisom Placenta Firming Hydro Gel Eye Patches, I’ve noticed actual, lasting results. I have one somewhat deep smile line at the outer corner of each eye–a crow’s foot–as well as a few more shallow fine line warning signs. Regular use of these masks has already smoothed out the big line quite a bit and rendered the little lines almost invisible, and that’s not an effect that is gone by the end of the day. My eye area remains smooth even the next morning and even when I’m a little dehydrated. I was pretty amazed about a week ago when I noticed those improvements. I attribute the firming and smoothing both to the extra hydration and to the adenosine in the serum. My super clingy upper cheekbone sunspots, meanwhile, are lightening up, most likely due to the daily dose of arbutin.

As a final bonus, around the middle of the tub, you’ll notice that the masks are absolutely swimming in extra serum. I’m guessing I’ll be able to get quite a few extra uses out of this tub by soaking regular cotton pads in the excess liquid for DIY eye treatment after all the gels are gone. The serum would also be excellent for DIY face masks as well, if you have blank mask sheets handy.

Conclusion: These masks exceeded my expectations by a lot. I didn’t think they’d have any real, positive effect on the fine lines around my eyes. I thought they’d just be a nice extra layer of moisture to help my undereye concealer sit better. The visible improvement to my crow’s foot and little crow’s talons has gotten me to commit to making these a part of my daily morning skincare routine.

Rating: 4/5

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Where can I buy Berrisom Placenta Firming Hydro Gel Eye Patches?

I searched my usual sellers for these patches and came up with two options. The jar of 60 Berrisom Placenta Firming Hydro Gel Eye Patches is available from:

• Amazon.com for $50.38 with free shipping (affiliate link)
• Wishtrend for $32 plus shipping

I’m planning to keep buying mine from Wishtrend, as I usually get several items at a time, and that will help cut down the per-item shipping cost.

Do you use eye patches? Which are your favorite (and least favorite)?