Dr. Hauschka Eye Contour Day Balm

I recently realized I left this product out of my Winter Proof Your Skin post and I really shouldn't have. Dr. Hauschka's eye balm has been a staple in my skin care routine this fall and winter and it has kept the sensitive skin around my eye soothed and protected. This is a great product for those with very dry flaky skin.

 I want to start by saying that this isn't my favorite eye cream. I haven't been terribly impressed with eye creams in the course of my life, but if I had to pick a favorite it would be Dr. Hauschka's Daily Revitalizing Eye Cream. However, I ordered the balm and decided to keep it. Given the price point of these products (and the fact that this is still a good product) I decided I wouldn't order the Daily Revitilizing Eye Cream until I finish this balm. After owning this for a little while I realized it has some really great advantages and unfortunately, some problems as well. Let's get to it then!

This is really a great protective balm for very harsh winter days when the weather is dry and you have insane amounts of gelid wind blowing on your face and you think your face is just gonna freeze and fall off (am I exagerating? It's really how I feel sometimes…). Bottom line, this is a THICK greasy balm that will stay as a layer around your eye area and help protect it. Think about your lip balm and how you can feel it on your lips for a long, long time (if it's a good lip balm, of course), this leaves the same texture around your eyes. Check out what it looks like in the pot (forgive me, I've been using this for a while…)

I've been using this for about 4 months.
It will definitely last you a while

Hopefully you can see that it's a very thick product. That makes it great to wear under very dry concealers. I have tried a few concealers that were much too dry to go on bare skin or on top of a thin eye cream, aka, Lise Watier Portfolio Professional Correctors which is a great concealer but was much too dry until I tried it over this eye balm. Make Up Forever Full Cover Concealer has the same issue for me (reviews to come!). What I'll do with this is take a tiny bit, warm it up between my fingers, put this eye balm on, go eat my breakfast and when I'm done, I'll go apply concealer. This allows some of the product to get absorbed, but be forewarned, even an hour after you put this on, it will not be completely absorbed, you will still feel it around your eye. However, even if it's not completely absorbed, it mixes beautifully with the two concealers I just mentioned and their application goes on much much smoother than ever before and still with the perfect amount of full coverage that both concealers give. There's something else that must be mentioned, this has helped smooth out tiny wrinkles around my eyes. I thought it was only fair to mention it because even though I don't have very deep wrinkles yet, I do have the odd line here and there that have started to bother me and I did notice that the area around my eyes is visibly smoother after using this balm.

Now, while the thick nature of this balm works really well for me in the winter for all the reasons I described above, I realize that I probably wouldn't need this year-round. Also, I know that for a lot of people, my pluses are going to be more of a problem than an advantage. The balmy texture means this doesn't absorb easily. So you can forget about putting your makeup on right after you put this on. Eyeshadow will crease over this, even if you don't have naturally oily lids. I also imagine that creamy concealers are gonna get really slippery and probably crease as well. If you do have oily lids, I imagine you won't like the feel of this. Even on my extremely dry skin, this looks shiny and greasy after I apply it. Also, I don't feel that this does anything for dark circles and puffiness. It's just a good, moisturizing, protective balm for very dry skin that peels and flakes. 

INGREDIENTS: Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Arachis Hypogaea (Peanut) Oil, Beeswax (Cera Alba), Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Root Extract, Anthyllis Vulneraria Extract, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Hypericum Perforatum Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Silk (Serica) Powder, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract, Fragrance (Parfum), Citronellol*, Geraniol*, Limonene*, Linalool*, Citral*, Eugenol*, Farnesol*, Lecithin *Component of natural essential oils

PRICE: $51.95 (1.7 fl. oz)

CONS: Expensive, greasy, probably unsuitable for oily skins. Doesn't help with dark circles or puffiness.

BOTTOM LINE: Very good moisturizing protective balm for sensitive dry skin prone to flaking during the winter. Those with oily lids will probably want to skip this. It isn't really a product to use year-round because in the warmer months, it would be a bit of an over-kill, in my opinion. It's definitely Sensitastic approved. 

WHERE TO BUY:Whole foods

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