First of all, a big apology to the people at Korres! Last July I attended a Korres event and received the Korres Wild Rose Eye Cream with SPF15 for review.
I would have done the review sooner, but things cropped up and before I knew it I was on student exchange in Switzerland for 4 months. Before I knew it, I was back in Singapore and school was in full swing. I'm almost nearing the end of the semester now, and exams are looming, ack. Still, the backlog has got to be cleared, so here I am!
Anyway, the good thing about this delay is that I've been testing the Wild Rose Eye Cream for at least half a year, so my review of it would be pretty accurate. I was quite excited about trying it out as it's claimed to be the "hero" product of the new additions to the Wild Rose line of Korres products.
According to the Korres press release, wild rose oil, the main ingredient of the Wild Rose range, has high vitamin C levels that repair fine lines and skin colour disorders. It is also rich in linoleic and linolenic acid, demonstrating significant healing, moisturising and softening properties. In addition it forms a protective film on the skin that helps cell regeneration and improves the texture of the epidermins. Sounds good, no?
The Korres Wild Rose Eye Cream with SPF15 is supposed to shield and brighten the eye area while simultaneously working against fine lines and dark circles. Apart from wild rose oil, its other active ingredients include:
- Active agent derived from the fermentation of Black Tea (boosts brightening and line smoothing action of the cream, enhancing radiance, luminosity and restoration of "volume" of the skin),
- Yeast extract (increases cellular oxygen consumption, improves microcirculation, energising the skin and decreasing dark circles)
- Active agent derived from Sorbus domestica extract (activates blood microcirculation, decreasing eye puffiness and dark circles)
- Betaine (stimulates collagen and elastin production, enhances cellular energy, resulting in strengthening of delicate skin)
- Vitamin C and E (antioxidant protection against fine lines)
- Provitamin B5 (moisturising)
Let's take a look at the formula of the product now:
As you can see, Korres Wild Rose Eye Cream with SPF15 does not contain many skin irritants, except perfume. It's also suitable for vegetarians and vegans, Korres doesn't use animal by-products or do animal testing, so hurrah! And now for the ingredients:
Bearing in mind that the ingredients are listed in decreasing quantity, I've taken the liberty of highlighting the fact that Rosa Canina (wild rose) Fruit Oil, the ingredient used to market the entire Wild Rose line, appears quite far down the list. Betaine appears quite high up, and Black Tea Ferment right at the bottom. Parfum (Fragrance) appears before Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, which says something. I'm not sure why they couldn't have cut out the perfume from this product, or why it couldn't have been right at the bottom of the list.
As they say, don't diss it until you've tried it (unless "it" is something dangerous like hardcore drugs, lol). So here's the lowdown on my experience with the Korres Wild Rose Eye Cream.
The cream is off-white in colour, with a nice, non-greasy texture. Here it is unblended and blended out onto my skin:
I like that it is absorbed easily into the skin, and doesn't feel greasy at all. I would say it's quite moisturising, so that's a good thing. It's also good that it contains SPF15, but that's a very mild protection factor, and I usually just use my BB sunscreen around my eyes - it doesn't cause any problems.
The scent does remind me of wild roses as it's very fragrant. I'm a sucker for nice scents, but fragrance can potentially irritate the skin, and you'll want to be very careful with the delicate skin under the eyes. I much prefer products with no fragrances, or that have fragrance as the last ingredient on the list.
One thing I don't understand is why the product instructions state to "Apply daily around the eyes, avoiding the upper eyelid area". I'm really wondering why it can't be applied on the upper eyelid area unlike other creams.
After using it every day for 4 months, and then intermittently for another 2 months or so, I didn't notice much improvement to my dark eye circles. I've come to accept that my dark eye circles won't go away, and consequently, there are no products out there that can really eliminate them, so I tend to take product claims with a pinch of salt.
So we've established that the Korres Wild Rose Eye Cream moisturises and contains some SPF. That sounds just like any other eye cream to me, and I can't see myself justifying it as a purchase because it's a whopping S$69 for 15ml of product! I could buy a few other tubes of non-fragrance containing eye creams with that. All in all I'm quite disappointed with this product as I thought it would work more effectively to justify the hefty price tag. Honestly, I can't recommend it to you for these reasons: high price-point, low concentration of the highly touted wild rose oil and presence of perfume. It wasn't an unpleasant experience, but I wouldn't repurchase it. I had more luck with the other Korres products I mentioned, and I'll be reviewing them sometime soon. Catch you then!
Let's Break It Down
Product name: Korres Wild Rose Eye Cream with SPF15
Product type: Eye cream with SPF
Amount of product: 15ml
Price per product: S$69
Comments: Moisturising, non-greasy, contains fragrance, not very effective (for me), expensive
Where to buy: www.korresasia.com, Raffles City Shopping Centre, Millenia Walk
To buy or not to buy: It's a no for me. If you've had a more positive experience with this product, do share in the comments below!
Product Approved 3/5
Disclaimer: I received this product for review. My opinions are completely honest and solely my own. No compensation was received for this review.
