Ever wondered why you need a separate product just for under your eyes? The skin under our eyes is different than the skin on any other part of our bodies. It is extremely delicate, being ten times thinner than any other area of the body.

This thin skin gets even thinner over time as we lose collagen, and is the first area to start showing signs of aging. Further complicating matters, the delicate tissue has very few sebaceous glands, making it difficult to keep the area moisturized and protected from environmental damage.

To properly care for this skin, it is critical to find a product that caters to all of its sensitivities. The product should be gentle, non-irritating, and have skin-protecting abilities.

Choosing between an eye balm and an eye cream is an important first step to finding an appropriate eye product.

Creams often lack the gentle touch needed to approach the skin around the eyes. This is partly due to the fact that the majority of creams contain 70 to 80 percent water. Although moisturizing for the skin, this large amount of water requires the use of irritating thickeners, preservatives, and other unnatural additives.

This leaves the active ingredients, healing vitamins and oils, to make up less than a fifth of the formula. These harmful ingredients make a cream less than an ideal candidate to choose to rub around your eyes. And while the high percentage of water may sufficiently hydrate the skin, it leaves little room for active ingredients to do their jobs of healing and protecting the area.

Natural Eye Balms do it Better

The main difference between balms and creams is that a balm does not require the use of water. This allows a balm to be 100 percent natural, containing only the ingredients that serve to protect and moisturize the delicate skin.

In contrast with creams, a balm is typically wax-based, allowing the concentrated ingredients to form a protective barrier on the skin. The barrier helps prevent moisture loss, decreases the risk of environmental damage, and has many other anti-aging benefits.

Bee Naturals’ top-selling product, Queen Bee Peeper Keeper Eye Balm, is a prime example of an eye balm at its best, containing gentle, non-irritating, and protective natural ingredients.

For an in-depth look at the science behind this product, be sure to check out the article, “Peeper Keeper Eye Balm: Understanding the Ingredients.”