Peach & Lily Cold Brew Eye Recovery Stick

by Rosy Day Blog

Peach & Lily Skincare

You should have heard of Peach & Lily skincare by now. Their products are sold at Ulta, but in case you haven’t, they are the skincare line of popular U.S.-based Korean beauty online retailer Peach & Lily (created by founder Alicia Yoon). Essentially Alicia Yoon sought to address skin concerns that weren’t readily available from other skincare brands (like eczema, skincare that is effective yet still gentle for use while pregnant, etc.). She took matters into her own hands and worked the next couple of years developing products for Peach & Lily. You can read more about how it all started in detail here: Introducing Peach & Lily Skincare.

If you are interested, I have previously done reviews on their Glass Skin Refining Serum (their star product), their Peach & Lily sheet masks (including their Original Glow Sheet Mask), and their Power Calm Hydrating Gel Cleanser (great gentle, low pH cleanser). Since the release of their Power Calm Hydrating Gel Cleanser a few months ago, I’ve been wondering when Peach & Lily would come out with any kind of eye product. Looks like they’ve read my mind. Today I will be reviewing the Cold Brew Eye Recovery Stick (released in early August 2019). Why is it called “Cold Brew”? You’ll have to read on to find out.

Peach & Lily is a cruelty-free, toxin free, gluten free, and vegan brand.

Disclosure:

I bought this with my own money from Peach & Lily. I was not given anything in exchange for this review. I enjoy doing product reviews to share my own experiences with the product and hope someone finds it useful. I do not work for Peach & Lily.

Table of Contents

- Product Description, Claims, & How-To
- The Ingredients
- Packaging, Scent & Texture
- Product Review & Results
- Final Thoughts
- Other Recommendations & Shop This Post

Wake Up The Eye Area With One Swipe

Product Description:

Like its name, this is a cooling eye product - spiked with tightening caffeine and packaged in a stick form. If you have used or heard of the Tony Moly Panda Eye Stick products, this is kind of like that (more specifically the Tony Moly Panda’s Dream So Cool Eye Stick).

Product Claims:

This is designed to instantly deliver a cooling feeling which can help de-puff eyes. A roster of superstar ingredients work together to soothe, reduce redness, reduce dark spots, make skin brighter & more even toned, plump with hydration, and protect skin from free radical damage & environmental aggressors. A subtle iridescent shimmer is left behind to give eyes a brighter and more awake look. The lightweight formula can be used under and over makeup.

How to Use:

As Peach & Lily says, “all you have to do is swipe and glow”. You can also re-apply whenever you need a little pick-me-up.

I personally use this up to 3 times a day. I use a few swipes in the morning and thoroughly blend before topping off with my sunscreen (I make sure my skin is well hydrated before so it doesn’t go on “too chalky”). I use a few more swipes in the afternoon at work for a little pick-me-up (I apply to my finger and lightly pat on so I don’t disturb any light coverage I might have already applied on my eye area). Finally, I use it again at night, but I use it to top off the anti-aging eye cream that I use at night. Although this product is designed for your eye area, if you are traveling and/or short on products, I’ve come to use this as a multi-stick for other areas (not just my eyes). I’ll talk more about this below, so please read on!

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Caffeine (& More) For Your Eyes

You might drink coffee in the morning to wake up or throughout the day to stay awake and probably haven’t thought too much about caffeine in skincare. While it has been said that drinking coffee can actually make your dark circles and puffiness worse (due to the way caffeine affects your body internally)...The same thing does not necessarily apply when you use caffeine directly on your skin. Applying caffeine to your eyes, helps reduce puffiness and inflammation, as well as help reduce blood build-up from under your eyes (which causes dark shadows). These are all good things to help anyone suffering from dark circles (and other issues it may cause for your eyes). To be fair, I do drink coffee more than once everyday and I’ve never seen my eyes get worse. I have zero puffiness and I have very little shadowing most of the same (mines is due to lack of hydration or sleep).

Some people will tell you that the effects of caffeine in skincare are temporary, but you know what? In my opinion you should be using some kind of eye product twice a day anyway. Long term improvement is obviously great but one can’t expect great things without some kind of maintenance or upkeep...I think that if a caffeine product is good enough to keep my skincare issues at bay (even temporarily) until my next application (about half a day to a day), then I’m good. I’ve been using an eye cream since I was about 18 or 19. I’m 34 now and still barely have any major wrinkles. If you haven’t already, take care of your eyes now because they are often the first place where you show your age (as well as your laugh lines).

I personally have had some good luck using both body and skincare products that contain caffeine, so I can totally understand why Peach & Lily decided to formulate their new eye product around this ingredient. Of course, the caffeine is just a small part of the eye stick and there are much more ingredients designed to nourish and soothe your eye area as well…Here I’ll break down the ingredients in this product to see what types of things might help one to look more awake and recovered.

Notable Ingredients:

• Green Tea - A known antioxidant and great for anti-aging, green tea also reduces puffiness and redness.
• Acetyl Octapeptide-3 - A synthetic peptide that helps generate collagen and elastin.
• Kiwi - Contains vitamins C & E to protect the skin from degeneration.
• Cucumber - Contains caffeic acid to reduce irritated skin and swelling (puffy eyes) as well as silica for firming. This also contains vitamin C which is always great for anti-aging.
• Berry Complex - I counted like 15 different kinds of berries that this product alone contains. Berries in general are very high in antioxidants and vitamins for fighting free radical damage. They can also help skin look brighter and more even-toned.
• Caffeine - As mentioned earlier, this ingredient is great for reducing puffiness and inflammation/redness.
• Moringa Seed - Helps firm skin and reduce wrinkles. Also helps promote cell growth & slows down the degradation of skin tissues, plus it contains vitamin C. As mentioned earlier, this ingredient is great for reducing puffiness and inflammation/redness.
• Red Seaweed/Algae - Helps reduce skin irritation and dryness.
• Turmeric Root - Contains curcumin which can help decrease UV damage and reduce dark spots/areas.
• Adenosine - Known anti-aging ingredient for skin firming and smoothing.
• Niacinamide - Known for brightening and balancing the skin. Pantothenic Acid/Vitamin B5 - Reinforces the skin barrier which can help skin retain moisture for better hydration.
• Linolenic Acid - A fatty acid for strengthening the skin barrier.
• Biotin - Helps with the production of new cells.
• Hyaluronic Acid Complex - From Peach & Lily, “A proprietary blend of short-chain, medium-chain and long-chain hyaluronic acid molecules helps provide hydration at every level of skin; short-chain molecules sink into the deeper layers, while medium-chain molecules fill in the layers closer to the surface of the skin, and long-chain molecules lock in moisture on the skin’s surface so that skin is plumped up from within while the outer layer becomes radiant.” In short, this sounds like basic hyaluronic acid x3 to me!

Full Ingredients List:

Water (Aqua), Propanediol, Xylitol, Sodium Stearate, 1,2-Hexanediol, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Acetyl Octapeptide-3, Actinidia Chinensis (Kiwi) Fruit Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Rubus Fruticosus (Blackberry) Fruit Extract, Vaccinium Angustifolium (Blueberry) Fruit Extract, Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Fruit Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Caffeine, Solanum Melongena (Eggplant) Fruit Extract, Juniperus Communis Fruit Extract, Aristotelia Chilensis Fruit Extract, Lycium Chinense Fruit Extract, Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Fruit Extract, Euterpe Oleracea Fruit Extract, Fragaria Chiloensis (Strawberry) Fruit Extract, Morus Alba Fruit Extract, Ribes Nigrum (Black Currant) Fruit Extract, Rubus Coreanus Fruit Extract, Panthenol, Coccinia Indica Fruit Extract, Ocimum Sanctum Leaf Extract, Moringa Oleifera Seed Extract, Nelumbo Nucifera Flower Extract, Corallina Officinalis Extract, Curcuma Longa (Turmeric) Root Extract, Adenosine, Vaccinium Myrtillus Fruit Extract, Butylene Glycol, Cashew Extract, Glycerin, Niacinamide, Pantothenic Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Linolenic Acid, Biotin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Cyanocobalamin, Aloe Barbadensis Flower Extract, Sodium PCA, Capryloyl Glycerin/Sebacic Acid Copolymer, Xanthan Gum, Melia Azadirachta Leaf Extract, Ethylhexylglycerin, Melia Azadirachta Flower Extract, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Caprylyl Glycol, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Diheptyl Succinate, Tin Oxide (CI 77861).

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Packaging, Scent & Texture

Packaging:

As usual, Peach & Lily always focuses on having good formulations in simple, yet practical packaging, rather than fancy/luxe packaging. I’m always a big fan of simple, yet chic packaging and their products are still quite eye catching with the peachy/coral hues against the very clinical looking white bottles and jars. I don’t necessarily want to pay more for a fancy looking product, if it does zero for me.

This eye stick in particular is pretty unique as there aren’t very many eye products out there that I know of, that come in a stick format (other than the Tony Moly Panda eye products - look them up if you’re curious). If anything, the stick format alone makes this product super convenient for on-the-go or traveling. It looks like it might be a tube of stick foundation or stick concealer from the outside.

Scent & Texture:

The product is advertised as having no scent and I guess it doesn’t when you first open it. However after a while and if you really look for it, I personally kind of get some wiffs of cucumber mixed with a bit of something floral (which makes sense as there are some flower extracts in here). But for the most part, it’s not like you really smell anything during and after using the product. You have to actually inhale it and see if you smell something.

As for the texture, it is a pale blue cream in stick form. It glides on smoothly and feels very cooling to the touch. However, it does leave a bit of a matte, powdery finish behind. If your skin is well hydrated/prepped prior to using the eye stick, you should have no issues blending in the product. Otherwise you might complain about it being “chalky”. There is a bit of a shimmer finish with this product (to help with instant brightening), however I found it to be more subtle than the Boscia Indigo Eye Cream by comparison. I have seen someone claim that product this causes pilling. I usually quickly pat this on, and I haven’t had any issues wearing this alone or with makeup over it (I use very little foundation in the first place - almost like a tinted moisturizer). It is also worth noting that I don’t wear concealer, so absolutely no issues with product layering for me here.

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Illuminate + Soothe

Performance:

This is truly a “Cold Brew”. It is like rubbing an ice cube around your eyes, while having the awakening powers of caffeine.

During the previous hot summer weather, my eye area was instantly cooled and the caffeine plus little shimmers in this product, do give me a little pick me up that slowly becomes more noticeable over time.

Brightening: I’ll admit at first I wasn’t sure if this was living up to its brightening claims, but I’m glad that I took before and after photos, as well as examining my face in natural lighting. Believe me everything looks so much better and less severe when you look at it in natural lightening. When I look at myself in bad bathroom lighting for example, it might look like I still have some shadowing (or they’ve gotten worse), but when you go out in bright natural lighting, it actually doesn’t look all that bad. I’ve tested this product for at least 2 weeks and I guess I’ll let the photos below do the talking. The first one is before (I have some inner darkness and my eye area was kind of dry making my fine lines more pronounced). The second one is 2 weeks after (bare face). You can see how more hydrated my eye area looks and the fine lines have softened. The last one is 2 weeks after (with product applied). Do you see a difference?

De-Puffing: I do not have a problem with puffy eyes, so I can’t personally comment on the product’s de-puffing qualities. However my bf does have puffy eyes from time to time, and it seems that cooling products work well to help reduce puffiness for him. This eye stick is no exception and while maybe not drastically, its cooling effect coupled with de-puffing ingredients such as cucumber and caffeine, help reduce any puffiness and/or irritation associated with the eye area. Though my opinion is if you really want a powerhouse de-puffing routine, you should use this eye stick during the day, but at night, use the Laneige Eye Sleeping Mask first (like its a serum), followed by the Peach & Lily eye stick to top it off.

Hydration: I wouldn’t say that this is the most hydrating eye product I’ve used (my eyes get pretty dry), though I do prefer to use heavier eye products at night. For the daytime, the consistency of this product is hydrating enough, plus it’s convenient to re-apply if needed. The product does not sink into my fine lines in a way that it would actually amplify them. In fact, I think that the proprietary hyaluronic acid does a good job of keeping my eye area more hydrated in the long run. Of course, I do re-apply this mid-day but that’s because I just really enjoy the convenience and portability of this stick format. Now, when I’m not wearing makeup, I do pat this on my eye lids. However, I do not recommend using this product on your eyelids if you’re going to be wearing any eye makeup. I tried this once and my eyelids became more oily that my eye shadow wouldn’t really stick on and it kind of slid off easily. This will not act as an eye shadow primer for you, if that's what you were thinking.

Anti-Aging: While there are definitely some anti-aging ingredients in this product, that is not the main focus here and I did not necessarily see any “anti-aging” either. With that said, this product can be good for anti-aging in the long run. Also, I find that as I get older, I kind of have to layer my eye products now to get the most benefits. If you have a more anti-aging eye cream/serum, etc. - I would apply that first, then top off with the eye stick. You still get anti-aging from the first product, plus the cooling and brightening properties of the eye stick.

My eyes did slowly but surely get brighter after using the eye stick for 2 weeks…they overall looked more even in tone and a bit healthy and comfortably hydrated.

I’m not sure if there’s any long term results but I don’t care as I love using this 2-3 times a day.

Pros:

• It’s not drugstore cheap, but it is reasonably priced for the ingredients and formulation at ~$28 USD. The stick format will also last you a long time as a little goes a long way.
• Always remains cold to the touch and definitely helps with depuffing (unless you have serious eye bags).
• If you don’t have serious dark circles and/or respond well to caffeine as an ingredient, this definitely helps with lightening any shadows and giving you a more awake appearance.
• The redness reducing properties of some of the ingredients definitely help with minimizing any irritation.
• Can be used as a multi-tasking stick. I like to use this on other areas of my face I feel can use redness reducing or a little bit of hydration on-the-go.
• Comes in a convenient stick format. I bring this with me to work everyday!
• Helps skin retain moisture in the long run as you keep using it daily.
• Almost scentless (I do get wiffs of something but nothing perfumy or artificial).
• No synthetic fragrance, sulfates, formaldehyde, phthalates, synthetic dyes, parabens, mineral oils, silicones, EDTA, MEA/DEA/TEA, PEGs, or Polysorbates.
• No animal testing (animal lovers rejoice!)

Cons:

• Might not be brightening enough for those with more serious dark circles.
• Doesn’t exactly do anything for fine lines and wrinkles if anti-aging is more of a concern for you (this does layer well over an anti-aging eye cream though).
• Despite what it says, It does not apply over makeup very well. I would refrain from re-applying it unless you’re barefaced or just wearing sunscreen as it will at least smudge a little makeup or concealer you might have around your eyes.
• Stick format might not be the most hygenic for some. If you’re worried about that, you can just apply some product to your finger and then transfer to your eye area, instead of just swiping the stick directly to your eyes.

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A Natural Face Highlight

Final Impressions:

While I personally enjoyed using this product, I can see why some might not like it (especially the stick format and/or the effects not being “strong enough” for their eye issues). I really do feel like if you don’t have serious eye bags (just “normal” puffiness), you don’t have serious dark circles, and you don’t have serious fine lines/wrinkles, then you will like - even love this product. Those seeking more for their needs, might have to look elsewhere. However, with that said, this product does layer nicely over other eye treatments. You can choose to do what I do and use for example, a more anti-aging eye treatment first (my concerns are eye firming and fine lines) and then layer the eye stick over for cooling/de-puffing/brightening. There is no rule out there that says that you can only use one eye product.

I have also found a more interesting use…For travel/routine simplicity, I like using it as a multi-tasking stick for other areas of my face.

I like to swipe this over my smile lines and any areas of concern/irritation and they seem to calm down a little bit after application. Finally, if I’m bare faced, this does make a nice subtle highlighter when swept over my cheeks.

If you use this product a bit more than what it’s intended for (like me), you will definitely get more enjoyment out of it. It will not hit everything out of the park for everyone, but if you’re my “skincare twin”, you will probably like this. For me Peach & Lily has done it again, though I hope they do a more anti-aging eye product in the future for those that have maturing skin and could use some extra firming/volumizing (*hint-hint).

Final Rating = 4/5 as a “multi-stick” (3.5/5 if just used for eyes only)

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Other Products To Get Glowing

Products of Interest:

There are definitely other cooling/eye stick type of products out there (and probably more affordable too). However, they have not impressed me and woken up my appearance like the Peach & Lily one. Below I’ll suggest to you some products that I’ve found to be perfect for waking your skin up a bit in the morning.

• Son & Park Beauty Water - If you’re not sensitive to any of the ingredients in this cleansing water/toner hybrid, it gives you just a hint of hydration with a little bit of gentle exfoliation to prep your skin for the rest of your routine. It’s also perfect if you plan to wear foundation as it has always gotten rid of any pesky dry flakes I might still have remaining around my nose area.
• Cremorlab O2 Couture Hydra Bounce Ampoule - Like the eye stick, this contains caffeine (surprise) and is one of my favorite brightening and lightly hydrating serums. I haven’t used this in awhile since I’ve run out, but during peak use, my skin was very “transparent-looking”. I definitely recommend this.
• Glow Recipe Watermelon Juice Moisturizer - This feels fairly cooling whenever I pump it out due to the gel texture. It’s also lightweight and slightly firming.
• Huxley Tone Up Cream Stay Sun Safe - I don’t wear makeup most of the time, so using a tone up sunscreen gives me a “my-skin-but-better” look without actually being made up with, well..makeup, LOL.

Any questions about this product and/or my experience, please let me know! I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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Shop the Peach & Lily
Cold Brew Eye Recovery Stick

Photo Credit: Ulta

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