If you are like me and have puffy bags under your eyes and crows feet, then you need to try reusable under eye patches. I’ve had puffy under eyes for as long as I can remember but they’ve only gotten worse with parenting, early morning wake-ups, age, and pandemic-related stressors.
This post is a review on Pacifica’s Reusable under eye patches, how I use them, and whether or not I’d buy them again.
What are reusable under eye patches?
Under eye patches are one of my favorite tools to treat my tired, puffy under eyes… or at least feel like I am treating them. So when reusable under eye patches and reusable eye gel pads became popular AND Pacifica released their reusable eye patches, I had to buy them. But do they work? Are they worth the $15? Do they work better or worse than Pacifica’s reusable brow mask? Keep reading to learn about my experience with these reusable eye pads.
What are the benefits of reusable under eye patches?
Under eye patches in general are said to minimize wrinkles and decrease puffiness. I’ve tried wrinkle minimizing/de-puffing methods… from these, to Derma-E’s Vitamin C eye patches (my favorite), to frozen spoons, cold cucumber slices and more. All of them have different degrees of effectiveness. However, outside of frozen spoons, the under eye patches I’ve tried are one time use/disposable.
Why use reusable vs disposable under eye patches?
Disposable patches are great in a pinch but I wanted to try something more sustainable – enter REUSABLE eye patches. Most under eye patches that I’ve used in the past can’t be reused so this was the biggest benefit for me. The second benefit is being able to use my own eye cream or serum.
Like I mentioned before, I’ve used various under eye gel pads in the past and for the more generic eye pads, I’ve always wondered what kind of serum was slathered all over them. That isn’t so much of a concern with eye pads that come from a specific brand but I also like to mix it up depending on what I feel like my skin needs.
Lastly, these patches in particular are described as “high-grade, reusable masks supercharge skincare by locking in benefits with a vacuum like seal. This next level masking system help to manually smooth out the appearance of fine lines & wrinkles and put your skin on rewind.” The ‘vaccum like seal’ is also a feature touted with Pacifica’s reusable brow mask. This seems to be a big selling point for Pacifica products.
[REVIEW: Is Pacifica’s Viral Reusable Brow Mask Worth it?]
Pacifica’s reusable eye patches: the must knows!
- How to use them: The instructions say to use your favorite cream and serum. I’ve used both serums and under eye creams with these eye pads. Confession: The serums I use with these under eye masks aren’t eye serums! Instead, I’ve been using my regular face serum. I’m not 100% sure if this is the right thing to do but it’s what I have. I put a very thin layer of my eye cream and then place the eye patch over it to seal in the moisture.
- How long to wear them: I wear these overnight and very surprisingly they stay on! The vacuum seal really does work. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used the disposable under eye pads and woke up with them stuck to my pajamas or crumpled up and stuck on my sheets.
- When is the best time to use under-eye patches? In general, my answer is: anytime! Here’s when I wear my under eye patches:
- Overnight while I’m sleeping
- Whenever I’ve had a sleepless or rough night
- Work days where I am light on Zoom video calls and catching up on emails/messages
- Back in the pre-2020 days, I wore under eye patches while I sat in traffic during my commute
- Quite frankly, anytime I’m not around people
- How many times can you reuse under eye patches? Disposable under eye pads should really only be used once. Quite frankly I don’t find that they are strong enough to withstand more than one use. I’ve used these reusable eye pads about 6 times now and they are still in great condition and sticky as ever!
Some of the products I use with these eye pads:
- Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask: My go-to moisturizing mask
- Naturium Vitamin C Super Serum: My go-to facial serum
- Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Eye Crème: Love the smell of this and it brightens up my tired eyes
How to use reusable eye gel pads:
- Putting these on are pretty easy and straight forward. You can either put cream/serum directly on your skin and put the patches on, or put a little cream/serum on the eye patches and put them under your eyes.
- With these under eye patches in particular, I’ve only ever worn them overnight. This is largely because the seal on the eye patches makes these really stick on my skin. Disposable under eye pads typically dry up after a few hours, or naturally fall off.
- These are extremely easy to clean afterwards. I use a very gentle soap but you could probably also use a gentle face wash.
- I make sure to pat them dry then let them air dry before putting them back into the tin.
My results and final thoughts on these:
I love how soft and smooth my eye area feels after I use these pads. I swear that it also help minimize my crows feet. One negative side effect of the seal on these eye pads: They are so sticky that when I peel the under eye pad off, it does tug at under eye area. This means they are PERFECT for minimizing wrinkles around the eyes but personally, not for de-puffing my eyes. I typically am very gentle with the area around my skin and the patches pull my skin more than I would like. For any de-puffing needs, I’m going to stick with cucumbers and disposable under eye patches for now.
Are they worth it?
YES! These reusable under eye pads are definitely worth it to help smooth out fine lines and wrinkles around the eye area — especially for $15. If you are particular about your under eye area, be sure to wear these a little lower than where your eye bags are if you are concerned about tugging on the skin. Other than that, pair these under eye masks with the reusable brow mask, a glass of wine … and it’s a great night (at least for me)!
You can buy them at Pacifica’s website, Target, or Ulta.
This post was all about Pacifica’s reusable under eye patches
Have you tried reusable under eye masks? How do you like the compared to disposable under eye masks? If you have a recommendation for eye gel masks, let me know!