I’m not sure that it’s entirely necessary to use an eye cream with SPF. Not in the UK, anyway. Most of us, if we are out in “normal” daylight, will be wearing some kind of concealer or foundation that contains an SPF. If it’s very hot, then we’ll usually have taken our face sunscreen around the eye area anyway. Between moisturisers, BB Creams, primers, foundations, powder and concealers we will usually have adequate protection over the delicate eye area. But what if you don’t wear makeup, or sunscreens sting your eyes, or you simply want dedicated sun protection for the eye area?

Eye products with SPF are actually rather scarce in comparison to those without; out of the hundred or so eye products that I pulled out of my beauty cupboard, less than ten of them had an SPF. I think that, in general, the textures of the creams without SPF were far superior to those with; the ones containing sunscreens tended to be a little stodgier and heavier. I spent a few days wearing different SPF eye creams on each eye and I did find that they weren’t quite as refreshing and moisturising as my regular creams.

That’s probably why eye creams with SPF are less popular; those light and cooling eye gels that de-puff and smooth fine lines perhaps wouldn’t be quite the same with a load of filters bunged into the mix. Also, some chemical sunscreens are notoriously uncomfortable around the eye area – many people can’t wear certain facial sunscreens for this reason. Add to that the fact that some chemicals in sunscreen can destabilise other ingredients, or render them ineffective, and you can start to see why there are so few eye creams with an SPF…

In short, it seems that if you want a high-powered, super-duper anti-ageing eye cream, you’re probably not going to get an SPF built-in. I have, however, whittled my Eye SPF testing down to a few products that I got on well with – see what you think!

1) Perricone MD’s No Concealer Concealer (see the full review here). Mineral sunscreen (SPF35) so it won’t sting the eye area and brilliant concealing prowess. It’s not strictly an eye cream, but it probably has just as many anti-ageing properties as any of the others (if not more), so it makes the cut! I love this stuff. £37 from Salon Skincare

2) Ole Henriksen’s Total Truth Eye Cream SPF 15: a buttery, rich eye cream that does a good job of keeping the eye area moisturised. It’s £41 for 15g with free worldwide delivery at FeelUnique.com

3) Clinique’s Superdefense SPF20 – pick of the bunch. It used to be available only in Duty Free but now you can get it online and instore. I think it’s a really comprehensive little cream with a good SPF and a nice, non-greasy texture that sits well beneath makeup. Find it online here – it’s £30.

4) Liz Earle’s Daily Eye Repair (see the full review here) is a gentle eye cream with SPF10. It’s £14.25 at Liz Earle here