Mary&May Tranexamic Acid + Glutathione Eye Cream Review | Gentlest Eye Cream for Radiance?
Mary&May has delivered gentle and nourishing skincare for over 5 years. Their refreshing TXA/Glutathione eye cream has been stead-fastedly one of their most popular products for almost that entire time. Mary&May has been famous for simple, enriching formulas that embrace minimalism, avoid common irritants and give back to nature. Their eye cream has a more complex formulation, however, to create a creamy and fast-absorbing nature that sinks in deep and delivers antioxidants to tired or dull skin. It’s mixed through with beeswax, glycerin and popular triglycerides for a luscious base, then activated with niacinamide, tranexamic acid, glutathione and panthenol. This includes a base of sea buckthorn oil (which is beloved for being rich in vitamin C and other antioxidants).
So, what made this formula a delight for dark under-eyes? It’s the synergy between its active ingredients, which all work in different ways to relieve dark spots and reduce pigment formation. Glutathione is the gentlest way to reduce dark spots, while also providing gentle hydration for skin. This is balanced with niacinamide and tranexamic acid, which both inhibit pigment formation in a similar fashion, but also infuse a deep glow to skin for a bright shine (that K-Beauty is addicted to). Then, with a dash of vitamin C this helps heal skin cells and reduce stress, which vanishes dull skin and creates a uniform shine.
What's In The Bottle?
Niacinamide: brightening vitamin B3 that helps reduce dark spots by inhibiting pigment formation, whilst infusing a characteristic glow into skin.
Beeswax: helps seal the skin barrier, to maximise hydration and smooth cracked and dry skin. Rich in antioxidants and naturally soothes inflammation.
Tranexamic acid: cools redness and inflammation, whilst inhibiting pigment formation to help brighten skin and improving natural circulation for better skin healing (of spots and scars).
Glutathione: a strong antioxidant that helps refresh cells and inhibit pigment formation, whilst helping soften and moisturize skin for improved texture. One of the gentlest lightening agents available.
Panthenol: gently moisturizing and calming vitamin B5 that helps reduce irritated, sensitive and damaged skin and improve healing process for clearer skin.
Fragrance: It’s important to note that this eye cream does contain fragrance! This is a common irritant, especially for sensitive skin. For benefits, fragrance has been shown to naturally boost mood and reduce stress in users.
Hippophae Rhamnoides Fruit Oil (sea buckthorn): rich in vitamins, this ocean plant is rich in juice that help brighten and refresh the skin barrier, infusing antioxidants. It’s a common addition to a variety of Korean beauty due to its ability to refresh dark spots, moisturize and infuse a deep shine.
Adenosine: helps refresh fine lines and improve wrinkles by boosting collagen and elastin production inside cells and providing a lasting moisture.
Sodium Hyaluronate: a plumping humectant that helps draw moisture inside cells for a boosted hydrating effect that lasts longer than traditional moisturizers.
Ascorbic Acid: skin’s most powerful antioxidant, vitamin C, helps protect against environmental stressors, provide protection and boosts collagen production for clearer, firmer skin.
Who Should Avoid?
This light eye cream has a fairly gentle, nourishing formula. The presence of fragrance rules it out for anyone who is sensitive to artificial fragrances or really dry skin types. This eye cream is best used for anyone who is after a brightening eye treatment that is gentle on this skin, whilst providing results. You will get stronger results with more dramatic retinals, spicules etc – but if you aren’t into the risk of retinol burns or concerned about microneedling, this cream is incredibly gentle and will help relieve dark undereye.
The Results
As summer approaches and the weather turns dry and hot (in the south at least!), it’s common for my eyes to dry out. The longer days also mean naturally getting a little less sleep, so having darker under-eyes is common during this time. This was happening to me, so I was looking for a nourishing every-day eye cream that could help moisturize my fine lines and boost general skin brightness. The Mary&May eye cream is genuinely one of the most popular in K-Beauty and one of the most popular products they sell, so I was excited to give it a try.
It comes in a large silver tube, which gives you almost two months of daily use (depending on how much cream you use). The cream is thick, however, so you don’t have to layer it like thinner products. The beeswax in the formula creates a seal under your eye, that doesn’t fully absorb and will still be there come morning. I started using the eye cream morning and night to maximise results, to see if there was a noticeable difference.
Here’s the before and after of two weeks of use. You can see there’s a genuine improvement in the darkness of my under-eye (thanks to all those brightening agents and hydration) and a gentle improvement to the fine lines around my eye. Overall, if you are after results and still want a gentle eye cream - this is a really great pick!
The only thing I would complain about is that due to the beeswax creating a seal to keep the eye moisturized day-and-night, if I rubbed my eye the cream would get inside and sting a bit. It was a minor annoyance, but it really showed me how much I rub my eyes. So, if you are similar, a more absorbing/light eye cream might be a better pick.
If you are specifically struggling with dark circles under your eyes, this eye cream is probably one of the best picks in the K-Beauty range. It is gentle in its formula and over a few weeks, you'll see a genuine improvement. It's less beneficial for sensitive skin and those sensitive to fragrances, but it does what it says on the bottle!
Looking for more nourishing K-Beauty picks? Vanish fine lines and infuse radiance into your skin with the Mary&May range, powered by natural extracts. Have any more skincare questions? Have you asked Pogi yet?
Looking for more K-beauty reads? Check out the development of Mary&May and how they developed their skincare range. Or check out our review of another dazzling eye treatment with Numbuzin's No.9 eye patches.
