Growing up my mother would always tell me that her beauty secret was this little bottle of Preparation H. I was too young to know it at the time, but it was actually hemorrhoid cream! Now as a grown adult, I still hear about the hemorrhoid cream beauty secret from people. We decided that we wanted to test it once and for all to see if it actually worked!
To make it a fair test, we put Preparation H up against other popular eye creams. When testing eye creams in our Pure Source Lab, we recruited 46 women across the country to help evaluate the top creams on the market (including Preparation H). Each reader blind-tested a product for four weeks, then provided feedback on ease of use, performance, and overall satisfaction.
Meanwhile, in our Lab, we tracked lines and wrinkles around users’ eyes using our Complexion Analyzer both before and after four weeks of eye cream use. Skin firmness was assessed using a Cutometer, a device that measures skin’s elasticity (ability to bounce back). We also measured moisturization over six hours using a Corneometer machine, which determined skin’s moisture content.
First Up: Preparation H
Going into our testing, I was convinced this was nothing but an old wive’s tale passed on from generation to generation. But low and behold, it actually worked…sort of. When we brought our test group using Preparation H into the lab, the results were far from good. In fact, nothing changed….nothing. However, when talking to the women, over half of them pointed out that the Preparation H tightened their skin significantly. They shared with me some before and after shots they took on their phone to prove it to me.
Its true, the bags were quite noticeably smaller. Wrinkles were not gone, but the skin was tight enough to smooth them out. It had just one little problem: the results only lasted 15 minutes! The women would re-apply, and it would work again. But they needed to keep applying the cream to their face every 15 minutes in order to keep the results. Far from realistic for your average person.
It was really cool that it actually worked. But its more like a cool party trick than a solution.
Next up: Sanseti Anti-Puff Eye Gel
We were excited to give this one a try because this brand had been popping up with influencers on Instagram for the past few months. It also came up while we were doing a prep interview with one of Southern California’s top cosmetic surgeons.
Unlike other products in our test, Sanseti came in a little applicator pen that rolled on. Dare I say, it was kinda fun to use, and definitely convenient.
If I had one knock on the product, it was that the metal applicator ball was kind of cold to the touch, and my under-eye area is a little bit sensitive. But hey, if it works, I’d be more than willing to put up with that. (I later learned this was by design because the cooling promotes a natural reduction in puffiness; science for the win!)
We gave the pen to 7 of our readers to use for 4 weeks. The results were definitely the most compelling we saw. The formula scored highest for increasing skin moisture, by 41% over six hours and boosted firmness by 38% over four weeks of use. Several testers said they could see a noticeable difference: “My bags are almost gone.”
Seeing is believing, so we decided to highlight 3 of our testers in particular:
Tester #1: “No matter how much sleep I got, I just looked tired all the time…”
– Anne R. 46 Dental Hygienist
Click Here To See Her Results
Tester #2: “I struggled with puffiness and redness below my eyes for the past 30 years…”
– Betty D. 68, Retired
Click Here To See Her Results
Tester #3: “When I turned 40, I started noticing these little lines below my eyes…”
– Sara M 42, 5th Grade Science Teacher
Click Here To See Her Results
