The 15 Best Under Eye Masks for Men

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We’ve all had those mornings. Whether it’s after a night of insomnia or an especially wild party, waking up with puffy, swollen eyes, dark raccoon-like circles or dry, saggy bags has happened to all of us. Hell, it’s happened to us even after a great night’s sleep. The only thing more frustrating than feeling tired is looking tired, right?

When those moments happen, eye cream could be a good option, but allow us to introduce you to under eye masks. These handy patches stick under your eyes and, like sheet masks, help to quickly and effectively infuse your skin with helpful ingredients. We’re talking things like hyaluronic acid to hydrate your skin, antioxidants and caffeine to address dark circles and perk up eyes, and even (in some cases) retinol to help smooth the look of fine lines and wrinkles. Under eye masks are like a secret weapon in your grooming arsenal. In just minutes, they can transform tired eyes into perky peepers—and no one needs to know you were up all night. (Might we suggest keeping them in the refrigerator for added cooling and depuffing effects).

There are a variety of under eye masks out there designed to address a variety of issues, so we’ve taken it upon ourselves to try as many as we can get our hands on to bring you this list of the best—for every possible concern. So whether you’re looking to smooth some wrinkles, brighten up some dark circles, or just generally make your eyes and the skin around them look better, there’s an under eye mask on this list for you.

The Eye Patches

These little anti-aging powerhouses contain Bader’s proprietary TFC8, which helps to facilitate renewal and regeneration in the skin. That means that not only do these masks work to immediately depuff and brighten your eye area, but over time they help to reduce signs of aging like fine lines and crow’s feet, which often show up first around your eyes.

Celestial Black Diamond Eye Mask

These ultra-luxe eye patches are top of the line and address nearly every issue you can think of around your eye area. Dark circles? They’re gone. Puffy bags? See ya later. Creases and crow’s feet? No match for retinol. There’s even a peptide complex that helps to strengthen and fortify skin so maybe you won’t need to use these masks as much in the future, but trust us—you’ll want to.

Dissolving Microneedle Eye Patches

Putting needles around your eyes may sound scary, but these teeny “needles” don’t hurt and actually dissolve inside your skin, helping to deliver the active ingredients like hyaluronic acid and peptides deeper than would be possible topically. What that means for your is more effective hydration, not to mention a smoothing and firming effect. Slap these on for a couple of hours—better yet, wear them overnight—and you’ll see brighter, smoother eyes when you take them off.

Eye Masks

Keep a pair of these patches under your peepers for only 10 minutes and when you take them off, you’ll notice a brighter, more hydrated, and less puffy eye area. They’re perfect to keep on hand for those mornings when you need a little extra help waking up, like a shot of espresso for your eyes. Since they’re individually wrapped, throw a pair in your dopp kit, too. For even better results, keep them in your fridge.

Bro Mask Under Eye Gel Pads

Even if you don’t keep these in the fridge, which we highly recommend, the cooling factor is off the charts. It’s thanks to the hydrogel texture, which sticks to your face without slipping and delivers a plethora of ingredients like hyaluronic acid, peptides, niacinamide, and more. The results are near instantaneous; as soon as you take them off your eyes look brighter, less puffy, and as smooth as if you got a full eight hours of sleep.

Even Smoother Glycolic Retinol Hydra-Gel Eye Patches

Retinol is widely known in dermatological circles as an anti-aging powerhouse backed by decades of clinical research, so it’s a no-brainer that if you’re concerned about fine lines and wrinkles around your eye area, it’s going to help. These patches combine time-release retinol with glycolic acid, which helps to gently exfoliate and smooth skin as well as brightening niacinamide and hydrating shea butter, avocado oil, and Vitamin E. Keep in mind that retinol should be used at night, so apply these for 10 minutes before bed and you’re good to go.

Imprinting Eye Masks

Many of the issues you notice around your eye area come from dehydration, including fine lines and wrinkles. When in doubt, use hydrating eye masks like these, which are packed with hyaluronic acid and glycerin to immediately drench the skin around your eyes in hydration. Once you take them off, you’ll notice your skin looks plumper, smoother, and healthier—all thanks to the hyper moisturizing effects of these handy masks.

Instant Bright Eye Masks

Who among us hasn’t woken up with dark circles at least once in their lives? When those moments happen—because hey, we’re all human—these brightening masks are a lifesaver. Stick a pair under your eyes and they help improve the appearance of dark circles and infuse skin with hydration and antioxidants to also help depuff and generally make your eyes look brighter and more alert. Consider these part of your go-to hangover cure.

Forever Eye Masks

Some people aren’t fans of the fact that eye masks tend to be single use (the waste!). For the eco-warriors and extra budget-conscious among us, these silicone masks are infinitely reusable. Just apply any eye cream or serum you want and apply these on top of it. The silicone allows the product to penetrate deeper into your skin. You can even use them twice a day if you want to really go there. Pro tip: Use these with a hydrating serum for immediate plumping effects.

Bright Eye Firming Masks

These luxurious clear eye masks are specially designed to help firm the skin around your eyes when you’re feeling a little saggy or baggy. Powered by chamomile extract, algae extract, and hyaluronic acid, not only do they deeply hydrate parched skin, but they also firm up the delicate skin around your eyes, making you look more alert. They only take 15 minutes to work their magic.

Eye & Smile Lift

Unlike most of the other eye masks on this list, these are designed to be worn overnight and don't have many ingredients that penetrate your skin. Instead, they’re made from silicone, which is often used by doctors to treat scarring because it helps to increase growth factors in your skin. Apply these reusable (up to 10 times) patches under your eyes before bed and it helps lock in moisture and prevent creasing and wrinkling around your eye area while you sleep, so you wake up with smoother skin and less puffiness.

Baggage Claim Gold Eye Masks

These triple-layer gold foil eye masks don’t just look cool, they actually deliver results. Packed with hyaluronic acid, peptides, and amino acids, they deeply hydrate dry and tired eye skin and instantly brighten it up. The elastic layer inside helps to prevent the mask from slipping around and the gold foil layer helps to retain heat and prevent the ingredients from evaporating—so the only place they can go is into your skin. They’re individually wrapped, which means they’re perfect for travel, so stow one in your carryon to make sure you arrive wherever you’re going looking fresh.

FlashPatch Night Restoring Eye Gels

These large-scale patches are specifically designed to be worn at night. They’re packed with retinol, peptides, and calming cedrus atlantica bark, all of which go to work overnight to smooth wrinkles, hydrate and strengthen skin, and soothe potential irritation. That means that you’ll wake up with less puffiness, fewer fine lines and wrinkles, and brighter undereyes, but you only have to pop them on for five minutes before hitting the sack.

Faded Brightening Under Eye Masks

If dark circles or pigmentation issues are your biggest worry, these patches contain kojic acid, which is a powerhouse at reducing hypergpigmentation as well as being a strong antioxidant. With the addition of niacinamide, which can further help reduce pigmentation issues, and caffeine, which helps to increase blood circulation and perk up eyes, it’s hard to argue with the results that these patches can give. Apply them for 15 minutes in the morning and you’ll see both immediate and long term effects the more you use them.

Puffy Eyes Patches

Just like the name suggests, these ultra-hydrating and cooling eye masks are ideal for puffiness around your eyes. They contain hyaluronic acid to infuse skin with hydration and caffeine to increase blood circulation to the area and perk up eyes (just like your morning cup of coffee). You’ll also find antioxidants and peptides to help strengthen and protect skin. Overall, they’re a great option for those mornings when you could have used a few more hours of sleep but don’t want to look like it.

What to Consider When Choosing Under Eye Masks

Ingredients: You’ll find a variety of ingredients in under eye masks; what issues you’re hoping to address should inform what ingredients you look for. Retinol is a proven anti-ager, so if you’re concerned about signs of aging like fine lines and wrinkles, eye masks with retinol are ideal. Also look for peptides, which can help stimulate collagen and strengthen skin. For under-eye bags and sagging, you’ll want to look for tightening and plumping ingredients like hyaluronic acid, which can help plump skin by infusing it with hydration. For dark circles, antioxidants like Vitamin C and niacinamide are your ticket; sometimes, you’ll also find caffeine, which can help stimulate blood circulation. Many under eye masks will have more than one of these ingredients, making them ideal for a variety of issues.

Single Use vs. Reusable: Most under eye masks are single use, like sheet masks. The downfall of these is that they can create a lot of waste and they’re not always budget-conscious, since you have to keep buying them over and over. Reusable eye masks can be a good option and often can be used with any sort of serum, which means you can use what you already have on hand. The downside of these is that you need to clean them well between uses to avoid contamination, especially since they sit so close to your eyes. They can also degrade over time, so you’ll eventually need to replace them anyway, just not as often as single-use varieties.

Material: Many under eye masks these days are made from gel-like biocellulose or similar ingredients, which have a cooling effect and stick well to your skin. You’ll also find hydrogel, which has the added benefit of offering an extra dose of hydration. There are also silicone masks, which usually don’t have additional serums or ingredients, but can be helpful in treating fine lines and wrinkles as well as aiding in the skin’s repairing process. Less frequently, you'll find paper or foil masks that are infused with serums that penetrate the skin once they’re applied. None of these materials are inherently better than the others, but which one you choose depends largely one what you’re trying to treat.

Packaging: Usually you’ll find two kinds of packaging: individual packs of eye masks or a jar or tub with multiples. A tub is fine if you’re using them at home (plus you can usually get more out of a single purchase), but if you like to use an under eye mask when you travel (which we highly recommend), individual packs are easier and cleaner to use.

How to Apply Under Eye Masks

Whether you’re using an under eye mask in the morning or at night, you’ll want to apply it to clean skin. That means washing your face first and then applying it. You’ll notice that many masks have a teardrop shape. The pointy end is designed to be applied in the corner closest to your nose, while the round end should be on the outer edge of your eye. Apply it underneath your eye as close as you can get but not in or on your actual eye. Leave it on for the directed amount of time and when you remove it, press the excess serum (if there is any) into your skin. You can then follow it with your regular skincare routine. Remember, if you’re using an eye mask with retinol, you’ll want to wear sunscreen during the day (retinol can make skin more sensitive to sunlight). And we can’t forget our favorite tip: Keep your eye masks in the refrigerator for added cooling and depuffing effects.

Why Trust Us

We’re not going to say something is great unless it's actually great. Every product in Esquire’s round-ups is carefully curated by our grooming and e-commerce teams.

When it comes to skincare you can rest assured that we’re hand-selecting products that we’ve personally tested, tried, and loved. Our grooming editor Garrett Munce, along with the rest of the style team, has spent years slathering, smoothing, applying, wearing, and test driving hundreds (thousands!) of skincare products and we are confident that these are the best.Every pick on this list (and our other lists) comes from these years of testing.

We know that everyone’s skin is different, no two men are the same, and what works for you may not work for everyone else. But if you’re looking for the right place to start, with advice from folks who care (possibly too much!) about this sort of stuff, this is the place to be.

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