The Best SPF Hack for Your Eye Area: Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Dew Balm Sunscreen Stick SPF 45

How to avoid getting SPF in your eyes.

Oct 01, 2024

As crazy as it sounds, very few brands offer an eye cream with sunscreen. And when they do, the products are usually little more than a thicker version of an existing over-priced “anti-aging cream”.

But I’ve found a hack – the hack!

The most effective and best sunscreens for the eye area are the thicker sunscreen sticks that brands market for touching up noses, elbows, ears and wherever else you need UV protection on the go. (Yes, like the delicate eye area!)

One of these all-purpose sunscreen sticks is the new Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Dew Balm Sunscreen Stick SPF 45. It’s got that perfect texture that stays put and it glides on easily around your eyes – including inside the orbital bone. My detailed review is just below.

The conundrum of protecting the eye area from UV damage and subsequent photoaging is exacerbated by skincare marketers who see no profit in offering eye creams with SPF. They’re the ones with the big marketing budgets. And they don’t waste a penny on marketing things simply because you’d benefit from it. That includes refraining from educating on the importance of applying sunscreen around the eyes. If they did, they’d need to offer a product to support it.

If they wanted to, brands like Estee Lauder-owned The Ordinary or L’Oreal’s Kiehl’s Since 1851 could just as easily build marketing campaigns about preventing aging in the eye area as they do for the rest of your face. Did you know Kiehl’s offers eight eye creams? Not a single one contains SPF.

Out of the hundreds of skincare brands on the Sephora website, very few offer a sunscreen for eyes. A quick search of the popular phrase “spf sunscreen eye cream” returns 18 products, most of them facial sunscreens. Just two are actual eye SPF products. TWO! In all of Sephora.

These include one of my faves, the Supergoop! 100% Mineral Bright-Eyed Eye Cream SPF 40 – which I’ve reviewed on the blog here.

So those of us who take photoaging in the eye area seriously are forced to rely on the all-purpose sunscreen sticks. It’s one of the most unfortunate hacks in beauty. But one that really, really works.

Explore my top picks of the best sunscreens for face on the blog here.

How to avoid getting sunscreen in your eyes.

The best way to avoid getting sunscreen in your eyes is to use a sunscreen stick intended for touch-ups on the go. Because they are in a solid, stick form, they’re thicker formulas and are far more likely to stay in place than an eye cream with SPF.
According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, “Mineral formulas, made with zinc or titanium dioxide, are a good choice, as they are made for sensitive skin and won’t sting your eyes as you sweat. Stick sunscreens work well with the eyes as the product won’t melt and it makes application less messy.”

Explore my picks of the best sunscreens for face here and for the eye area here.

Sources: Skin Cancer Foundation: Ask the Expert: Can You Safely Use Sunscreen Around Your Eyes? If so, What Kind Would Be Best?

Product Review

The thing about most sunscreen sticks is that they’re kind of an anomaly – and few brands even offer them in their range of sunscreen products. The brands that do usually market them broadly for touch-ups on the go – and as solutions for areas like the tops of the ears or exposed tattoos.

Very rarely are sun sticks marketed as the best sunscreen for eyes and for use in the immediate eye area. And they’re unlikely to be ophthalmologist tested for safety around the eyes.

Glow Recipe is an exception.

While the brand doesn’t specifically market their Watermelon Glow Dew Balm Sunscreen Stick SPF 45 for the eye area, they at least did that ophthalmologic safety testing assuming customers would use it there, too.

And I’m grateful that they had that foresight! Because the Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Dew Balm Sunscreen Stick SPF 45 has become one of my all-time favorite eye SPF’s. As I’ve said so often in my reviews of Glow Recipe products here, it’s simply a pleasure to use.

In classic Glow Recipe fashion, the skincare joy wasn’t accidental.

Glow Recipe’s new Watermelon Glow Dew Balm Sunscreen Stick SPF 45 is more than just SPF in a cool applicator. The brand formulated their sunscreen stick with antioxidants like Vitamin E and Niacinamide to help nourish and strengthen delicate eye-area skin.

They also infused this multi-purpose sunscreen with hydrating Hyaluronic Acid and Watermelon Extract – a signature ingredient in so many Glow Recipe formulas. And, for added moisture, there’s a hint of Squalane to moisturize dry skin in the eye area.

Unfortunately, none of these beneficial ingredients are at very active levels.

But that’s not entirely the point here. The point is that the Watermelon Glow Dew Balm Sunscreen Stick is fun to use. And with an SPF 45, it’s highly effective at preventing photoaging in the delicate eye area.

There are very few SPF products for eyes you can say that about.

It also happens to be ideal for applying around the eyes. And I’m not sure whether that was intentional.

It glides on effortlessly; but as you use it around your eyes, the stick’s shape adapts to your eye socket – much like a lipstick adapts to the shape of your lips over time. This makes it more comfortable and even easier to use. Many sunscreen sticks aren’t made with the eye area in mind and tend to be really uncomfortable to apply.

While a solid formula (no pun intended!), the CeraVe Mineral Sunscreen Stick is not shaped for applying around the eyes. It’s a flat stick; it’s not rounded like the Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Dew Balm Sunscreen Stick SPF 45 and the Supergoop! Glow Stick Sunscreen SPF 50 are.

The only drawback to the Glow Recipe sunscreen stick formula is the addition of perfume. Ugh! While at a low level, it’s still not a good idea to put fragrance on your face, let alone anywhere near your eyes. Again, it’s a tiny amount. I’ve had no issues with it, so it hasn’t been a deal breaker for me.

If you’re looking for a pleasurable eye cream with SPF, this product hack is a near-perfect option.

Don’t even think of skipping SPF around your eyes! Watch on my TikTok channel!

Pros & Cons

What I like about it: The Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Dew Balm Sunscreen Stick SPF 45 is the most pleasurable SPF for eyes that I’ve come across. Sure it’s a hack, but at least in this case the brand had the foresight to do the ophthalmological testing on it. I love how the product molds to the eye socket, making it very easy to apply. And at an SPF 45, you’re getting the protection against photodamage you need most in the eye area.

What I don’t like about it: I wish it didn’t have fragrance. And more than a trace of Niacinamide would be nice.

Who it’s for: All skin types.

SHOP THE BLOG: Want to try it for yourself? Purchase the Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Dew Balm Sunscreen Stick SPF 45 for $30 here.

Buy at Glow Recipe

Buy at Sephora