Caffeine Solution 5% Review | The Ordinary

This week I tried a new serum, The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG. What is it? And more importantly, does it work? Check out my review below!

What is The Ordinary Caffeine Solution?

The Ordinary is known for their high-quality products with minimal ingredients. However, I had never even heard of the Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% and EGCG serum. What does that even mean?

The Ordinary Caffeine Solution is a serum that claims to reduce the appearance of eye contour pigmentation and minimize eye puffiness. The idea is that you can rub this into the eye area, either in the morning, evening or both.

Caffeine and EGCG apparently work well against dark circles and puffiness around the delicate eye area. If you know anything about me, you’ll know that I’m always looking to find good concealer against my dark eyes. But what if I could reduce the darkness itself, rather than hide it with concealer?

This product has an extremely high 5% concentration of caffeine along with highly-purified Epigallocatechin Gallatyl Glucoside (EGCG) derived from green tea leaves. The website claims that “Independent studies have shown that topical use of each of caffeine and EGCG can help reduce looks of puffiness and of dark circles in the eye contour. Additional studies have shown that caffeine can also reduce the appearance of cellulite.”

If that’s true, count me in! But did caffeine and Epigallocatechin do this for me?

What’s this caffeine serum 5% like?

Simply massage a small amount of product around the eye area (without getting it in your eyes!) and it’s supposed to reduce eye pigmentation and puffiness. While you can use this in both in the morning and in the evening, I’ve only added this to my nighttime routine.

Basically my nighttime skincare routine looks like this:

Step 1 – Green Tea & Enzyme Powder Wash by Wishtrend. This wash helps clean off any dirt and grime from my face before I really start my routine. You’ll get the best results if your skin is clean and ready.

Step 2 – Supple Preparation Unscented Facial Toner by Klairs. Like the powder wash, this toner helps clean off your face, remove dirt, oil and any remaining makeup. Once I’m done with the powder wash and toner, my skin is ready for active ingredients.

Step 3 – Freshly Juiced Vitamin C Serum by Klairs. This serum is wonderful for brightening your complexion and evening my skin tone.

Step 4 – This new product, The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG. I apply this serum around my eyes are directed, while I use the Vitamin C serum all over my face.

Step 5 – Rich Moist Soothing Cream by Klairs. It’s always important to finish with proper moisturiser! Whatever you like to use, it’s vital that you keep your skin happy and hydrated after all the products you’ve used.

The big question is: does this really reduce darkness and puffiness around the eyes? For me, I don’t have puffy eyes. In fact, I have the opposite! While I can’t comment if they reduce puffiness, it does look like it has reduce the darkness around my eyes.

Bare in mind, the bags under my eyes are dark. Any help in this area is hugely appreciated.

What’s in Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG?

The Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG ingredients include: Aqua (Water), Caffeine, Maltodextrin, Glycerin, Propanediol, Epigallocatechin Gallatyl Glucoside, Gallyl Glucoside, Hyaluronic Acid, Oxidized Glutathione, Melanin, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract, Urea, Pentylene Glycol, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6, Xanthan gum, Lactic Acid, Dehydroacetic Acid, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Propyl Gallate, Dimethyl Isosorbide, Benzyl Alcohol, 1,2-Hexanediol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol.

Other important aspects to note:

• Alcohol-free
• Oil-free
• Gluten-free
• Vegan
• Nut-free
• Silicone-free
• Cruelty-free

Interested in more under eye care? Check out my recent review of Bulldog’s Energising Eye Roll On

What does this Caffeine Solution feel like?

I’m still learning more serums but compared to the few I’ve tried, this caffeine solution is a bit thicker than others in the bottle, but actually rubs in really easily. Maybe this is due to the fact that the formula contains an extremely high concentration of caffeine supplemented with EGCG from green tea leaves. It’s also a honey colour compared to the Vitamin C clear serum. Of course, the colour doesn’t matter once it absorbs into my skin.

Using the dropper, I apply one drop of this serum to my finger and then apply it directly onto my eye contour area. One drop per eye is all I need! You could drop it directly onto your face instead, but it would be tricky. The serum would run down your face before you could rub it in! So far, I’ve found dropping a tiny bit onto my finger first is the best option.

Then I massage one drop onto the skin around each eye. I’ll be honest with you: I didn’t patch-test this caffeine serum before using it. That was my fault! But I was so excited that I jumped right in. Thankfully, I had no negative reactions. However it’s wildly recommend to test the product on your arm or hand before applying it to your face.

While the product looks thick and sticky, it’s actually really easy to massage the serum into the skin. Once that sinks into my skin fully (which is pretty quickly), I apply my other serum (Vitamin C serum) to the rest of my face. I give this caffeine serum some time to absorb before applying the serum I use on the rest of my face.

This caffeine serum does tingle at first, but it goes away pretty quickly. I also give my eyes a rest after a few days of repeated use and skip using this product for a night. I don’t want to overly irritate my eyes.

Final verdict on the Ordinary Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG

The biggest question about this serum is: does it actually work? The answer: kind of! I’ve only used this under-eye serum a few times and I want to say that my under-eye bags aren’t as dark. Whether that’s true or not, it’s hard to tell. But I like to think that it’s working!

I only use the smallest drop of product per eye, so this bottle will last me an eternity. I’ll definitely keep using it and see if there is a more noticeable change over time to the darkness around my eyes.

Realistically, I can’t see a difference. But it makes me feel better that I’m actually doing something to fix an issue that bothers me. Sometimes that’s enough!

Emma x