Review: AHC Youth Lasting Real Eye Cream For Face

I’m not going to mislead you, if this little cosmetic gem made in Korea is still quite unknown in our side of the world, this is mainly due to the fact that it’s not super easy to find if you live outside the Asian continent.

And yes, the AHC brand is also available in the American and European market but the products they propose have not much to do with their Korean counterparts. They’re very basic, and really their western version of this eye cream is not very interesting, so I’m telling you right now, it’s definitely worth ordering from Asia 😉

So I’ll continue the review for the most motivated of you, who aren’t scared by the prospect of ordering from an Asian website (c’mon, I’m just kidding, I know most of you aren’t afraid 😜).

This eye cream is super original for several reasons: first, it is a concept of an eye cream that can be used on the face. But not only! The fact that AHC reformulates it every year is also pretty unique!

Anyway, I’ll tell you all about it in detail in my review of the AHC Youth Lasting Real Eye Cream For Face (season 9)!

Skincare Mini-review: Missha Misa Geum Sul Vitalizing Eye Cream Today, let’s continue to explore the wonderful world of hanbang, this cosmetic trend inspired by traditional Asian medicine with my mini-review of the Missha Misa Geum Sul Vitalizing Eye Cream! Read more

The success story of AHC and their Real Eye Cream For Face:

The AHC eye cream is a true cosmetic success story. It has even become the most popular eye contour product in Korea, with a tube sold every three seconds there!

Since its launch in 2012, the brand has sold over 78 million tubes of Real Eye Cream For Face.
It’s easy to see why other brands like L’Oreal Paris wanted their slice of the cake and copied their concept, right? (I told you the whole story with L’Oreal and their very inspired eye cream in a video on my Instagram account, if you’re curious 😉 )
By the way, this incredible commercial success also led to the acquisition of the AHC brand by the American group Unilever in 2017.

AHC (or Aesthetic Hydration Cosmetics) is a Korean skincare brand created in 1999, and was initially distributed only in salons or aesthetic clinics in Korea. The products were therefore mainly used by skincare professionals, whether beauticians or dermatologists.

Soon, with the success of these locations, the brand’s products were sold in more places and became more and more popular! Korean consumers particularly appreciate the highly technical aspect of the brand, as well as its effectiveness and the fact that the products are not overpriced.

And the absolute bestseller of the AHC brand for the past few years is our hero of the day, their famous eye cream Real Eye Cream For Face.

Let’s first talk about the concept of this product: an eye cream for the face. Usually, it’s rather the opposite that you hear, you often say that you can use your face cream on the eye contour. But AHC, with its technical expertise as an aesthetic brand, has taken the opposite view!

And indeed, if you think about it, when you consider the skin of the face through the prism of anti-aging, what are the areas that will be the first to show ageing signs? The eye area of course, but also the forehead, the lip area and the nasolabial fold. These are the areas we generally refer to as expression lines (= the areas of the face where the skin moves the most).

So why not provide a treatment targeted precisely for these areas with dedicated anti-wrinkle ingredients? In beauty salons, this is actually a pretty well-known concept and when you do anti-aging massages, you often use specific products and techniques on these areas of the face 😉

So AHC came up with a generous product (it’s a 30ml tube) that can be applied both on the eye contour and on the areas of more pronounced expression wrinkles on the face: forehead/ frown lines, nasolabial folds and mouth contour. Technically, if you don’t want to bother, you can also decide to use it on the whole face if you want, no worries.

The benefit is that since it’s a product formulated initially for the sensitive eye area, it can totally be suited to the skin of the rest of the face, even if it’s very sensitive (which isn’t always the case when you do the opposite, i.e. use your face cream on the eye area 😉 ).

Another particularity of this AHC Real Eye Cream For Face is that it has been reformulated every year since its launch. The first one was released in 2012, and given its success, the brand decided to adapt it every year with the latest technological innovations.

Reformulation to ensure that products are always up to date and benefit from the latest technological advances is something quite common in Korea (and even in Asia in general). However, the big difference here with AHC is that the brand reformulates every year BUT also keeps the old versions on sale.

I think this is the first time I’ve seen this with cosmetics. Usually, a cosmetic reformulation means the “death” of the old formula. Well, not here! And obviously, each version (which the brand calls “season” as if it were a series lol) has its adepts. So even in 2021, you can still use season 3 or 4 if you feel like it, and allow yourself to try season 9 (which is the latest version) if you prefer 😉

I know, being excited about stuff like this is really something for cosmetic nerds, but it totally blows my mind 😂😂😂

I haven’t tried them all, far from it, but if I understand correctly:
– Season 1 Real Eye Cream For Face is EGF-based, and more focused on skin firming,
– Season 2 Premium Real Eye Cream For Face is more about radiance and dark circle brightening,
– Season 3 Private Real Eye Cream For Face is specialized in skin nourishment,
– Season 4 The Real Eye Cream For Face is more about hydration,
– Season 5 The Pure Real Eye Cream For Face is for very sensitive skin,
– Season 6 Ultimate Real Eye Cream For Face focuses on its great capacity of absorption in the skin,
– Season 7 Ageless Real Eye Cream For Face contains a type of biomimetic collagen and claims to have very small molecules that penetrate deeper for an intense plumping effect,
– and Season 8 Time Rewind Real Eye Cream For Face is packed with anti-aging peptides! (it’s the pink tube you can see in my photos 😉 )

And today, I’m introducing you to the latest version, released in 2021, the Season 9, Youth Lasting Real Eye Cream For Face 🙂

AHC Youth Lasting Real Eye Cream For Face, product presentation:

As you can see, this is an anti-aging eye/face product.

I already told you about the reformulations and the fact that the latest version always benefits from the latest cosmetic innovations and you’re about to see that AHC is not messing with us when it comes to the latest version: the Youth Lasting Real Eye Cream For Face Season 9 formula!

The list of ingredients is quite impressive! It’s actually VERY long.
You can find the complete list of ingredients at the bottom of the page 😉

I’m not going to be able to detail all of the ingredients here (because there are just too many!) but I would still like to highlight a few of them.

Let’s start with the most innovative!

The brand AHC highlights the fact that the collagen and elastin used in this cream are “quasi-human”. They are indeed ingredients that the skin recognizes because they’re already naturally present in the deep layers of the skin. But I want to reassure you, AHC didn’t use the skin of real people to get these ingredients! They were produced through bio-technology. The 9 types of collagen used in this formula have the particularity of being very small molecules (unlike collagen molecules usually found on the market), which can penetrate much deeper into the skin than classic collagen molecules, for an immediate plumping effect!

The other unique ingredient in this formula is the famous AHC 20s Biome, which is a probiotic complex, also obtained through a fermentation process. This complex of biotic ingredients is supposed to mimic the microbiome that can be found on the skin of a young person. By definition, this microbiome of a 20 year old is healthier and more resistant than the “deficient” microbiome of an older person. This 20s Biome ingredient complex therefore helps the skin to be stronger and healthier.

This formula also contains 35 different peptides for an enhanced anti-ageing effect. AHC doesn’t joke around with their anti-wrinkle effect!
And finally, it contains 17 different amino acids for an intensive repairing effect.

It also includes, among other ingredients:
– a bunch of moisturizing ingredients: hyaluronic acid, glycerin,
– some nourishing ones: shea butter, avocado oil,
– some radiance boosters: niacinamide, vitamin C,
– soothing ones: Centella Asiatica, Calendula, panthenol,
– and even retinal!

In short, it’s a very complete formula, and it’s even impressive for a very affordable product (between $7 and $15 for 30ml)!

AHC Youth Lasting Real Eye Cream For Face, my experience:

I’m not sure why I haven’t tried this cult eye cream until recently. Both times I went to Korea, it was basically everywhere! But (as often lately 😄), it’s only when I saw Odile Monod talking about it that I got more interested in trying it!

And clearly, an anti-aging cream based on the microbiome of 20 year old people, I couldn’t miss it! Cosmetic technology has never been so close to black magic, let me tell you! 😂😂😂

So I’ve been using this eye cream for a few months now (I just took a break for a month to compare it with the L’Oreal version, as I explained in my video on Instagram ).

Given the size of the tube (30ml), I think it will probably last me a while, even if I use it on other areas of my face as well (the directions to use are further down on this page 🙂 ).

The texture is quite rich but it’s very quickly absorbed, and doesn’t leave my skin greasy. I’m only using it in the evening at the moment but you can totally use it morning and night if you prefer!

Aside from its fabulous ingredients, I was interested in the AHC Youth Lasting Real Eye Cream For Face because it promised a result on comfort, wrinkles, and dark circles brightening, which are the main points I want to address with my eye area.

And I have to say that in all three aspects, the AHC Youth Lasting Real Eye Cream For Face delivered pretty well!

Of course, as usual, and I tell you this with every eye contour product review, I didn’t have unreasonable expectations either, I know that no product can correct my very deep dark circles for example. They are genetic and they were already there when I was 15… But I’m definitely interested in a brightening effect to reduce their dark color!

I really appreciate the comfort it gives me, and that without causing me to swell up when I wake up, which is always nice. I also found it rather effective on my fine lines, which have certainly not disappeared but are less deep (on the eye contour and on the face too).

And finally, I found that the promise on brightening was also fulfilled. My dark circles are a little less visible, which is always a plus!

In conclusion:

I’m very pleased with my AHC Youth Lasting Real Eye Cream For Face Season 9 which I enjoy using every night very much!

I find it very nice to use, effective and the price is very reasonable. It’s going to become a staple in my skincare routine, I’m sure!

I also find this concept of reformulating each year super interesting, and I would love to try season 10 next year! (I can’t wait to find out what innovations the future version will have)(Yes, this kind of marketing strategy works like a charm on me, as you can see 😂)

The AHC Youth Lasting Real Eye Cream For Face Season 9 retails between $7 and $15 for 30ml depending on the retailers.