Road Test: I tried reusable eye gels from Australian beauty brand Foile

Will they live up to the disposable eye gels I’m so fond of?

I’m fast approaching 30 and after almost a decade of barely noticing the signs of aging, my face has ever so slightly started to visibly age. We’re talking about a few forehead lines that won’t seem to budge, puffy under-eye bags and crow’s feet.

They don’t phase me too much, but my friends and I agree: it’s only in the last year or so that we’ve collectively started noticing that we’re actually getting older.

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Obviously, I don’t believe aging to be inherently negative – it’s a privilege denied to many, and I like the idea of all the joyful, painful and memorable moments of my life making their mark on my face by way of laughter and smile lines.

But it would be remiss of me to pretend I don’t feel an overwhelming pressure to ‘preserve’ my skin and worry about losing ‘value’ as I age (whatever that even means). I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a woman in the Western world who doesn’t.

With this in mind, I think of my skincare routine as serving two purposes. It allays the gnawing fear that my face is slowly morphing into something I’m not so familiar with. But it also allows me to carve out moments where I sit and care for myself, unhurriedly applying my serums and face masks in a way that’s almost as soothing to me as ASMR.

This is where face masks and eye gels sit in my routine – they feature in my routine once or twice a week, and they’re there for the sole purpose of pampering. Do I notice a difference post-use? Usually yes, but I have no idea if long-term regular use is going to pay off.

This is also the part where I start feeling incredibly guilty: single-use sheet masks and eye gels are just so wasteful. I feel a twinge of shame each time I peel my (very expensive) Patchology eye gels off and toss them into the bathroom bin.

I hadn’t even considered the possibility that there was an environmentally-friendly alternative to these gels. But like many great inventions, the solution is so obvious you’ll wish you’d thought of it first: reusable eye gels.

Created by refillable Australian beauty brand Foile, the Angel Eye Jellies are reusable under-eye masks. Made of silicone and housed in a very sleek aluminium tin, they’re available in a vibrant shade of green or orange.

Just like single-use eye gels, you use them to hydrate the delicate under-eye area – the only difference is that instead of coming pre-soaked in all that goopy goodness, you add your own serum of choice to the back of the gels.

You can also dab your eye cream/whatever hydrating or brightening product you like onto your under-eye area and then stick the Eye Jellies on top. Foile advises to leave them on for at least 10 minutes, but I’ve left them on for upwards of 30 to 40 minutes (doesn’t everyone do this? 10 minutes just doesn’t feel like enough time for everything to really soak in).

@foile_ How to use our Angel Eye Jellies, the resusable under eye masks! #foileskincare #australianskincare #refillableskincare #sustainablebeauty #ecoconscious #skincareroutine #cleanskincare #eyemask #reusableyemask #foileskincare #glowup #glowyskin #brighteningserum #skincareturorial ♬ Feel It Out – Yaeji

I’ve been using them for the last two weeks, and they’re a great guilt-free alternative to my beloved single-use eye gels. You do have to use enough product so they’ll adhere to your face, and I found they needed to be readjusted once or twice. This aside, I’m a convert.

My under-eye area feels refreshed post-use and I’ve been adding them in as an extra step when prepping my skin for events and nights out. It’s probably only me that can tell the difference, but I swear my makeup sits better because of it.

I used to ration out my expensive eye gels and use them only for special occasions but with the Eye Jellies, I don’t need to consider the cost beyond the initial outlay of purchasing them.

The products I’m using under my eyes I’d be using regardless – perhaps they’ll run out slightly faster because I’m adding an extra drop of goop to the back of these jellies a few times a week, but it’s still significantly more cost-effective. And on a superficial note, they just look cute (and I’m a sucker for anything green).

Find out more about Foile’s reusable Eye Jellies here.