RoC is a cosmetic brand that sells a popular eye cream called Retinol Correxion Line Smoothing Eye Cream. The brand claims this cream is "clinically proven" to "address...fine lines, dark circles and puffiness."

But does RoC eye cream contain research-backed ingredients for anti-aging? Has the cream really been shown in clinical studies to improve skin quality? Does it contain any questionable additive ingredients? And how do real users rate and describe the effects of RoC eye cream?

In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in RoC Retinol Correxion Line Smoothing Eye Cream to give our take on whether or not it's likely to have an anti-aging effect.

We'll also discuss the clinical studies funded by the brand, and feature unsponsored customer reviews.

Ingredient Analysis

The ingredients in RoC Retinol Correxion Line Smoothing Eye Cream are shown above.

Retinol is one of the core active ingredients, and was shown in a meta-study published in the Advances in Dermatology and Allergology journal to have anti-wrinkle and skin-hydrating effects.

Glycerin is clinically shown to have a skin-moisturizing effect, as we documented in our review of another cosmetic brand called OneSkin.

While this formulation contains at least two research-backed active ingredients, it also contains several inactive ingredients that we consider to be questionable from a health perspective.

Methylparaben and propylparaben are part of a class of compounds called parabens, and a 2023 medical review on parabens concluded the following:

"Parabens could disturb the endocrine system by activating the [estrogen receptors] and disrupting the steroid hormone synthesis and secretion, suggesting their potential deleterious risks to the environment and human health."

Phenoxyethanol was shown to be toxic to human cells in a 2020 clincial trial.

BHT is a synthetic preservative that was shown to be toxic to animal cells in a clinical trial published in the Environmental Research journal.

Isopropyl myristate was described as a "penetration enhancer" in a 2012 clinical trial, which means it can enhance the absorption of other compounds in a topical product.

This makes us even more concerned about the potential health downsides of this cream.

Overall, we consider RoC Retinol Correxion Line Smoothing Eye Cream likely to have an anti-aging effect given the inclusion of retinol, but we do not currently recommend this cream due to the inactive ingredients discussed above.

Real People Try RoC

A YouTube creator named Jacqueline Lemieux did a test with RoC's eye cream to share her thoughts on whether or not it reduces wrinkles:

A TikTok creator named "skinmadeclear" shared her experience after one month of using RoC's eye cream:

@skinmadeclear Replying to @🪐Daniaela✨ finally! And it performed better than I expected! #skinmadeclear @RoC Skincare #retinoleyecream #darkcircles #finelines #fyp #skincarebeforeandafter ♬ You Look Good Without no Makeup - JITP

Is RoC Proven to Work?

As we discussed in the intro to this article, RoC claims their eye cream is "clinically proven" to work.

However, at the time of publishing this article we can't locate a single full clinical trial cited on RoC's product page or Clinical Results page, and we can't find any clinical trials on RoC products in peer-reviewed journals.

As we've stated in many cosmetic reviews, we recommend that consumers entirely disregard clinical claims of efficacy if the brand making them is unwilling to link to the full study.

Manufacturer-funded, unpublished clinical trials are also subject to greater potential bias in our opinion than clinical trials published in peer-reviewed journals.

When we link to clinical studies on Illuminate Health, we typically link to studies published in peer-reviewed journals, as this is considered the gold standard for product research.

We urge RoC to publish or cite at least one full clinical trial on the page of their website titled "100% Clinically Proven," because there are no such citations at the time of publishing this article.

What Compounds Reduce Undereye Bags?

A popular YouTube video from the "Doctorly" channel discusses some compounds that are clinically shown to reduce the apperance of undereye bags:

Real Customers Review RoC

Amazon is a better resource for honest customer reviews than a brand's website in our opinion.

RoC's eye serum has been reviewed over 29,000 times on Amazon, with an average review rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars at the time of publishing this article.

A top positive review comes from a user named "PMZ" who gave the product a 5/5 star rating, and claims it had an anti-aging effect:

"A small amount moisturizes lower eye area as well as upper eyelid without irritation. Great absorption and helps with wrinkles. Excellent quality for the price compared to higher end products. Will definitely purchase again"

A top negative review is written by a user named "mesh" who claims gave the product a 1/5 star rating, and claims that it actually had a pro-aging effect:

"I totally regret making this purchase. Seriously that is within 1 month of me applying this around my entire eye twice a day. The wrinkle under my eye is more enhanced when I smile now. From my personal experience I say stay away from this retinol eye cream."

RoC Retinol Correxion Line Smoothing Eye Cream currently has an average review rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars on Google.

RoC Skincare has failed to respond to all customer complaints on their Better Business Bureau (BBB) page at the time of publishing this article.

Our Clean Anti-Aging Picks

Annie Mak Vitamin C Serum is our top anti-aging serum.

It contains hyaluronic acid which was described as a "skin-rejuvenating biomedicine" in a medical review due to its ability to reduce wrinkles and signs of facial aging.

Ritual HyaCera is our top anti-aging skin supplement.

It contains wheat oil extract which is clinically shown to "improve skin damages induced by aging."

Both of the products recommended in this section are entirely free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.

RoC Eye Cream Pros and Cons

Here are the pros and cons of RoC Retinol Correxion Line Smoothing Eye Cream in our opinion:

Pros:

• Contains retinol
• Contains glycerin
• Cost-effective

Cons:

• Contains parabens
• Contains phenoxyethanol
• Contains BHT
• Contains isopropyl myristate
• Company makes clinical claims without linking to clinical trials
• Only one active ingredient we can find anti-aging research on

Conclusion

RoC's eye cream contains retinol, which is one of the most powerful anti-aging compounds available over-the-counter (OTC).

Due to this ingredient inclusion, we consider RoC Retinol Correxion Line Smoothing Eye Cream likely to have an anti-aging effect.

That being said, we don't currently recommend this cream from a health perspective because it contains some inactive ingredients such as parabens that are clinically shown to be harmful to human health.

It's also notable that the skin around the eyes is some of the thinnest skin on the body, so the risk of absorption of unhealthy additives may be greater.

RoC claims that this eye cream is clinically proven to work, but fails to publish any clinical citations on their product page at the time of publishing this article.