Let me start by saying that I am an Italian-American woman living in New York City who wakes up early to work out and stays out late at glittery beauty events. As if my inherited dark circles weren’t prominent enough, my busy lifestyle certainly doesn’t do a thing to help the Mediterranean midnight halos decorating my under-eyes.

With genetics working against me, it’s hard to find an eye cream that really delivers on the brightening and de-puffing side of things (which, shocker, is what most eye creams swear up and down). I held the same rigid beliefs when I received an email about a new product promising to fill, lift, smooth, and brighten my under-eye area—but since it was a brand my fellow beauty editors swear by, I decided to give it a chance. My biases in tow, I eventually unboxed the shiny, golden tube beholding Dr. Dennis Gross’s latest innovation: the DermInfusions Fill + Repair Eye Cream, which quickly became a staple in my routine.