You probably noticed that skin around eyes is very fragile, gets dry and wrinkled very fast. It reveals our life style and our age more than we would like it to do. We get eye puffiness, dark circles, crows’ feet and so on and so forth.
According to some studies, eyes is the most noticeable feature of a human face. Men and women, who participated in one study, stated that they pay the most attention to people’s eyes.
Hence, it is only normal that we, women, try our hardest to make eyes as appealing and attractive as possible. We worry about eyebrows, eyeshadows, we try to use many tricks to make our eyes wider, bigger, brighter and so on. There are thousands of videos on youtube with tutorials on how to make one’s eyes to stand out.
Thus it would not be a big shocker to realize that fine lines (crow feet, smile lines) and wrinkles could be one of the biggest worries that we, women, endure as we get older.
Why is skin around eyes more prone to wrinkles?
There are few reasons for that:
1. Skin around eyes is thinner, more fragile, more prone to dryness and involved in the variety of facial expressions. You smile, frown, squint, laugh, cry and so on – all these emotions and actions involve constant movement of the eyes and skin around it. These could lead to early fine lines and wrinkle appearance.
2. Skin around eyes contains fewer sebaceous glands – tiny glands that secrete sebum, otherwise known as “skin oil”, material which lubricates skin and protects it from drying. It is believed, that fewer number of sebaceous glands makes skin around eyes more prone to wrinkles and fine lines.
3. Due to specific anatomic structure, fluids tend to collect under the eyes causing puffiness and dark circles. It is worth mentioning, that puffiness around eyes could be an indicator of some medical issues including kidney and heart problems. If you notice an increase in unusual puffiness around eyes, follow up with a doctor and have a physical checkup.
Eye Care Products to Reduce Dark Circles and Puffiness
Yeouth, Retinol, 2.5% Eye Cream – this cream contains both retinol and caffeine which are very effective in fighting puffiness and dark circles as well as minimizing appearance of fine lines (ebay from 23.99)
Ageless Argireline Eye Cream Lifting Eye Bags Puffy Anti Wrinkle (ebay from $7.99)
4. Skin around eyes covers almost an empty space – there is less muscle, fat and soft tissue that supports skin underneath thus skin around eyes is more prone to sagging.
5. Sun and exposure to UV lights are well known for causing premature aging of the skin. Not everyone uses sunscreen and adequate eye ware that protects skin around eyes to harmful exposure.
6. Most of us, women, wear makeup. That means that in the morning we put some primers, foundation, eyeshadows, mascara etc and in the evening remove everything off with makeup remover. Did you pay attention to how you actually doing this? Do you rub your skin around eyes viciously pulling it in every possible direction? I know I used to. Well, years of rubbing and pulling skin on almost everyday basis do contribute to sagging skin and wrinkle formation.
(Disclaimer: this page contains affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase, I will get a small commission at no cost to you).
How to take care of skin around eyes?
There are lot of articles and blog posts that tell you many steps in under eye skin care. However, whatever you read, it all comes to 3 important points in the eye care:
- Extensive skin hydration and moisture
- Anti-aging
- Protection from the sun
Just remember this formula of the skin around eyes care and you will be fine.
1. Hydration and Moisture
Good hydration is crucial for skin around eyes. As discussed above, skin around eyes is prone to dryness and dehydration and it is very important to replenish lost moisture with appropriate products.
There are a lot of controversies on either skin around eyes requires a separate cream or a regular cream/moisturizer will do the job; after all skin is skin, right? Not really, dermatologist says. After all dark circles or “crow feet” problem applies to skin around eyes only. Thus it is kind of obvious that regular facial cream might not be able to address problems that are specific for eye area only.
First of all, invest in a good eye cream. I know it sounds obvious, but I still wanted to stress it.
Eye creams are specifically formulated for gentle skin around eyes: these creams are thicker, contain more oil and packed with more active ingredients than a regular cream or moisturizer.
The job of those active ingredients is to address specific problems: wrinkles, dryness, puffiness and dark circles around eyes.
Always use Under Eye Patches. They are one of the best and most efficient ways to boost hydration and moisture.
Some ingredients that are known to moisturize skin and boost hydration:
Hyaluronic Acid – this is probably the most known hydrating ingredient. One molecule of hyaluronic acid attracts about 20 molecules of water. This is what make this acid such a potent hydrating ingredient. Molecule of hyaluronic acid is quite large and does not penetrate into your skin, however, it creates perfect moisturizing layer on the surface of your skin preventing it from drying out.
Tip!!! Hyaluronic acid attracts water and if there is not enough moisture in the air or in your other skin products, hyaluronic acid will pull water molecules from your own skin and that might cause dehydration over the time. Make sure you are applying hyaluronic acid in combination with other hydrating products.
Sodium Hyaluronate – this is a derivative from hyaluronic acid. Molecule of sodium hyaluronate is much smaller than hyaluronic acid that is why it is able to penetrate your skin deeper. It does not mean that you should replace one with another, your skin needs hydration on both surface and deep level, thus many skincare products contain both ingredients for enhanced hydrating and moisturizing effect.
Ceramides – help to reinforce outer skin barrier and prevent it from losing moisture, thus promoting smoother, firmer, hydrated skin.
Niacinamide (Vitamin B 3/nicotinic acid) – restore moisture and boosts hydration of your skin, it also lightens dark circles and evens out skin tone.
Tip!!! You can combine Niacinamide with other products to increase its effects.
Eye Care Products to boost hydration
It’s Skin Hyaluronic Acid Moisture Eye Cream (ebay $8.19)
Belif Moisturizing Eye Bomb (ebay from $9.19)
Neutrogena Hydro Boost Eye Gel-Cream (ebay from $10.50)
NuFINITY Luxury Skin Science Phyto Ceramide Eye Serum (ebay from $17.00)
2. Anti-aging
Another important aspect of caring for skin around eyes is wrinkles prevention and reduction. As we age our body produces less collagen. Collagen is a protein that helps maintain healthy body function. It is found in bones, muscles, skin, nails, hair, tendons and other. Among its various properties collagen helps to maintain skin elasticity. Human body produces less collagen with aging and that contributes to skin sagging and wrinkles formation.
There are some commercial products that claim to contain collagen and thus add more of it to your skin. It is actually not true; you cannot “add” collagen to your skin through applying products or ingesting supplements. However, you can include some ingredients to your skin care that are known to stimulate collagen production by your body (including skin).
The most common ingredients to stimulate collagen production are Vitamin C, Retinol and Peptides.
Vitamin C – stimulates collagen production, anti-oxidant, potent anti-aging ingredient. It also evens out skin tone, protects it from harmful effect of environment, brightens skin and improves hydration.
Retinol – retinol is a form of Vitamin A. It boosts collagen production to reduce wrinkles, lightens skin, reverses some side effects of sun damage and also fights acne. Please, read my post about retinol and its uses by following link here.
Peptides – according to scientific researches peptides can boost collagen production and reverse wrinkles. There are few peptides popular on the market:
Argireline (acetyl hexapeptide) – when applied topically it reduces the depth of already formed fine lines and wrinkles and relaxes facial tension.
Matrixyl 3000 (palmitoyl olidopeptide) – diminishes wrinkles and improves elasticity
Syn-Ake (dipeptide) – this peptide is called a botox without an injection. It relaxes muscle tension to prevent wrinkles and minimizes existing fine lines and creases. It should be noted that there are many controversies about this peptide. Some publications claim that this peptide might promote the growth of cancerous cells. Other publications contradict by stating that this is not the case. There is not enough scientific research to support either statement. Thus at this point it is up to each consumer to decide whether he/she is comfortable with using this peptide. I personally decided to avoid to until there is more research done.
Octapeptide – minimizes the depth of fine lines
Leuphaysl (pentapeptide) – reduces wrinkles and fine lines
Anti-aging Eye Care Products
SYN-AKE Anti-Wrinkle and Whitening Eye Cream by Secret Key
Liv Luminous Eye Gel Infused with Matryxyl 3000 (ebay from $18.95)
Azure Naturals – Matrixyl 3000 CUCUMBER PEPTIDE Eye Gel Plant Stem Cells (ebay from $16.90)
Vitamin C Eye Cream Eye Care Lightening Eye Serum (ebay from $2.59)
Berrisom Placenta Firming Hydro Gel Eye Patch (ebay from $13.39). Please, read my full review of this wonderful eye product which became one of my favourite. Follow the link here.
Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Eye Cream (available in iherb.com in various sizes. Price starts from $24.28)
3. Protection from sun exposure
This is the step that is often neglected and even omitted by many. Sunscreen is all about protection and prevention of future problems. Meaning, that even if you invest in the most expensive sunscreen now and use it daily, you will not notice any visible results in two weeks, or a month or even in a year. However, if you stick to your sunscreen daily routine and I don’t, we will look differently in 3 – 5 and especially 10 years from now (provided we are the same age and the same ethnic type). You will look way younger, brighter and simply better than I will.
There is whole science behind UV lights and sunscreen (and a very complicated one). I will try to simplify it as much as possible for you.
UV stands for “ultraviolet radiation” which is a form of energy that comes from the sun. UV is quite dangerous and is proven to cause cancer.
There are two types of UV lights: UVA and UVB
A in UVA stands for aging. This type of rays penetrates deep into the skin. Not only does it cause cancer, but it also destroys collagen, which is responsible for skin elasticity as was pointed earlier in the post.
B in UB stands for burning. This type of rays affect skin on a surface; they are responsible for sunburns and also cause cancer.
That is why it is extremely important to use sunscreen.
Eye Care Products with SPF
SkinCeuticals Physical Eye UV Defense SPF 50 – specifically formulated for delicate skin around eyes (ebay various price ranges).
La Roche-Posay Anthelios AOX Daily SPF 50 Sunscreen – very gentle SPF, suitable for skin around eyes area (ebay $25).
Please, share your favourite products for under eye skin care!
Stay beautiful!!!