ALL the time, I hear women concerned about their eyes. It seems to be the ONE area where y’all feel that that you are most vulnerable when it comes to looking older and/or tired.
The main issues seem to be, dark circles, the odd line, and obviously looking tired.
Well, I have some news. And some of it aint gonna be pretty.
So what are dark circles?
Unfortunately with regards to dark circles, there is not a lot you can do about it. Your skin is determined to be about 10% genetics, and the rest environmental, so unfortunately if your ma or pa has dark circles, you are more likely to see them on you as well. Dark circles are caused by haemoglobin leaking through the micro-fine capilliraies around the eye area. The body has to react to this and it rather unforgivably turns the leaked HG into a brown looking pigment that will sit under your eye area for eternity. There are all sorts of eye treatments that claim to banish this, unfortunately, it is most unlikely to do anything about the darkness, other than on a cosmetic level.
So why do they get worse when I am tired?
They don’t! They stay the same colour. One thing I have noticed though with clients is that when they say are they are tired, their face is often paler, and a little sallow. This is going to make the area around your eyes a lot more visible. Obviously a lack of rest isn’t going to help them any, so make sure you get lots in!
What can you do about them?
Well you can’t get rid of dark circles entirely. And wrinkles and lines are also difficult to eradicate, despite the claims. But thankfully, there are lots of products out there that can help your eyes to look like you’ve had a good nights sleep, and generally sparkly!
OK, So I look a little older round the eyes. Why is that?
The simple explanation is this. As with all the contours of your face, you are prone to losing elastin and collagen (fundamental, natural support for the skin) as you get older. Without that ‘support’ the skin falls into little furrows, and then you have a line, or a wrinkle. The skin around your eye area is the the thinnest and most delicate on your whole face. As such, it’s bound to get a bit tired after a while and start displaying obvious signs of wear and tear. This is perfectly normal. However, how MUCH this shows does depends on how you treat the area around your eyes. A bit of TLC goes a long way.
General Care.
A good, basic eye-cream is always a wise investment. Particularly when your young! Nothing too serious for you, just a bit of moisturisation and a wee bit of repair needed here. Here’s some suggestions.
Clinique’s All About Eyes, £23. An award winner, this product is ideal for your first eye cream.
Containing Mnenonic technology (oooohhh), essential skin saver vitamin E and vitamin B6 to speed up production of ceramides that will help:
1. Maintian moisture
2. Prevent irritation and
3. Minimise the appearance of darkness under the eye.
TIP: Keep it in the fridge for a real eye cooling treat in the morning.
REVIEW: Beautiful texture, and lovely feel. Gel creme formula that doesn’t leave a residue, so you can apply make-up straight afterwards.
Don’t expect serious miracles from this though. It’s a great ‘my first eye-cream’ and will set you well on the way to taking great care of your eyes. Wouldn’t recommend for older eyes though. You know who you are.
Puffiness
We all get it. Tiredness, staring a computer screen, long flights, even allergies, every now and then the eyes look a little like someones sellotaped a marshmallow under there. No biggy! Origins No Puffery Cooling Eye Mask, £19 has the solution.
- Containing yeast Extract to ‘de-pouf’ puffiness.
- Age old eye favourite, Cucumber to cool and soothe, with some Aloe Vera in there for good measure.
- Caffeine to stimulate circulation and ‘wake’ the eyes up.
You out this on in a thin layer under the eye int he morning, run around and do what you’ve got to do, then tissue it off so you a have this lovely fresh, cooling residue on for the rest of the day, Make-up will go straight over the top (provided you haven’t put too much on) so you can cover any darkness with a good concealer.
REVIEW: A proper cooling treatment for really tired eyes this one, I loved it, but only every now and then when my eyes looked a bit, well, puffy. It did sort of calm them down actually, I anticipate this will be a really great one to use in the summertime.
Lines and Wrinkles
OOhh that difficult category. As with all things, some will work better for some people than others, but I have found a few that really made a difference to the skin around my own 30 odd *ahem* year old eyes. All good for different reasons, depending what your concerns are…
Révive Les Yeux Pressé, £110, Yes a bit of an investment this one, but I have to say worth it if you’re serious about sorting those peepers out.
Claims to:
- Bring Instant lift and firming to the eye area using an advanced polysaccaharide tensor.
- Révive’s patented Epidermal Growth Factor ingredient (a nobel prize winner no less) compounded with Fibroblast Growth Factor works over time to improve skin’s loss of firmness and bring radiance to the under-eye area.
Did it work? In short, yes. It is a gel texture this, so if you suffer with dryness around the eye, not the best one I would say, maybe using it in the morning would be a better idea in that instance. I don’t have particularly dry eyes so I used this morning and night. Not a lot in the first week, gotta be honest, but them I did start to get comments. My eyes looked totally even underneath, it did brighten the darkness, and it did seem to have an impact on the fine lines also. Didn’t totally get rid of them, but was enough for people to notice. Gotta say, I quite like this one, and it seems to do the job! But don’t expect miracles. Available at Space.NK
Better for dry eyes…
Ahh yes, the dry eyes. Hear this a lot. Well I found a really good one for this, and it was anti ageing AND it’s a ‘natural’ product. No Wrinkles Eye Repair by This Works, £39.50
- Containing super hydrators Argan Oil and Hyaluronic Acid, no dry eye worries here.
- Manilkara Leaf to preserve elasticity (trials of this ingredient did show siginficant imporvement in skin firmness compared to a placebo. Albeit with only 29 volunteers, but hey)
- That ever so gentle and effective, time released retionol (Vitamin A derivative) reducing appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and increasing collagen production.
- Star ingredient for dryness has to be the organic Crambe Oil, reinforcing natural lipid barrier to protect form any moisture loss.
REVIEW: A good all rounder this one. I didn’t notice a significant reduction in anything to be honest, but, I did notice a slightly more flexible and resistant feel around my eyes. I actually think this might have been my favourite all round eye cream, and I found it difficult to to switch to another. Wasn’t oily, and the dispenser was a dream.
Preveantative
OK so not JUST for the eyes, but is still worth a mention.
Invisible Zincs Environmental Repair Serum, £24
A very clever medical grade steel rollerball, to apply the wonder serum that is designed to treat and protect areas of the face that have been affected by UV radiation, and exposure to the elements.
Contains:
Antioxidant Green Tea Extract
Soothing Calendula and Aloe Vera
Rosehip Oil
It hydrates, and helps to repair damage we hear, so a good one if you’ve been out without sunglasses.
REVIEW: I used it having not SEEN the sun like any of us for a few months, and I have to say a really nice addition to your already existing eyecare. Went on easily, and absorbed quickly. Probably will get a lot more use out of this one in the summer, you know, just to make sure!
Available at Selfridges.
Luke Stephens MakeUp 
