Eye Cream: What’s your Beauty Eye-Q?

It’s true what they say that your eyes are the windows to your soul, but the skin around your eyes are also a window to your overall skin health. The skin around the eyes is the most vulnerable to damage and aging, and a common reason that people choose to come to see me for help.

The first thing that you should do is always wear sunglasses to protect yourself from UV Damage and wrinkling due to squinting. Secondly, make sure you are applying an eye cream twice daily. I recommend you always look for eye cream formulas containing your vitamins C and E, which are antioxidants that also protect from collagen breakdown. Beyond the basics, everyone has their burdens to bear when it comes to treating the skin around their eyes, and your choice of eye creams should reflect your unique set of circumstances. I have compiled a list of common eye care concerns and some of my favorite ingredients to help remedy them.

Dark Circles: There are two main causes for dark circles; Leaky capillaries and a genetic predisposition toward excess pigment or discoloring around the eye area. Other factors that can lead to dark circles include allergy, lack of sleep, or vitamin deficiencies.
Ingredients to look for when correcting dark circles:
• If the surface is darkened look for ingredients that are natural lighteners such as bearberry extract or licorice. Vitamin C can also be a huge help for brightening the look of skin, just be sure to use one specially formulated for use around the eyes, my favorite is VivierPharma Serum 5 and Platine Peptide CR Eye Cream.
• Vitamin K helps to strengthen damaged capillary walls and improves microcirculation, allowing the coagulated blood and puffiness to drain. Vitamin K is the main active in ISDIN’s K-OX eye cream and VivierPharma’s Dark Circle Eye Cream both are especially effective for dark circles on those with darker skin types.
• If you suspect the darkness is under the skin and caused by thin capillary walls, we need to use products that can help strengthen those walls so that they don’t leak from expanding and contracting (on your cheeks you know it as the flushing reaction). These formulas are vasoconstrictors and developed for the treatment of sensitive skin, my favorite is Vasco-Tonic from G.M. Collin.

Dry, Wrinkled, and Loss of Firmness: Chronological aging and sun damage are the main contributors to wrinkling around the eyes. Collagen breaks down as we age impacting the firmness of the skin around the eyes, which appears as loose skin on the eyelids, wrinkling at the corners of the eye, and crepey skin under the eyes. As early as 20 years old, you can see the beginning of crepey skin around the eyes after a night out, or not drinking enough water. This dehydration coupled with sun damage, a natural lack of lipids around the eyes, and repeated expressions, leads to wrinkles around the eyes. These wrinkles come with decreased barrier function and sensitivity because the dryness makes it difficult for the skin to seal between the spaces of each skin cell.
• Eye creams should contain the peptide blend called Matrixyl 3000, which is different from Matrixyl (found in StriVectin). Matrixyl uses two peptides that mimic broken down collagen and causes your skin to go into repair mode; this reaction causes the production of more collagen and elastin, the result is firmer skin. Matrixyl 3000 is found in G.M. Collin’s Phyto Stem Cell Eye Contour and ISDIN’s K-OX Eyes.
• For dry skin and crepiness, boost your barrier by mimicking naturally found components of your skin with ceramide-containing products like Daily Ceramide Comfort from G.M. Collin.

Puffy Eyes or bags: Fluid retention around the eyes is very common with age and allergies. When we sleep, the area around the eyes floods with fluid to help repair and protect, counteract fluid retention by elevating your head just a few degrees higher when you sleep. If you see some relief from raising your head, you may also see a change with simple lymphatic massage or light tapping massage called tapotement. Some individuals tend to develop fatty deposits around the eyes, which exacerbate the look of under-eye bags; these bags do not respond to product or massage. Unfortunately, correction of this requires surgical removal of the fat tissue.
• Manage your allergies. One easy way to help this topically is to make sure you are removing your eye makeup every night before bed with a soothing cleanser. I love the Oil Cleanser from Biodroga because its dual phase, at first it’s a lovely massage oil but when you add water it becomes a luxurious milk cleanser and it removes every trace eye makeup (it also conditions your lashes as it cleanses).
• Caffeine, rosemary and green tea help reduce inflammation by contracting the blood vessels and assisting with drainage. Cooling eye gels like the 5-minute FlashPatches from Patchology contain caffeine and are a quick fix in the morning if you wake up puffy.
• A citrus derived ingredient called Hesperidin also reduces swelling around the eyes, look for it in a trademarked blend called Eyeliss. Eyeliss is a mix of Hesperidin and two peptides to create an ingredient that is an antioxidant, anti-irritant, and anti-inflammatory all in one. Find Eyeliss in G.M. Collin’s Bota-Peptide Eye Contour.