The Eyes Have It
The skin around our eyes is so delicate, and it is one of the first areas to show the signs of aging. The skin around our eyes is up to 10 times thinner than the skin on our face, and as a result aging shows up in ways such as dark circles, puffiness, fine lines and eventually wrinkles. The skin around our eyes also has very few oil glands, so is unable to produce and retain as much moisture as facial skin. Added to this, the strain of blinking up to 10,000 times a day, and it’s no wonder our eyes show wear and tear. Unfortunately there is no miracle cure for aging around the eyes, but there are some things you can do to help, and some products designed to help combat this aging.
Firstly, always wear a hat and sunglasses when outdoors, to prevent photo aging, and stop squinting. Sunscreen over the rest of your face is a must. Drink plenty of water to keep your whole body hydrated. Always remove make up gently, without pulling, and always apply eye creams and serums with your ring finger (the one next to your little finger), to minimise tugging on the delicate eye area. The skin around your eyes needs special products, especially developed for the delicate skin around your eyes. Try these specialised eye products designed to help with puffiness, dark circles, and fine lines and wrinkles.
Eye Creams
Eye Creams are the most common products on the Australian market for treating concerns around your eye area. They are great for mature skin, as they are usually highly moisturising, and frequently treat multiple concerns. To find the best eye cream for you, look at the concerns you have, the texture you are after, and the effect it has on the skin around your eyes. Our pick of the eye creams to try are:
The award winning Bobbi Brown Extra Eye Repair is, as the name suggests, a real multi tasker, and goes the extra distance in eye care. The Extra Eye Repair Cream is enriched with peptides, natural plant oils and humectants that work to help target wrinkles, dark circles and puffiness around the delicate eye area. The rich concentrated cream visibly revives your eyes, and is easily absorbed into your skin. A small amount, warmed between fingers is all you need. 15ml RRP $105.00
Ella Bache Eternal Beautifying Eye Cream is a rich, yet lightweight cream that is easily absorbed into your skin. Advanced ingredient technology focuses on helping to restructure and repair the skin around your eye. The ultra-hydrating formulation is packed with collagen boosters and antioxidants that firm and brighten the delicate area around your eye and minimise eye puffiness, dark circles, and line and wrinkles. 15ml RRP $90.00.
Peter Thomas Roth Retinol Fusion PM Eye Cream is, as the name suggests, used at night, as it contains retinol. A potent concentration of microencapsulated retinol delivers a gentle, sustained release over eight hours to help reduce the appearance of hyperpigmentation, discoloration, fine lines and wrinkles while you sleep. The soothing formula softens and protects delicate skin around your eyes. 15ml RRP $79.00.
Avène Physiolift Eye Contour is especially formulated to help reduce pronounced wrinkles, puffiness and dark circles. It diffuses active ingredients in the areas of the eye that need them most, helping to fill wrinkles, firm the skin and reduce puffiness and dark circles. The formula contains Ascofiline™ which helps maintain collagen, hyaluronic acid to plump the skin, retinaldehyde to smooth the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. The formula is hypoallergenic and non-comedogenic, so is gentle for your eyes. 15ml RRP $64.95.
Australian salon brand O Cosmedics Eye Correct is a professional strength eye cream that has a unique and patented luminescent effect to lighten and help smooth the delicate eye area whilst powerful moisturisers and a Tetrapeptide help to reduce puffy eyes reduce appearance of lines and wrinkles boost firmness and elasticity. The clever built in spatula means you can apply directly onto your eye area with no risk of contamination or dragging. 15ml RRP $92.00.
Eye Serums
Eye Serums are becoming increasingly popular in Australia, due to their light weight meaning they can penetrate faster and deeper, to treat multiple concerns faced by mature aged eyes. The serums are fast absorbing, gentle and easy to use. Some of the best serums to try are:
Elizabeth Arden Advanced Ceramide Capsules Daily Youth Restoring Eye Serum helps replenish and restore the ceramides your skin needs, to maintain the skins moisture barrier that is lost as we age. An enhanced complex of ceramides reinforces the integrity of skin’s moisture barrier and supports natural lipid levels, to help smooth out lines and wrinkles, and help reduce dark circles and puffiness. Potent botanicals and a retinol derivative promote skin’s natural repair process, diminishing the appearance of aging signs for firmer, smoother, healthy-looking skin. As the serum is in individual capsules, they don’t come into contact with air until they are opened, so each capsule retains its potency. 60 capsules RRP $140.00.
Nutrimetics Ultra Care+ Platinum Tight Firm & Fill Eye Serum helps to plump, firm and smooth fine lines and wrinkles. The potent formula contains Algae Complex to brighten dark circles and reduce under-eye bags. The micro-rollerball applicator offers a massaging action to help stimulate circulation, assisting in product absorption for maximum results. 10ml RRP $62.00.
June Jacobs Cellular Collagen Eye Serum is infused with active botanical extracts and neuropeptides, to help firm and lift around the delicate eye area. Concentrated moisturizing hyaluronic acid helps to increase suppleness and fill fine lines. A powerful patented blend of antioxidant-rich white, red and green teas combined with goji berry, pomegranate and grapeseed oils aid in neutralizing free radicals, protecting against environmental toxins and combating visible signs of aging. 15ml RRP $240.00.
Eye Masks
Eye Masks are a relative newcomer to the Australian beauty market. They work by delivering an intense boost of nutrient rich ingredients to your eye area, and continue to provide moisture and other benefits for up to eight hours. Some easy to use and potent eye masks worth trying are:
Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Concentrated Recovery Eye Mask is a sheet eye mask infused with Advanced Night Repair Technology, plus a surge of concentrated moisture and soothing anti-irritants help to rejuvenate the look and feel of your eye area in 10 minutes. Fine, dry lines are plumped as skin is drenched in moisture that lasts for hours. A comprehensive blend of nine anti-irritants, including lady’s thistle and white birch, helps immediately calm and soothe tired, puffy eyes. Hyaluronic acid and rice bran extract help retain moisture deep within the skin’s surface. 8 pad pack (of 2 sheets) RRP $105.00. Also available as single and 4 pad pack.
Aveda Tulasara Wedding Masque Eye Overnight is inspired by a pre-wedding tradition known as the Haldi ceremony from India. The 97 per cent naturally derived formula contains a potent turmeric extract to help brighten skin around the eye area, while algae extracts help relieve puffiness. A powerful blend of plant stem cells and organic apricot seed oil work together to help support the skin’s natural repair process that happens at night for a firmer, more lifted look. 15ml RRP $74.00.
Sensitive Eyes
Sensitive eyes, as those who suffer from them, or have allergies know, require a bit of extra TLC, and gentle products. Sensitive eyes can look old before their time, as they frequently look tired, red, and irritated. Thankfully, there are some great eye products on the Australian market for sensitive and allergic eyes. Some great eye products for sensitive eyes are:
Dr. Hauschka Eye Revive cares and offers refreshment to tired or irritated eyes in as little as 10 minutes. This soothing herbal solution helps to reduce the appearance of puffiness in the skin around your eyes. Extracts of eyebright (euphrasia), anthyllis, black tea, chamomile and camellia help calm your eyes, while fennel extract soothes skin and visibly diminishes puffiness. Eye Revive calms overstrained or tired eyes. The calming effect also helps in combating a tendency towards bags, itching and tired eyes. Especially suitable for people who wear glasses and contact lenses, for hay-fever sufferers, all computer users and ideal post air travel. 10 x 5ml ampoules RRP $56.00.
Eye irritation and sensitivities can prematurely age your eyes, making them look tired, red, puffy, and lined. La Roche-Posay Toleriane Ultra Eye Contour is a very gentle eye cream that calms irritation and stops it from recurring. The formula contains niacinamide to calm and moisturise the skin and to reduce the impact of environmental triggers. It also contains thermal spring water, which is known for its anti-free radical, anti-irritation, soothing and healing properties. 20ml RRP $33.95.
Eye Balm
Eye Balms are very similar to eye Creams, just a different texture. Eye Balms generally contain a wax or wax like ingredient, to help seal moisture into your skin, so they are ideal if you have a tendancy to dry to very dry skin around your eyes. Eye balms can be a bit tricky to find, as they aren’t as common as eye creams and serums. Our favourite eye balm is Australian brand Jurlique Nutri-Define Eye Contour Balm, which is specifically crafted to help address the multiple signs of ageing, and rejuvenate your entire eye contour. Enriched with breakthrough, patent-pending Biosome5 technology, the ultra-rich eye balm helps replenish, tone and firm your eye area. It targets deep lines, crow’s feet and sagging skin to make eyes appear firmer, more youthful and beautifully smooth. The balm comes with a metal spatula for precise application. 15ml RRP $98.00.
Eye Concealers
If you suffer from dark circles, or yellowness around your eyes, you may be looking for a concealer to hide or tone down the concerns. In this case, you should look for a concealer developed especially for your eye area, as they will be gentler, and more likely to have hydrating ingredients so they don’t dry or flake in your delicate eye area. Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Eye Cream SPF 15 is a multi-action treatment concealer that conceals, protects, smooths, brightens and provides hydration to the sensitive eye area for up to 24 hours. It has been formulated with apricot for anti-fatigue, green for anti-redness and white tea for dark spots and pigmentation (if you don’t know what these colour benefits are, click here to read our colour correction story). The concealer has been designed with a silicone flexible tip that allows easy application so as not to damage your delicate eye area, concealing imperfections and dark circles, smoothing wrinkles and fine lines and fading out puffiness. Available in three shades. 1.5ml RRP $22.00.
