Dark circles under the eyes are annoying!!! They make us look tired and older and will make an appearance for most of us at various times in our lives.
Now as more and more of us are wearing face masks around the clock, our eyes are taking center stage. As a result, not only are we experiencing a wave of bold eye makeup looks, people are turning to various under-eye treatments and splurging on eye creams more than ever before. In fact, according to aestheticians, we are in a “Botox boom.” However, before you invest in under-eye products or are planning on getting fillers/botox, it’s important to understand the eye concern you’re aiming to address and what the best course of treatment for it is –For example, are you confusing dark circles with under-eye hollowness? Inserting Botox or filler in the wrong area could do more harm than good!
Dark Circles VS Eyebags!
It’s not so nice when a friend or colleague asks if you haven’t been sleeping well because of dark circles and bags under your eyes! Dark circles under the eyes can make you appear more tired than you really are, and can be caused by a number of lifestyle and genetic factors. With the help of some lifestyle changes, natural remedies, and hardworking skincare, there are steps you can take to naturally target those pesky dark circles and brighten up your eyes.
Sometimes people confuse these terms, but they’re two different things. Dark circles are characterized by the darkening around the eye area. Eye bags, on the other hand, are a result of the swelling that occurs around the eyes.
So why do we have dark circles?
- Dark circles can be related to genetic or environmental factors.
- Ageing also plays a role, as we get older, our skin becomes thinner and we lose fat and collagen, making our skin less elastic and the blood vessels more visible.
- They are more visible against pale skin complexion, but people with olive skin are also more prone to under-eye dark circles.
- They can be caused by an excess of pigmentation, which can be hereditary or a result of sun damage or hormonal changes. This type of dark circles has more of a brownish colour.
- Sleep deprivation is also one of the causes.
- H2Oconsumption makes your skin look plump whereas dehydration makes your skin more frail-looking which means that blood vessels are more visible.
- Smoking and a diet high in processed foods and low in vegetables may exacerbate dark circles.
- Hormonal changes – Pregnancy can add to it!
- Sun exposure can also be to blame for dark circles, putting extra stress on the body to heal and repair itself.
- Don’t forget to remove your eye-makeup! The skin around the eyes is particularly fragile, so you must use a proper product.
- Iron deficiency. If you are concerned about this, please see your doctor.
Prevention of dark-circles by changing your lifestyle!
If you really want to get rid of dark circles, you may have to change some of your habits. Maintaining a rich anti-inflammatory diet, full of fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy fats (like salmon, nuts, virgin olive…). Drink with moderation: alcohol causes dehydration, which will make your vessels more visible. Try to drink less coffee, because caffeine causes vasoconstriction within the deepest layers of your skin, which, on the contrary to topic caffeine, makes dark circles more accentuated. The nicotine found in cigarettes also causes vasoconstriction, which will cause less blood flow, leading to the production of oxidants. These oxidants will break down the collagen and elastin, making your skin thin and weak. Getting 8 hours of sleep will also do wonders for the under-eye area. Always wear sunscreen. This is a very important step to reduce the appearance and even the formation of dark circles. UV radiation is a major cause of skin problems. It stimulates the production of melanin, which leads to skin darkening.
How to select an under eye cream!
Regardless of age, eye cream is a daily beauty essential that should be a step in every woman’s day/night skincare routine. Ideally begin using an eye cream in your early twenties, before any fine lines or wrinkles begin to show. From protecting the delicate under-eye area to treating the visible signs of ageing, there are a plethora of benefits to the regular application of eye cream products. Finding the best eye cream for your skin will instantly improve your overall skincare routine, making you appear more awake, refreshed, and youthful. ”When we use eye cream, our goals are to have them deliver the same anti-aging weapons we aim for with the rest of the face but to do so in a manner that will not irritate,” says board-certified dermatologist Sheel Desai Solomon, MD. While eye creams tend to have the same active ingredients as your favorite serums and moisturizers—like vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, peptides, and retinol—since the area is so fragile, they’re not quite as potent. Yet, still oddly expensive. This means you want to be sure you’re investing in a product with ingredients that actually work for what your under-eye concerns are.
Eye cream should be a lightweight yet powerful formula that will lift, firm, and strengthen the delicate skin around the eye contour area. It should provide intense hydration to smooth the skin and increase suppleness. Importantly an eye cream will also help to reduce puffiness, decrease dark circles and smooth wrinkles, and fine lines. Consider an eye cream that is sourced from natural, botanic ingredients to safely soothe and nurture the paper-thin skin around your eyes. Quite simply, an eye cream should create smooth, resilient skin and eye radiance without the use of chemical nasties!
You certainly can be using the same cream in the morning and at night, but considering your skin has different needs at different times of the day it may be worth investing in one for each.
Day-time eye cream- Just like the rest of your morning skin regimen, your a.m. eye cream should protect the skin under your eyes from the elements you face throughout the day. “Daytime eye creams should have ingredients that help with hydration, like hyaluronic acid and ceramides, and ingredients that help neutralize free-radical damage from pollution and daily stressors such as vitamin C,” says Dr. Nazarian. Finding a daytime eye cream with SPF certainly doesn’t hurt, especially because that delicate skin can use all of the protection it can get (this, it’s worth adding, is in addition to your everyday sunscreen)
Night-time eye cream – At night, it’s all about restoration. Look for a heavier cream (since you don’t have to worry about it messing with your makeup) with peptides, which stimulate collagen, and retinol, which helps with cell turnover and diminishes the appearance of fine lines.
How should you apply the eye cream?!
The skin around our eyes is so fragile, hence experts advise using our ring finger to apply our eye cream simply because it has the lightest touch and will exert the latest pressure. Lightly tap the cream in small dots around the eye socket. Keep tapping the cream around the eye socket until it is absorbed, ensuring you don’t rub or pull on to the delicate skin. When it comes to eye creams, less is more. Half a pea-sized amount is plenty for each eye! Slathering eye cream all over our eyes is also not recommended. Keep to the line of the eye socket, both beneath and above the eye.
Thinking of addressing this issue, come and see Dr Nishel Patel in his specialist clinic
Dr Nishel Patel
October 2020