Medically reviewed by Minimalist Health Specialist - Written by Sritama Dutta (Medical Science) on 13th Feb 2021
Eye Care 101: Choose the Right Eye Care Cream!
The skin under & around our eyes is a lot more delicate and thin than the rest of our facial skin and other body parts. And this delicate skin rarely rests as we blink all day and let our skin get exposed to sun rays and pollutants all day. These factors can be responsible for making the skin around the eyes prone to premature aging and give rise to wrinkles and fine lines before your facial skin begins to show any signs of aging.
Furthermore, our genetic makeup, physical and psychological health, stress, lifestyle, and dietary choices can also cause the skin around the to age rapidly.
The Common Skin Conditions You will Observe Around Your Eyes:
- Puffiness or Eye Bags
- Dark Circles
- Wrinkles and Fine Lines
- Dry Skin Around the Eyes
Thus, taking care of the skin around your eyes becomes as important as taking care of your facial skin. That's when eye creams come to help. But with a wide range of choices before you, choosing the ideal eye cream for yourself can become quite daunting. Thus, to make things convenient for you, we have a concise guide that will help you understand what to look for while choosing the ideal eye cream and how to take care of the skin around your eyes.
What Ingredients Should You Look for in Your Eye Cream?
1. Hyaluronic Acid:
Hyaluronic acid is a potent humectant that can help hydrate the under-eye skin. This is extremely beneficial if you have dry under-eye skin. It can also help in getting rid of crow's feet and fine lines.
2. Retinoids:
Retinoids are known for their anti-aging benefits. It can increase collagen synthesis, keeping the under-eye skin firm and taut by reducing the wrinkles and creases.
3. Peptides:
Peptides are also extremely potent anti-aging ingredients. They are the building blocks of proteins such as collagen and elastin, which maintain the under-eye skin's strength and firmness.
4. Ceramides:
Ceramides are also helpful in strengthening the skin's barrier and improving hydration. These can help to make skin smoother and firmer and also reduce wrinkles and creases.
5. Vitamin C:
Vitamin C is rich in antioxidants that help neutralize the free radicals that are the main culprit in causing premature aging. It also helps in brightening the under-eye skin and reducing dark circles.
6. Niacinamide:
Niacinamide is a versatile ingredient, can help in multiple under-eye skin woes. It increases the collagen production that firms and strengthens the under-eye skin and also reduces fine lines and wrinkles. It also minimizes melanogenesis that greatly reduces dark circles.
7. Alpha-Arbutin & Kojic Acid:
Alpha Arbutin and Kojic Acid are known for their ability to reduce melanin production, which will brighten the under-eye skin contour and diminish dark circles.
8. Coenzyme Q10:
Coenzyme Q10 can help shield the delicate under-eye skin from the harsh effects of sun rays and diminish fine lines and wrinkles.
9. Caffeine:
Caffeine is known for reducing puffiness and swelling. It also helps in minimizing dark circles on the skin around the eyes.
10. Green Tea Extracts:
These extracts are known to be anti-inflammatory. These also relieve puffiness and dark circles.
11. SPF:
SPF in your skin will give your under-eye skin some extra protection from the harmful sun rays and prevents the premature appearance of wrinkles and age spots.
How Should You Apply Your Eye Cream? Know the Right Way!
- The main point to remember here is not to use too much pressure.
- Cleanse your face before applying eye creams, and make sure there is no makeup residue left behind.
- Take a pea-sized amount of your eye cream and apply that product in small dots under your eyes, starting from the inner corner of your eye moving toward the outer corner.
- Gently dab on that product and wait or a minute or two to let it soak into your skin.
Experts Tips You Need To Know To Care For The Skin Around the Eyes:
1. Take Care of Your Lifestyle
Your lifestyle and dietary habits play a major role in maintaining the skin's proper health around your eyes. Drinking a lot of water will help keep the skin well-hydrated and smooth. Intake of sufficient nutrients, too, is important. High levels of cholesterol in an individual's body can accentuate puffiness in the under-eye skin. Thus, it is important to keep a check of the sodium-potassium level of your blood. Exercising is of utmost importance as it will keep the sodium-potassium levels balanced and improve blood circulation.
Sufficient sleep every night for at least 6-8 hours will also help in proper blood circulation. Smoking can not only hurt your health but can also speed up the aging process. There is a breakdown of elastin and collagen, which makes the skin around the eye lose, reduces its strength, and causes premature fine lines and wrinkles.
2. Remember to Moisturize:
To keep your skin healthy and taut, moisturization is necessary inside out. As the skin around the eye is more delicate than the rest of the facial skin, it is more prone to dryness. Thus external moisturization is as important as internal hydration. Apart from drinking at least eight water glasses daily, using a good moisturizing eye cream is indispensable.
3. Avoid Harsh Chemicals
The skin around the eye is fragile and delicate and is not suitable to withstand harsh chemicals. Thus, if you are using several skincare products, make sure to keep them away from your under-brow and under-eye skin. Such chemicals can make the skin drier and make it dull and rough.
4. Never forget Your Sunscreen
Protecting your skin from the harmful UV rays is something you cannot afford to miss. Exposure to sun rays can make the under-eye skin prone to develop premature age spots, wrinkles, and fine lines.
It can also cause the development of photo-induced pigmentation, darkening the skin under your eyes. So, go outside, make sure you have applied ample amounts of a broad-spectrum sunscreen on your skin, not missing the skin around your eyes, the upper eyelids, and the under-brow region. Also, wear sunglasses for added protection.
5. Always Be Gentle
Excessive pressure on the thin and delicate skin around your eyes can be harmful to its health. It can contribute to the development of extra wrinkles and creases. Thus, when applying any skincare product or makeup in that area, never rub on the skin.
Apply gentle pressure and lightly dab the product onto the skin. While removing makeup, the same rules follow. Instead of rubbing off the makeup residue, use a soft cotton pad with micellar water to gently remove all makeup traces.
6. Enjoy a Little Massage Once in a While
Massaging the under-eye skin region can help relieve fluid retention, responsible for causing puffy or baggy eyes. Massaging with an ice cube or using an ice pack can also help in reducing puffiness and swelling.
7. Bring in Some Active Ingredients in your Eye Care Regime
Various active ingredients have gained popularity in the skincare industry to treat under-eye skin concerns like dryness, puffiness, and dark circles. When choosing an eye cream, gel, or serum for yourself, try looking for ingredients like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, vitamin C in the product. Ingredients like arbutin and kojic acid are also helpful in reducing dark circles.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. When Should You Use An Eye Cream?
Eye creams give you a lot of flexibility when it comes to using them. You can use an eye cream any time you feel comfortable. However, it would help if you were choosing a different ingredient for different timings.
If you are using eye cream as a part of your morning skincare routine, it is advised to choose one with the lightest consistency. This will not feel heavy on the skin and will be more comfortable to wear under your makeup before stepping out for the day. Eye creams containing SPF will be all the better as they will provide extra protection to the delicate skin around your eyes.
If you choose an eye cream for your night-time skincare regime, something with absorbable ingredients would be a good choice. You can pick an eye cream with hydrating ingredients as well as something rich in nutrients for your skin.
Dermatologists suggest that using both types of eye creams will do the most good to the skin around your eyes as you will be able to enjoy all the benefits. It is claimed that one must apply eye cream once every 12 hours to keep the fragile skin around your eyes taut and healthy.
2. At What Age Should You Start Applying an Eye Cream?
As skin experts always say, when it comes to skincare, the earlier you start, the better it will be for your skin. Most people begin using eye creams in their early or mid-thirties after noticing the initial signs of aging around the eyes. However, to delay the appearance of fine lines and crow's feet in the skin around your eyes, you can even start using a good-quality eye cream right from your early twenties.
3. Should You Use Eye Cream every day?
The skin around the eyes is very thin and more delicate than our facial skin. It requires a little more care than the thicker, firmer part of the skin. Thus, moisturizing it and keeping it well-fed with nutrients is of utmost importance to delay the appearance of creases and fine lines. So, skin experts suggest that you use moisturizing eye cream twice a day in your AM and PM regime.
4. How do You Know Your Eye Cream is Working?
It's pretty simple. It would help if you observed whether the effects you desire and expect from your eye cream are notable or not. It has been seen after regular use of eye cream for about 3-4 weeks, the skin around your eye will feel softer and moisturized. It will give a smoother feel, and the fine lines and crow's feet will visibly diminish. The skin would feel less swollen, and if you had baggy eyes, the puffiness would be considerably reduced. After a month of religious use, your eye contours will be brightened and look fresher as the dark circles gradually disappear.
5. Which is Better of the two: Eye Cream or Eye Gel?
Though both eye creams and eye gels are composed of similar ingredients, their main difference lies in their texture. They are both effective against puffiness, dark circles, and fine lines. However, while eye creams are heavier and richer, eye gels are lighter and have a more silky texture. You can opt for both, but there are a few things to keep in mind before you make a choice.
- Eye creams being thicker and creamier, are great for dry skin. If you have a normal to combination skin type or even oily skin, you can pick an eye gel with a lighter consistency.
- Eye gels are preferred for the AM skincare regime as they have a smoother appearance and blend the best under your makeup. Whereas, eye creams may cause the formation of crease lines on your makeup and also get in the way of your eyeliner and mascara by wearing them off.
- Also, it has been seen that eye gels can relieve you of under-eye AM puffiness faster as its lighter consistency allows it to get absorbed more quickly.
- Eye creams are a good choice for your PM skincare regime as you can then apply a thicker layer of the product around your eyes and let it get absorbed during the night as you sleep.
