The Secrets of Eye Cream

We all desire eyes that radiate vitality and youthfulness. This is where the transformative power of eye creams comes into play. In this comprehensive guide, we'll delve into the realm of eye creams – who should use them, what ingredients to look for, and whether they truly deliver on their promises.

Why the Need for Eye Cream? 

The skin around our eyes is delicate and distinct from the rest of our faces. It's thinner, more prone to dehydration, and susceptible to signs of ageing, fatigue, and stress. Eye creams differ because they’re balanced for this much thinner, sensitive area of skin. 

Eye creams often remove unnecessary ingredients and reduce certain fats and oils. By not using a dedicated eye cream and instead using your standard moisturiser, this larger concentration of fats and oils can deposit behind the skin underneath the eye.

Do Eye Creams Really Work?

This is a question that frequently arises in skincare discussions. The efficacy of an eye cream largely depends on the formulation and the specific concerns you're targeting - what do you want it to do?

If you choose an eye cream with clinically proven ingredients (i.e. Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Caffeine) and incorporate it into a consistent skincare routine, you're likely to see positive results over time which is why we often recommend an eye product. In comparison, there are also a lot of eye creams available with more natural ingredients like soothing Aloe Vera, Green Tea or Vitamin E. These don’t have as much research behind them but won't cause any harm. It’s likely that you will see slower results with the more natural products. 

However, it's essential to manage expectations with all eye creams – whilst they can provide visible improvements, they won't perform miracles overnight. 

Understanding the Unique Skin Under the Eyes 

The skin under the eyes is thin, lacking in sebaceous (oil-producing) glands, and delicate blood vessels. As a result, it's susceptible to fine lines, puffiness, and dark circles. To address these specific eye area symptoms, targeted eye cream formulations are best.

Ingredients for Fine Lines and Ageing Around the Eyes

Look for eye creams rich in ingredients that promote collagen production and hydration. 

• Peptides

• Retinoids

• Vitamin C

• Hyaluronic acid 

These are powerhouses when it comes to combating fine lines and signs of ageing. Peptides and Vitamin C both stimulate collagen synthesis, while retinoids encourage cell turnover. Hyaluronic acid hydrates the skin, plumping up fine lines and wrinkles.

Ingredients for Dark Circles 

Dark circles can be caused by various factors, including genetics, lack of sleep, and poor circulation. For combating dark circles, seek out eye creams with ingredients like: 

• Vitamin K

• Caffeine

• Niacinamide

• Liquorice extract

• Vitamin C

These ingredients can help brighten the under-eye area and reduce the appearance of dark circles.

Lifestyle and genetic factors when treating Fine Lines 

Lifestyle and genetic factors when treating Dark Circles 

It’s important to note that when it comes to dark circles, genetics and lifestyle factors can play a huge role in the development of and treatment of dark circles. In some cases, dark circles are hereditary, and skin care products would not be an effective solution - complete transparency. However, in other cases, there are genuine ways you can alter some of your lifestyle habits in order to support your skincare when it comes to brightening and lightening dark under the eyes. 

Lack of sleep, fatigue and stress: Poor sleep cycle, and environmental, and psychological stress can strain the muscles around the eyes, often causing Periorbital Hyperpigmentation (POH). Dark circles under the eyes are not necessarily a sign of tiredness, but the two do appear correlated.

1. Dehydration: When your body isn’t well hydrated, the skin beneath your eyes begins to look dull and your eyes look sunken. This is due to how close your eyes are to the underlying bone.
2. Ageing: Dark circles can also be an inevitable result of the natural ageing process. Signs of this include elasticity loss in the fat pad and the look of sunken eyes. If this is the case skincare alone will not be able to drive results. This is when some clients refer to treatments and medical grade enhancements.

Ingredients for Puffiness 

Puffiness often results from fluid retention and inflammation. Peri- meaning around and -orbital referring to the eyeball. The following ingredients can work wonders to reduce puffiness:

• Caffeine

• Arnica

Caffeine constricts blood vessels, reducing swelling, while arnica acts as an anti-inflammatory, reducing puffiness. 

Lifestyle and genetic factors when treating Puffiness 

When lifestyle and environmental factors come into play with puffiness around the eye, there is very little that can be done through skincare alone. The main Renude recommendation would be to focus more on strengthening the area by considering the following: 

1. Water retention: As a result of water retention, fluid can collect around your eyes and the surrounding skin tissue. Any swelling there is easy to see and hard to hide because this tissue is among the thinnest in your body.
2. High Salt Diet: Sodium is one of several minerals that regulate the movement of water in and out of cells. When you have too much salt in your diet, and eat high amounts of processed foods, you begin to store or accumulate too much salt which contributes to puffiness. 

For continued guidance on treating the skin around your eye, and to help determine whether or not you need to treat puffiness or dark circles, you can speak with a Renude aesthetician. Start now by taking our skin quiz.