Did you know that the eyes endure up to 10k movements in a single day? Between putting on eye makeup, squinting in the sun and rubbing our eyes at the end of a long day, it’s no wonder that laugh lines start to appear as early as our 20s.
What causes under-eye wrinkles?
The skin around our eyes is 10x thinner than the rest of our facial skin, which means that it shows age, stress and fatigue faster than we can say, “Is that a wrinkle!?” Plus, the skin around the eye area contains fewer sebum glands than the rest of the face, so when our skin starts to lose elasticity and collagen with age, the eyes are especially affected. Repetitive movements and expressions such as smiling, frowning, even sleeping face down, can all create wrinkling patterns in the face, too.
How do we stop/slow it?
Wrinkling is an unavoidable part of aging, however we can help minimize it by controlling repeated eye movements. Don’t stop blinking, but, here are a few good habits that could pay off in the long run.
- Avoid Sun Exposure: UV radiation breaks down collagen in the skin. To keep sun damage at bay, wear SPF 30 or more (even on cloudy days), and protect eyes with a brimmed hat or sunglasses to prevent excessive or unnecessary squinting.
- Sleep on Your Back: Certain sleeping positions are a proven cause of wrinkles. Especially as we age, our skin is unable to bounce back after a night of cheek-to-pillow contact. Always try to catch zzz’s face up.
- Stop Rubbing: From removing makeup to putting on contacts, the more eyes are rubbed, the more the skin stretches, which breaks down collagen and elastin.
- Keep Skin Hydrated: Dry, dehydrated skin is prone to more fine lines and wrinkles. Hydrating the under-eye fills in these fine lines and makes skin look healthier, younger and plumper.
- Apply Products Gently: Use your ring finger to apply product, and pat product gently into skin.
What ingredients should be in an eye cream?
So now the question is – what to look for in an eye cream?
Choose an eye cream that not only hydrates but reinforces skin’s protective lipid barrier. Oils such as jojoba and macadamia are our ingredient faves because they dramatically improve the function of the lipid barrier, which locks in hydration, and keeps the under-eye looking dewy and fresh.
Not all oils are created the same, though. Macadamia and jojoba are the closest matches to the naturally occurring sebum of the skin, so they absorb easily without clogging pores. Some oils however, are more traditionally pore-clogging (comedogenic) like coconut oil.
Macadamia oil is a go-to eye cream ingredient because it contains squalene and oleic acid, which aid in increased cell regeneration. Highly emollient and lightweight, macadamia oil is able to penetrate and hydrate dry skin that’s lacking in natural sebum.
Jojoba is a powerful hydrator and the perfect complement to macadamia oil. As a waxy humectant, jojoba acts as a sealant, keeping the good stuff in and the bad stuff out. Loaded with natural forms of vitamin E, jojoba helps skin defend itself against environmental aggressors.
How products are applied matters just as much as what products are applied. For those worried about pulling on delicate under-eye skin when applying eye cream, use a metal applicator tip instead of your fingers. Skincare applicators are designed to not only have a pleasant cooling effect, but also to help product glide on without stretching the skin.
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| The Quench Eye Balm | The Beholder Lid Cream |
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