Why Do You Need to Take Care of the Skin around Your Eyes?
The skin around the eyes is the thinnest skin of the human body and the epidermis of that area is only one-fourth of that on the face. Basically, the normal eye blinks more than 1000 times a day while using 14 groups of muscles connected to the eye.
Generally speaking, the sebaceous membrane that is mainly composed of sweat and fat is acidic, which is one of the main reasons that prevent water evaporating and providing a natural protective barrier on healthy skin. However, when it comes to the skin around the eyes, there is only few sweat glands with no natural sebum distribution.
Therefore, the sebaceous membrane has very little effect on the skin around the eyes. In addition, the fat content of the eye skin is significantly low, and the tissue of the skin underlying the epidermis lacks any elastic fiber or collagen structure. So, the skin around your eyes is prone to losing elasticity and is easily affected by external factors such as sun damage and pollutants. In addition, the circulation and lymphoid system around the eyes runs very slowly due to the low distribution density of the nerve fibers and capillaries around that area. Poor blood circulation cause eye fatigue and form dark circles.
What Are the Most Common Eye Skin Problems?
Because of the complicated characteristics of the skin around the eyes mentioned above, a turbulent lifestyle and poor health will cause all sorts of problems such as wrinkles, dull skin, dark circles, puffy eyes, extreme eye bags and milia. Now, let’s go through all the common problems in detail.
Eye Bags
The cause of formation is mainly divided into nature and nurture. Generally speaking, it is not possible to remove heredity bags without surgery. However, you can use some eye care products to control the gradual sagging and drooping. These eye care products can definitely relieve the bags around your eyes with consistent and appropriate care.
Here is what you can do:
Cold Compress
Apply an ice pad or a frozen towel on your eyes. This would definitely shrink the blood vessels around the eye and reduce its swelling exponentially while inhibiting any inflammation.
Eye Mask
Apply eye cream or eye mask. It is highly advised to refrigerate the mask you will use before applying it on your face to achieve fast and effective results.
Dark Circles
Causes of dark circles formation are mainly a result of sleep deprivation, eye fatigue, excessive salt intake that causes slow metabolism. Also, one of the underrated causes behind the formation of dark circles around the eyes is the residual eye makeup which results in the formation of pigment around the eyes.
To prevent these dark circles from happening, you need to:
- Eat more vitamin A rich food such as sesame seeds, peanuts, and soybeans.
- Make sure to get adequate sleep time on a daily basis and exercise more to promote your body’s blood circulation.
- Regularly massage the skin gently around your eyes for 10 minutes every day.
Milia
There are a lot of internal and external factors that cause the formation of milia such as a trauma caused by improper makeup habits, like overusing a scrubbing cream or exfoliating products coupled with an aggressive massaging technique that will produce small wounds on the skin. You should note that inappropriate eye care products make it difficult for the skin to absorb the oil ingredient can clog the pores and cause milia. Another major factor that causes the formation of milia is the disorder of fat metabolism in the body. This will cause turbulent oil secretion around the eye.
To prevent and treat milia, you need to:
- Wash your face with warm water and use tender facial cleansers.
- Be very gentle when you’re massaging your face. It is advised to massage your face for about 3 minutes to release whiteheads.
- You can also pick out whiteheads by using acne needles, but be cautious and avoid hurting your eyes accidently.
Periorbital Wrinkles
As mentioned before, the skin around the eyes is too thin. Hence, it is very easy to be dry and the collagen is easily lost due to the weak sweat gland around that area with no sebum distribution. Some other environmental causes such as air pollution, sunlight, and computer radiation, damage the elastic fiber of the skin around the eyes. Finally, Lack of sleep, smoking, and drinking also cause a rapid aging of the skin.
To prevent and get rid of wrinkles, you need to:
- Choose a proper moisturizing and an anti-aging cream
- Use day and night eye cream
- Apply eye mask for 2-3 times on a weekly basis to maintain the moisture around the eye skin
Does the Eye Skin Need Sunscreen Products?
Sunscreens are applied on our skin to prevent any potential sunburns and damages. However, the skin around the eyes also needs to be protected from the sun because when the sun is at its peak of the day, it can burn the surface of the eyes, causing a temporary but painful condition known as photokeratitis. Exposure to sunlight for a long period of time can cause blindness. So it is absolutely necessary to protect them from any ultraviolet radiation.
How to Completely Protect Your Eyes from the Sun?
The most convenient way to prevent ultraviolet damages to the eyes is to work on avoiding it completely. However, this does not mean that you should never go out. The following 2 points should be taken into consideration to maintain and protect your eyes from the sun:
1. Always Wear Hats and Sunglasses when You’re Outdoors
If you are sensitive to sunlight or if you have any eye disease, you should always wear hats and sunglasses when you’re outside, even if it’s mostly cloudy and rainy. The effect of sunglasses is not determined by the color of their lenses. However, it is highly recommended to use UV 400 sunglasses as they are the most efficient.
a- If the sun causes any irritation to the eye, you should close your eyes to rest it and frequently use eye drops.
b- Eat more fruits and vegetables. You should also consider taking Vitamin C and Vitamin E supplements as they are very rich in antioxidants.
2. Eating More Fruits below is Beneficial to Your Eyes
- Blueberry
Blueberries contain a sufficient amount of vitamins, amino acid, minerals, and anthocyanins. They can promote and enhance the blood circulation around the eyes and reduce eye fatigue.
- Cherry tomato
This is considered to be a great vitamin source. Cherry tomatoes are very rich in Vitamin A, C, and P which has marvelous antioxygenic properties and it could easily eliminate free radicals in no time as well as increasing the overall skin’s elasticity.
- Kiwi
Kiwifruit is well known to the king of Vitamin C. Every 100 grams of the fruit contains at least 200 milligrams of Vitamin C. This fruit will slow down any irritation caused by light to the eyes.
- Apple
Nourishing fruits like apples contains Vitamin A and microelement-selenium which plays a very integral role for eyesight.
- Orange
Oranges do not only increase the elasticity of the capillaries in the eyes and repair its cells, but also reduce the risk of eye diseases and visual degradation.
- Banana
Bananas are very rich in potassium and beta-carotene. Ingesting too much salt leads to fluid retention, which will cause all sorts of skin problems such as redness and swelling, especially around the eyes. Bananas contain the ingredients that can help eliminate that excess amount of salt in the body and achieve a right balance between potassium and sodium to relieve any discomfort.
Is There Any Special Sunscreens for the Eyes?
The answer is yes. In fact, it is very wrong to apply facial sunscreen directly on your eyes. Eye sunscreens should be very carefully chosen and they can’t be replaced by any other products for face because of the unfriendly formulas and ingredients for the eyes.
Here are some effective eye sunscreens for your reference:
(1) Origins A Perfect World SPF 20 Age-Defense Eye Cream with White Tea
- 100% mineral SPF helps protect from UVA/UVB damage
- White Tea’s antioxidants help protect from IR, ground level ozone & pollution
- Boosts hydration & radiance
(2) Shiseido Sun Protection Eye Cream SPF 25 PA+++
- This rich and concentrated eye cream offers protection against uva/uvb rays .
- Reduces the presence of wrinkles and fine lines.
- Ideal for daily use.
(3) Lancome Bien Fait Multi-Vital Eye Treatment – Spf 28
- Vitamin-enriched Hydration.
- High-potency moisturizers provide ideal 24-hour hydration.
- Dehydration lines around the eyes are visibly smoothed.
- Comprehensive Protection – Broad-spectrum UVA/UVB SPF 28 sunscreen.
- Moringa Tree Extract and Vitamin E plus B5 help protect against environmental aggressors.
(4) Supergoop! Advanced Anti-Aging Eye Cream with Oat Peptide SPF 37
- Most powerful anti-aging eye creams focus on repairing damage.
- Advanced Anti-Aging Eye Cream SPF 37, broad spectrum SPF protection.
- Mineral-enriched eye cream prevents photoaging around the eyes.
- Hydrates, firms and reduces the appearance of lines and wrinkles in just 4 weeks.
- Ophthalmologist-tested and won’t irritate contact lens-wearers.
Are There Any Recommended Products for Daily Use?
When it comes to eye care products, there are eye cream, eye gel, eye mask, and essential oil.
- Eye cream is essentially for moisturizing and is suitable to treat wrinkles around the eyes.
- Eye gel is also considered to be a moisturizing and refreshing product that is very easily absorbed by the skin. However, the moisture content is lower than the eye cream’s so it is more suitable for oily skin.
- Eye mask relieves the skin around the eye from any irritation.
- Essential oils are also easily absorbed by the skin while stimulating the nerves and repairing skin damage. It is mainly used to reduce the presence and formation of dark circles, eye bags and wrinkles.
Here are some popular and effective eye care products that are suitable for daily use:
(1) The Body Shop Elderflower Cooling Eye Gel
- Fragrance free
- Soothes and cools down delicate skin
- Elderflower and witch hazel extract
(2) Miskin DiaForce Gold Hydro – Gel Eye Patch
- Brightens, moisturizes, removes wrinkles and dark circles
- With diamond component
(3) Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Complex
- Lightweight texture
- Quick-absorbing
- Brightens dark circles
- Infused with powerful hydration ingredient – hyaluronic acid
(4) The Prairie Esence Caviar Eye Complex
- Firms, nourishes and re-energizes eye skin
- Improves and treats wrinkles and eye bags
Common Misunderstandings in Eye Skincare
I- Facial Cream Can Replace Eye cream
It is absolutely wrong to replace eye cream with facial cream in order to save time, because there is little sebaceous gland around the eyes so it requires small molecules and permeable ingredients in order to penetrate into the skin. The common facial cream mainly works on the skin surface, the eye skin can not absorb at all, if you use facial cream directly around the eye skin, excess nutrition will lead to grow “oil seed” around the eyes.
II- Eye Cream Is Only Needed at Night.
Also a common misconception. Eye cream should be used day and night, because the activities around the eyes are mainly concentrated in daytime so it is absolutely necessary to care eye skin and it is best to use specially designed sunscreen for UV protection around the eyes during the day.
III- Eye Skincare Should Be Done Later.
Although the condition of the skin around the eye gets weaker after the age of 25, it does not mean that you have to wait until after the age of 25 to start taking action and caring for it. It all depends on the skin condition rather than the actual age. I’ve ever seen a 20-year-old girl who has wrinkles and under-eye bags, which make her look like 40 years. Do you think that she has to wait until she’s 25 years old to start paying attention to eye maintenance? It is a totally wrong idea for skincare based on your age. Eye skincare should be done as soon as possible.
Q&A
1- Is eye cream classified as day and night like facial cream?
Jus like facial cream, there is day and night cream for eye cream. As a general rule, do not use too much moisturizing during the day and do not use whitening at night.
2- Do I have to choose eye cream based on my age?
Yes, eye cream is divided into different ages and different types of skin. So, when you buy an eye cream product, you should choose the most suitable according to your age and skin. Do not pick any product randomly to prevent any complications.
3- Would it be more helpful to repair eye skin by applying more cream every time?
The skin around the eyes is very thin and its capacity of absorbing nutrition is also very limited. Too much cream may not be absorbed very well and increase skin burden, which accelerates aging.
