Our eyes are the focus of our face. You may wonder, why can I not use my face products for my eye area?! This blog will aim to answer that question.
The eye area has many different features compared to the rest of the face which we will discuss but we must start with the cleansing, the safe removal of excess dirt and unwanted substances from the area.
When cleansing the eye area we must consider not only the skin but also, the tear ducts, the lashes, the brows and the moisture. To keep all this balanced without irritation means we need a separate eye cleanser/makeup remover. Many of which have added nourishing benefits.
Before we get into conditions like eye bags, dark circles, and wrinkles; let’s look into why your eye area is different to the rest of your face. Maybe it will encourage you to treat it to a regime of its own.
- The skin around the eye area is up to 4 times thinner than the rest of your face measuring between 0.3 and 0.5mm. The rest of your face is generally 1.2mm where as the body is thicker again and can be up to 4mm thick on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.
- In the eye area the number of hair follicles, oil glands and sweat glands are much smaller which means less thermal regulation, so less protection.
- The elastin and collagen fibres that make up the net of the dermal layer are so few it’s not as strong as the rest of the face.
- The subcutaneous fat is almost non existent and the underlying cushion is not there.
- The lymphatic drainage and blood circulation is much slower than the rest of the face.
In conclusion, be gentle with this area. Pat, use gentle circular and draining manoeuvres when applying anything to the windows of our soul. Even better ask your Beauty Therapist to teach you best practice and care for your peepers.
Okay, read on if you want to dive deeper into the common issues we have with our eye contour and some about the neglected lip contour too.
DARK CIRCLES.
Often if we look to our Mothers and Grandmothers we will see some hereditary conditions which will give us a head start for prevention. After all becoming aware without judgement is good in all walks of life.
Dark circles is one of these DNA conditions that doesn’t mean you throw in the towel and resign yourself to them, understand what increases the timeline of them and learn how to lessen the effect and its never too late to improve.
- They can be hereditary.
- It is mainly due to the microcirculation and lymphatic drainage slowing down.
- Liquids and bloody pigmentations can be retained in the dermal layer (remember we have less collagen and elastin fibres here so there is room for pooling).
- Time, as we age the already slow moving blood and lymph plus the thinness of the skin becomes slower and thinner making our dark circles more visible.
Possible solutions:
Ask for advice individual to you, there are many products and massage movements which can improve the situation. Skincare has become so smart and our Beauty Therapists are way more educated.
EYE-BAGS.
Inferior eyelid swelling sometimes feels like you could take your shopping home in them. Usually this is more evident when we wake up.
- The main contributing factor is STRESS. (bags of stress).
- Excessive reading or use of computer/devises worsen the situation.
- Too much salt in your diet is also a contributing factor.
- Sleeping, I know we need sleep but getting too warm at night and squashing our face into the wrong materials can create swelling, pooling and wrinkles. There is a reason for these cooling luxurious pillow cases.
- Time, (again we need to spend this wisely, it’s always a factor) the downgrading of elastin and collagen creates loss of tone, hence after repeated swelling the skin can become too stretched to return to its youthful position.
Possible solution:
Don’t neglect the swelling. Have a good routine to reduce it when it happens. Use your eye masks when you finish reading or devise working for many hours. Protect your eye area, wear your sunglasses and use eye creams with good ingredients to combat the condition. Buy a satin/silk pillow case (there are many options that don’t break the bank). Learn and adopt a daily massage routine.
WRINKLES.
I know they are everywhere but they usually appear here 1st. Using your facial anti-ageing cream in this area could have a counter effect as its too strong so its definitely worth investing in a good eye/lip cream.
- The eye contour has 20 muscles that create our expressions, that can be more than 10,000 movements a day. Over time our expressions naturally become wrinkles.
- Dehydration is a factor considering that every wrinkle begins with a dehydration line.
- Not removing eye makeup up properly, (or for some not at all) before bed really worsens the situation.
Possible solutions:
Trendiest solution is to get an injection of certain substances to stop the muscles from moving. Boom, job sorted you may say. Ok yes, but read above to the other conditions that can come from lack of circulation and lymphatic drainage. Your muscles help move this along. Moving on, there is ‘smart’ skincare now with added delivery systems to get ingredients past the horny (top) layer of the skin. You can learn movements when applying your eye cream to relax the muscles around the eye area. Keep the skin hydrated by applying water solutions topically and ingesting it. Using a good eye mask regularly. Also the pillow case is a good idea too.
THE LIP CONTOUR.
This is not an area you see talked about in and individual manner. It is an area with a mixture of skin depths very close together. The area I am referring to is between the nose and the top lip including the Naso-Labial folds.
- Our mouths are constantly moving. Chewing, speaking, smiling, singing.
- Our lips are vulnerable to environmental happening, like wind, cold, UV radiation due to the thinness compared to other areas.
Considering these two major factors we can understand why this area is particularly predisposed to premature ageing.
What to look out for to begin prevention:
– several little wrinkles.
– Dryness.
– Verticals parallel deep lines (lovingly referred to as ‘barcode’).
– The corners of the mouth may loose tone creating a sad looking expression.
– The sides of the mouth along the Naso-Labial line can underline the tonelessness of the lip contour.
Possible solutions:
Keeping in mind that temporary blemishes especially in this area can quickly become permanent, with a bit of help, again with product and massage, also protection against the environment we can really make a difference.
Of course this whole blog is about what you can do at home but we have many professional treatments within the salon to get you started or enhance the benefits of what you are doing. Education in application and home care advice come as part of these treatments. Check out our sections on facials and Zoner anti-ageing treatments in our treatment section.
If you made it to here, thank you so much.