Question of the month

I moisturise daily, so do I really need to use an additional eye cream?

When moisturising your face it would be hard not to include the eye area!  But while the skin around your eyes will be getting some hydration from this, it’s not enough.

The skin around the eyes is much more delicate and dry than the rest of the face – 10 times thinner in fact – and ages 30% more quickly.    The effects of blinking, crying and squinting all take their toll, as do those tiny lines and crow’s feet that tend to develop around the creases – an area which, if not hydrated and protected, will just make those lines more deep seated.

That means the skin can benefit from different products that both slow the process down and take into consideration things like sensitivity.  This is where targeted eye creams come in – and the latest and best products are all about preventative ageing.

Preventative ageing aims to improve elasticity and firmness in the skin around the eyes by stimulating production of collagen where it matters, in the deeper layers of the epidermis.

It’s important to get the right products for this to happen: you need creams or serums with active ingredients to penetrate the skin, packed with vitamins, peptides and SPF to protect against the sun’s rays.  These  products help to counter the effects of environmental stress and pollution which attack and break down the collagen and elastin fibres that keep our skin wrinkle free.  Some of the latest creams also contain stem cells, which address dark circles and puffiness.

For optimum results, it’s important to apply your eye cream twice daily.  When applying your prescribed eye cream, start by popping a tiny blob on your ring finger. You should start with the brow bone, working from the inside out, then going all around the orbit.  Pat and smooth the product into the corners of the eyes.

If you take care of the skin around your eyes, you’ll be taking care of the windows to your soul – imagine them sunny and open, rather than craggy and lifeless!