The area around our eyes is usually one of the first to start to weaken due to the extra wear and tear on the muscle and tissue – e.g. every time we squeeze our eyes shut or squint we are working the muscle surrounding our eyes. From your description though it sounds like the skin around your eyes is dehydrated. Dehydration occurs when essential moisture is lost from the skin and we notice fine lines appearing as a result. This loss of moisture can be due to a number of factors, but is also commonly caused by a reduction in lipids in our skin. Our skin cells produce lipids which help to trap moisture between the cells in a sandwich-like action. If the lipid production is insufficient then we have a reduced ability to keep the moisture in our skin and we lose that plump firm look. Genetics affect the lipid levels in our skin as does age - from 30 onwards there is a natural decline in lipid production by our skin cells, also working in an air conditioned environment will disrupt the lipid layers.

Choosing an eye cream can be tricky as you need to base the choice on whether you need more oil (i.e. nourishing) around your eyes or more moisture (hydration), for you I would say to look for an eye cream with more hydration properties.

I’m sure that your current eye cream won’t be causing the lines under your eyes but maybe it is not providing enough hydration. There are eye creams available that have hydration as a main focus; I also like to have an SPF in my day time eye cream as most of our ageing is due to UV damage. Another option is to look for a hydrating serum that you can layer underneath your eye cream for extra hydration.

Treatment wise every skin treatment (i.e. facial) should include your eyes especially the masque step which is when a good hydrating masque should be applied. There are also specific eye treatments available from most skin centre’s which take about 20 minutes and are a great quick fix.

Finally always be very gentle around your eyes – use your ring fingers to apply an eye cream as they are usually our weakest fingers and avoid pulling the skin.

Good luck!
Caroline

Caroline Parker has worked for Dermalogica NZ for the last 10 years as an instructor. She is responsible for teaching postgraduate education to qualified therapists and she attends international training in LA and Sydney every year to learn new skills and update her knowledge. We think it is pretty safe to say there ain't much about skin that she doesn't know!
Beauty Bible is lucky enough to have her on board as our resident skin expert - so if you have a question about skincare, skin condition, or skin issues click to Ask the skin expert