Here, nine ways to tackle every eye problem with which you’ve been afflicted during lockdown, according to the experts.
Improve Your Diet
What you put in your body manifests on the outside. Dr Shah-Desai says dark circles can be caused by iron deficiency, so ensure you “include vitamin B12 and foods like red meat, pork, poultry, seafood, beans, spinach, raisins, apricots and peas into your diet.” Dr Vogt also advises drinking lots of water and reducing your intake of salty foods and alcohol as they tend to exacerbate the appearance of eye bags. And ditch the cigarettes, too.
Invest In An Eye Cream
Next up: eye cream. Since our skin is naturally thinner and more fragile around the eye, we need to take good care of it. “The eyes are normally the first area of the face to show signs of tiredness and visible fine lines,” says Warren Dowdall, senior pro artist at Bobbi Brown. “It’s an area that isn’t great at keeping itself hydrated as there are fewer oil glands, so it’s key to use a good eye cream to nourish the area.” The new Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Eye Base is designed to do exactly that, while brightening and priming the area for subsequent make-up. With vitamins B, C and E, consider it a deeply hydrating wake-up call for tired eyes.
Give Retinoids A Whirl
To try and rebuild skin volume under the eyes and remedy dark circles or hollow tear troughs in the process, retinoids can be used. “With repeated use, [retinoids] can help rebuild dermal collagen and contribute to vascular support in the area,” says Dr Shah-Desai. Our pick? Try Dr Dennis Gross Ferulic + Retinol Triple Correction Eye Serum. Meanwhile, Dr Shah-Desai also recommends deploying vitamin C to gradually decrease skin pigmentation and help lighten dark circles.
Choose A Great Concealer
“While a good skincare routine will lay the foundations for brighter eyes, skilful make-up application offers instant gratification,” says Dowdall, who recommends colour-correcting to help offset darkness under the eye. The logic goes that in neutralising discolouration in the skin, anything you apply on top will be more effective. “If your discolouration is blueish-purple, choose a bisque shade of correct, and if it’s a greenish-brown, try a peach shade,” he recommends, adding that all you have to do is apply a concealer on top (using your ring finger to pat it in – it imparts a second-skin finish) for a marked difference.
Try Out Radiofrequency
A great port of call for those who are needle-averse is radiofrequency (RF), a treatment which uses heat to stimulate collagen and elastin production and tighten, smooth and firm the skin. It works wonders on hooded eyes and offers long-lasting results, too.
Look Up Mesotherapy
Proving popular at Mallucci London is an innovative treatment called Light Eyes Ultra. An innovative mesotherapy cocktail (for the uninitiated, mesotherapy is a minimally invasive procedure whereby a mixture of vitamins, amino acids and minerals are injected into the mesodermal layer of the skin) containing hyaluronic acid, ruscus, vitamin C and antioxidants, Dr Vogt explains it can combat everything from eye bags and dark circles to crepey skin, wrinkles and dehydration. In short: whatever you’ve got, it will help. “It’s a simple treatment with no risk, which is very important for the eye area as it is often a very difficult area to treat,” says Dr Vogt. “We use purely natural ingredients that don’t change your features but enhance and maintain a fresh look.”
Investigate Tear Trough Fillers
“Injectable treatments like tear trough fillers are an effective way to treat dark circles under the eyes, as well as under eye hollows,” says Dr Shah-Desai. “By injecting filler under the eyes, we fill the volume lost by ageing, lightening dark circles, filling the hollows and smoothing out wrinkles.” The demand for this treatment, which really does work, has surged during lockdown (and since it lifted) but it is important to go to an established medical professional, since it’s a more complicated injectable technique.
Consider A Thread Lift
For a more invasive approach to regenerating sagging skin – without going the whole hog in terms of surgery – a thread lift could be your answer. “It’s a minimally invasive treatment that uses specialised surgical threads to lift give immediate lift to the skin while also offering long-term collagen regeneration,” says Dr Shah-Desai. “The dissolvable threads are inserted using a blunt-tipped cannula to prevent trauma and damage to the surrounding tissue.” It takes 45 minutes and, while you will leave with a “pulled-back” effect around the eyes, this softens over a few days, leaving more subtle results.
Scrutinise An Eyelid Lift
An upper lid blepharoplasty (or eyelid lift) can offer an open-eyed appearance, explains Dr Shah-Desai, who says that this is the treatment that gives the “biggest bang for your buck”. It involves removing excess skin and fat from the upper lid through a cut hidden in the natural eyelid crease, and is closed with fine stitches. “If the sagging skin obstructs peripheral vision, blepharoplasty can also eliminate the obstruction and expand the visual field, too,” she advises.
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