Say Goodbye to Aging Eyes

Eyes are the very first thing we notice about someone. Our eyes are naturally drawn to theirs before anything else. They are quite possibly one of our most important and most beautiful facial features! And while we can’t really control the color of our eyes we can control the health of the skin around them. 

Did you know that the skin around your eyes is the thinnest and most sensitive surface on the body? Because of this, the eyes are more apt to deteriorate over time and therefore it is one of the first signs of an aging face.

Looking tired all the time is no fun! But the good news is there are plenty of ways to mitigate the look of those dark ‘bags’. Laugh lines are natural, they have their charms. I mean how lovely to have a sign of laughter on your face. But the deep crevices in the skin can end up feeling more unflattering than good and that’s okay! 

So what is causing the aging and darkness around our eyes and how can we slow or reverse this process!?

Signs of Damage Around the Eyes 

While there are several signs of aging skin near the eyes, fine lines and wrinkles are the most typical initial symptoms of the aging process. Sun damage (UV radiation, lack of collagen, toxins and lack of hydration all cause damage to the skin around the eyes. Even the daily habits we develop over time, such as rubbing or squinting the eyes can increase the formation of crow’s feet and leave you with wrinkles for years to come! The way your muscles contract when squinting or smiling and the shape of the supporting bone underneath are important determinants to a beautiful, fresh appearance. 

How fast & intense damage occurs is a combination of genetics and lifestyles. Genetic elements such as elasticity, pigment, bone, and muscle all play a significant role in how well the skin around your eyes will hold in the face of aging.

Some of the aging signs include; dark circles, crepey or sagging skin, hollowness/puffiness, hooded eyelids, and even diminishing lashes. 

How to Keep Your Eyes Bright and Fresh

 

Eye Cream 

Start by making a difference every day at home with an anti-aging eye cream. Not all eye creams are created equal. Medical grade eye creams are going to contain the most powerful ingredients that are scientifically proven to penetrate and CHANGE the skin around the eyes. At RFA we offer two different eye serums to help with all things eyes! These two pair so nicely together. It is like peanut butter and jelly 🙂 We recommend The Hydrating Eye Serum in your morning routine & The Youthful Eye Cream with Retinol + Niacinamide in your evening routine. 

AM- Hydrating Eye Serum HA+ Antioxidants

This hyaluronic eye serum delivers super hydration benefits to plump and smooth the eye area minimizing fine lines and wrinkles. Hyaluronic Acid is a powerful humectant holding 1000x its weight in water to retain moisture. Vitamins A, C, E, Co-Q10, and Green Tea extract minimize free radical damage. It’s packed with antioxidants, so rest assured your eye area will be protected from free radical damage to prevent aging. Apply ½ pump around the eye area. Remember, less is more! 

I apply eye cream all underneath my eye, around the crow’s feet, and then onto my eyelid and underneath my brow. This eye cream is great for daily and nightly use. A little pro tip is to actually use your eye cream on your lips as a moisturizer!

PM- Youthful Eye Cream Retinol + Niacinamide 

This anti-aging cream delivers rich hydration to the delicate skin around the eyes and is deeply moisturizing to help smooth fine lines, restore elasticity, reduce wrinkles, while also delivering ingredients to help minimize dark circles and puffiness. It’s packed with hyaluronic acid, retinol, ceramide, micropeptides and niacinamide. Between caffeine USP, arnica and Vitamin K, you will feel the benefits of reducing puffiness and dark circles. I love the “pop” of caffeine to combat puffiness. It really brightens the eye area.

If you are especially concerned with fine lines, wrinkles or milia around the eye I recommend the Youthful Eye Cream Retinol + Niacinamide.

Latisse 

Another easy, at-home way to bring a youthful appearance to your eyes is to strengthen and lengthen your eyelashes with Latisse. As we age, our lashes tend to diminish and become more sparse. Our eyelash follicles (the openings in the skin through which the lash grows) can slow, or stop producing new lashes altogether. Scrubbing or rubbing eyelashes too hard, and wearing eyelash extensions can damage the skin and cause delicate eyelashes to fall out. Long, dark, and full eyelashes can enhance the beauty of the eyes, making you appear more youthful and alert. 

A few times per week I use Latisse. This is a prescription eyelash serum that helps your lashes grow longer, thicker, and darker. I have been using this for over 14 years and it is truly one of my best (unkept) lash secrets! Long lashes really anti-age and brighten the eye. This is definitely one of my highest satisfaction treatments among my patients and it’s super easy and you can use it at home! Good news is I can prescribe this and ship nationwide. If you are local you can stop by Racquel Aesthetics in Chesterfield. We do take walk-ins for this. If you’re interested in obtaining a prescription, reach out to lea@racquelaesthetics.com for a virtual consultation & shipping options. 

Upneeq

Upneeq is the only FDA-approved prescription eyedrop for acquired ptosis (low-lying lids) that lifts your upper eyelids to open your eyes. This helps to make your eyes look more open in just 15 minutes. Your eyes will look wider, whiter and more awake! This is a prescription based product we are now using here at Racquel Aesthetics. It targets the Muellers Muscle that pulls the eye open. 

How it Works: 

We have a little muscle in the upper lid called Muellers Muscle. Upneeq basically kicks that muscle into overdrive. When that happens the muscle works to lift the lid even higher. Revealing more of your beautiful iris and eye. It is really amazing how opening the eye is not only beautiful but its a huge anti-aging trick. The eye looks more youthful.

Upneeq can be used up to once per day. The drops last about 8 hours. This is the perfect little fix or perk for opening the eyes anytime you are feeling tired or want to look extra refreshed. I use upneeq on busy, tired days, date nights, and the day of an event! So anytime I am wanting to be extra “on point” 😉

To read more about Upneeq, check out my blog here.

If you are local you can stop by Racquel Aesthetics in Chesterfield. We do take walk-ins for this. If you are not local please email lea@racquelaesthetics.com for a virtual consultation. 

Botox 

There are two ways that Botox can reverse signs of aging: to lift the eyes and to decrease the smile lines around the eye. As we age our brow position drops and our eyelids become heavier and more “hooded.” Constant smiling and squinting cause static lines (wrinkles) to form around the eyes. These are things that topical eye creams alone can not combat. 

The Most Popular Sites for Botox to Brighten Eyes

Glabella  – Between the brow’s for the “11” lines

This will get rid of the 11’s and wrinkles between the eyebrows. This area is my favorite area to botox because it is how we create what is called a liquid brow lift. By using botox here the complimentary muscles in the forehead take over and cause the eyebrows to lift up. This is the perfect amount of lift for anyone and everyone. It gives the eyebrows a beautiful arch, and leaves more room for makeup on the exposed eyelid. This is especially helpful in women who are experiencing “hooding” in the upper eyelid. Hooding is the excess skin hanging down over the lid and sometimes sits on the top of the lash line. When we lift the brow we can minimize the hooding and this creates a much more rested and youthful appearance.

Crow’s Feet

This is the area in the corners of the eyes also known as the smile lines. Some people like to fully relax them and others choose to slightly soften them, leaving some room for movement. 

FAQ: Yes, This can absolutely be done without changing the smile! 

“MicroTox” Under Eyes 

This is an non-traditional area to be treated with Botox, but has so many benefits, if you are a candidate!  There are a couple of steps that we will complete in a consultation to make sure you are a candidate before treating. 

Microtox under the eyes is a great treatment to help the circular muscle around the eye from wrinkling, especially when smiling. 

 4 Units are placed very superficially under the eyes in the “jelly roll”, which is the bulge that can appear directly under the eye. Treating this area can help with reducing skin laxity, creases and give you a softer look under your eyes! 

Read more about all things Botox here. 

Filler to Tear Troughs (Under Eyes) 

When the under eyes hollow out we often look sunken and tired. A little filler under the eyes can go a long way! Filler in this area can lift out hollowness, help reduce dark circles, and help to mask under-eye bags if you have them. When the hollowness under the eyes is reduced it gives off the appearance of instant rest! Depending on the patient’s anatomy treating this area can provide tons of improvement, but not always perfection. I always go over realistic expectations with my patients. If you have fat pads or “bags” under your eyes you may be a better surgical candidate, this is more common in women over 50. For this area, which is very vascular, I always use the Cannula technique. This technique cuts down on bruising and swelling and is very safe and comfortable for the patient! 

Read about Fillers here.

Co2 Laser Resurfacing 

CO2 Laser Resurfacing is one of my all-time favorite laser treatments because it’s kind of a one stop shop to giving the skin a nice “overhaul.” This can be done solely to the undereye area or we can go ahead and treat the entire face. CO2 Laser resurfacing is an ablative (skin peeling) laser peel that helps to completely resurface the skin, improve texture, reduce and eliminate pigmentation and sun damage, and erases fine lines and wrinkles. That’s right, it does it ALL! With CO2 , the laser heats up the dermal layer of the skin causing tons of collagen stimulation. You will continue to see the collagen producing effects on the skin for up to 6 months post treatment!

This treatment is incredible for the fine lines and crepey skin under the eyes. Those teeny, tiny etched-in lines that cannot be treated with injectables can really be tackled with this laser treatment as the heat can help to “iron” them out. I like to describe it as a shrink-wrap like effect on that thin under eye skin. This is one of my favorite transformative ways to use CO2 laser.

Read more on the Co2 blog. 

EYE hope you learned a lot (SEE what I did there). 😉

One last tip is make sure to get plenty of sleep, drink plenty of water, and wear SPF daily to preserve not only your eyes but all of your skin.

If you’re tired of looking tired you now have a ton of tools to get your eyes looking bright and fresh again!

Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any questions! 

XO Racquel