Unlike your favourite, goes-with-everything handbag, eye bags are an accessory we could all live without. Whether you were born with eyes that are prone to puffiness or whether you’re experiencing eye bags as you get older, chances are they are making you feel self-conscious. And while it’s near impossible to eliminate them completely, there are steps you can take to reduce their appearance or prevent them from getting worse.
What Causes Eye Bags?
• Ageing – eye bags are more prominent as we age due to the loss of elasticity in the skin and the cross-linking of collagen that weakens the support of the skin below the eyes. The skin can start to sag, and fat that is normally confined to the area around the eye can move to the area below the eye, developing a pouch that can also fill with excess fluid so the area appears puffy or swollen.
• Fluid retention – especially after waking up in the morning or eating an overly salty meal.
• Lack of sleep – if you’re not getting enough shut-eye, chances are it’s going to show underneath your eyes.
• Smoking – smoking can accelerate the loss of collagen, thinning the skin and causing it to age prematurely.
What Skincare Ingredients Can Help To Reduce Eye Bags?
• Vitamin C – will brighten the area, making puffiness and darkness less noticeable.
• Caffeine – will help to tighten the skin in this area so that the eye bag appears to be less prominent. It has both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and will help to dehydrate the skin of excess fluid to assist with lymphatic drainage.
1. Budget: Vichy LiftActiv Supreme Eyes
Benefits:
Helps with decongesting eye bags, dark circles, fine lines and wrinkles.
Features:
• Horse chestnut seed extract to target eye bags.
• 5% natural origin rhamnose to smooth.
• Caffeine to depuff the under eye area.
• Suitable for sensitive eyes
Texture: light whipped cream.
Scent: fragrance-free.
Application: tube with nozzle; using your fingertips, gently tap and massage into the eye area both morning and evening.
Vichy has put together an impressive ingredient line-up in this potent eye cream. Horse chestnut seed gets to work by stimulating the lymphatic nodes and, in turn, decongests eye bags so they are less prominent. Rhamnose is a naturally derived plant sugar that works to rejuvenate the skin and address fine lines and wrinkles, while caffeine and escine tackle puffiness and dark circles. The beauty of this cream is that it doesn’t just address eye bags; it also improves other signs of ageing that can make eye bags look worse.
2. Investment: Filorga Time-Filler Eyes Absolute Eye Correction Cream
Benefits:
• Helps with under eye bags, lifts contour, dark circles and reduces fine lines and wrinkles.
Features:
• Hyaluronic acid.
• Tripeptides.
• Gentle peeling-effect.
• Lifting complex.
• Improves lashes.
• Unique plumping spheres complex to fill hollow areas.
Texture: whipped cream texture with a slightly matte effect.
Scent: strong fresh smell.
Application: pot; using your fingertips, apply to the under eye area both morning and night.
The most googled product of 2018 for a reason, Time-Filler Eyes has cult status and that’s because it works! This isn’t marketed as a cream specifically for eye bags, but rather an anti-ageing eye cream that will tackle most of your eye concerns, and that’s why it remains so popular. A unique lifting complex gets to work on any sagging (eye bags) to make the eye area appear more awake and youthful. Jam-packed full of active ingredients – including hyaluronic acid, tripeptide and a gentle peeling-effect ingredient – it helps to relax the eye area and smooth away any fine lines and wrinkles.
3. Luxury: GUERLAIN Abeille Royale Gold Eyetech – Eye Sculpt Serum
Benefits:
• Helps with eye bags, fine lines, wrinkles, lifts and brightening the eye area, decongesting and puffiness.
Features:
• Repairing Abeille Royale concentrate.
• Unique 22-carat gold applicator for precise application.
• Plant-based complex for instant tightening and soft-blur effect.
Texture: light and fresh gel-serum.
Scent: fragrance-free.
Application: tube with gold applicator; massage the product in both morning and evening.
Not only does the Abeille Royale eye serum look like a work of art with its unique gold applicator that mimics your fingertip, it offers instant results as well as long term ones; it’s the full package. After just one application, I could see a visible improvement in my under eye area – less puffy, tired-looking and definitely smoother. I’m putting this down to the infamous abeille royale concentrate (a combination of pure black bee honey and GUERLAIN exclusive royal jelly) that works on repairing the loss of tissue firmness as well as fine lines and wrinkles. After using this, my eyes appear lifted, giving me the results of a non-surgical eye lift without the extra cost or invasive treatment from home.
What Else Can I Do To Help With Under Eye Bags?
• Get plenty of sleep – seven to eight hours is ideal.
• Sleep with your head elevated – this will prevent fluid from pooling around your eyes.
• Use a compress or a cooling eye mask – alternatively, slices of cucumber or cold green tea bags can help to reduce the swelling.
• Keep your allergies under control – this can cause excess puffiness in your under-eye area.
• Use a concealer with light-reflecting particles – this can help to blur the area underneath your eyes.
