Do Eye Creams Really Work?

This is a great question and one that I asked myself many years ago. As a baby boomer I began to show signs of aging in my mid 30's. You know, the kind that appears after years of sunbathing, being exposed to extremes in temperature, especially here in Idaho, and the normal signs created from hormonal changes.

I used to grab every eye cream I could get my hands on shrouded in the myth this stuff will work wonders on under eye circles, fine lines, drooping eyelids. It was also touted to be necessary since regular moisturizers were only created for the face and won't assimilate to the skin around the eye the same way an eye cream will. I totally bought into the hype.

To a small degree this may be true when it comes to body lotions or creams since you really don't want to use a body moisturizer on your face, not unless you want clogged pores resulting in acne. The epidermis that is laid over our bodies is much thicker and requires a more intensive skin moisturizer in order to help prevent chapped, dry skin and there are some good ones on the market for that. Everything to Organically made to those that are Prescriptive and have shown remarkable improvement on dry, itchy skin.

Next time, pick up a jar of both eye and face creams of the same company and look beyond the fancy package.....check the label. You will find the ingredients are identical except for a bit of shuffling on the ingredient list. Aside from finding the ingredients in a slightly different order, you may see a bit of cucumber extract thrown in or some other fancy doodad way at the bottom of the list. However, they are still essentially the same and cost almost twice as much as the face cream, plus it works out to be four times as much because you also get the eye cream in a jar half the size of the facial moisturizer just with a fancier packaging concept. It is truly marketing genius.

The skin on our face and neck is much thinner and simply just requires a gentler touch and does not require an ultra heavy moisturizer. A facial cream that is free from silicone oils and petroleum by-products which can also clog pores, are the avenue to take. This is also more practical in a sense that women will typically wear makeup over the top of that. Unless you are a mineral makeup wearer, liquid foundations add more silicone oils and synthetic moisturizers on top of what you have already used. This can get a bit heavy for the face.

Now getting back to the question of eye creams really working better than the facial cream? The answer is a resounding "NO".

Most women are attracted to the label on the box or jar and rarely read ingredient lists beyond that. Labels placed on these teeny tiny jars as "Eye Rejuvenation", "Eye Lift", "Eye Serum", "Anti-aging Eye Cream", and "Eye Regeneration" are all great hooks to get you to buy, and will certainly catch a persons' eye when looking for that fountain of youth. Marketers are doing what they are paid to do, prey on our weakness to stay as young as we can for as long as we can so they give the impression this moisturizer is strictly for the eye and is the answer to our prayers.

Rest assured ladies and gentlemen, your standard face cream is all that is required for the ultimate in skin conditioning with a bit of exfoliation thrown in 2 to 3 times per week with an exfoliating cloth. I feel these work better than the synthetic ingredient Salicylic Acid, (BHA's) since these also can be combined with ingredients that perpetuate an ongoing irritation factor which in turn can accelerate aging. Salicylic Acid also has the ability to go deep within the pore, whereas AHA's primarily work on the surface of the skin to remove dead skin cells and promote a glowing complexion. Although BHA's may be desirable for women with acne, for others it can cause premature aging and is known to actually begin to build up within the skin over time when used repeatedly. Women with Rosacea should avoid these types of lotions all together. Besides that; they warn on the label to keep away from delicate eye area. AHA's tend to be gentler to the surface of the skin due to them being derived from fruit extracts. Depending on the concentration, these can be used safely without leading to irritation.

Tip: To create resilience in the eye area, it is more about application than the moisturizer. Never tug or pull on or around the eye and the same goes for your neck area since this is similar skin structure as the eye.....very delicate. Dab on dots then blend with pinky or ring finger. Use upward strokes on the neck area to avoid helping gravity do what comes naturally. Also apply while skin is still moist for greater slip and better moisture retention against the skin.

Think of the clutter you can clear from the counter top, vanity or medicine chest if you return to basics and leave out all the fancy sounding, new technological age ideas. Cleaner ingredients will bring about cleaner, clearer skin giving you a beautiful, healthy, natural glow of youth.

A bar of facial soap (high pH) or liquid cleanser, maybe a toner when needed to normalize pH on the skin. Toners are great for neutralizing alkaline skin which can cause blush to turn a funny shade of orange. A full size facial moisturizer, and finally your minerals or liquid foundation and off you go for the day.

I personally keep my minerals and facial toner in a drawer so my counter top has only a cleanser and a jar of moisturizer for dry, mature skin.... that's it, hence no clutter and much simpler and faster to get ready for my day. Best part is my skin looks and feels great and no one that meets me believes it when I tell them I am 50 yrs old. They think I am 10 years younger. And all of this are results from organically derived moisturizers without all the new fangled junk and their claims to boot, and of course mineral makeup also gives a youthful appearance.

So make your life clutter free and you can start by paring down all those jars of useless, overpriced gimmicks that sit currently on your counter and begin today with a cleaner, healthier lifestyle. Your skin will love you for it! After all in todays' world it is all about going greener and here at my company we are striving to continue this goal. So go for the full size jar of face cream to help you economize and rest assured your delicate skin around the eyes will not be neglected.

Cheers!