Beautiful eyes in the face of a handsome woman are like eloquence to speech. Edward George.
Eyes are the central focal point of the face and express – or betray – our emotions, thoughts, and feelings. Unfortunately, as we age, they can also begin to misrepresent us – dark circles can make us appear tired or angry. Deep furrows, sagging, bagging are major distractions from the dazzling inner beauty in all of us. The good news is that common problems have tried and true solutions.
Dark but not Mysterious
There are three main causes to the appearance of dark circles under the eyes.
Allergies: Allergies cause irritated itchy eyes and it is only natural to rub the area. Unfortunately, over time, this can cause hyper-pigmentation.
Genetics: Deep-set sunken eyes are a genetic pre-disposition that creates sunken valleys above the cheekbones causing a shadow under the eye. The same effect can be seen as bags starts to form with age. Sometimes this can be accompanied by an actual darkening of the skin due to genetics or sun damage.
Varicosity: Thirdly, blood vessels in and around the eye irritated by looking at a computer screen all day, can cause varicosity. This makes the fine skin under the eye appear darker.
Solutions
For hyper-pigmented skin for people with allergies, take an antihistamine to prevent swelling. An eye roller kept in the fridge for the cooling effect is another good solution. Laser can be used to remove existing pigmentation. For deep-set eyes, Restylane or your own body fat fillers are used for plumping the area. Fat also bleaches under the skin because it is white. For varicosity, we use the laser in the same way as we treat leg veins.
Too Much Baggage
With age and gravity the muscles and tendons that hold the subcutaneous layer of fat in place, become lax, and the fat herniates and begins to bulge. For moderate bagginess we can use skin tightening techniques like Ulthera or Thermage. If the bags are too bad then we must resort to surgery to remove the bag. It is important to use eye cream with peptides because peptides are the building blocks for the skin’s protein.
As The Crows Fly
Crows feet are caused by natural facial expression. Wearing sunglasses is a good place to start on prevention because squinting causes crow’s-feet. Sunscreen will also help. As we age, however, the body produces less sebum so moisturiser is essential. For existing crow’s-feet, they are relatively easy to treat – the first solution is botox. If the skin around the eye is too loose, we can use a combination of skin-tightening treatments combined with botox. Vitamin A-derived retinols can help to smooth out the lines by boosting collagen.
Low Brow
As we age everything drops. So, if you have a heavy brow we can use three techniques to lift it. Botox, Ulthera and Thermage, which tighten and lift the muscle. Surgery is the last option.
Puff Daddy
For fine lines and skin laxity we have two treatments: Fraxel laser which resurfaces the area by creating thousands of tiny microscopic treatment spots, which stimulate collagen deeper in the dermis. The newest treatment we have is the SRF Matrix, which, by using a radio wave, reaches even deeper into the dermis to stimulate collagen and has even less down time.
Small Eyes
It is possible to adjust the shape of the eye and the position of the eyebrow with botox. Skin tightening treatments can also subtly adjust the shape of the eye to create a more open effect.
No matter what you start to see staring back at you in the mirror, take heart there are more solutions now than ever before to bring the smile back to your eyes.
