How to curate a skin care regimen
The skin around your eyes is super thin, and it gets thinner and thinner as you age. This means that it shows signs of aging faster than, say, your forehead or your cheeks. So if you're interested in taking the best care of your skin for the long haul, you've got to prioritize your eyes, explains Deirdre Hooper, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Louisiana.
Protect your eyes from the sun
"The sun is so powerful at removing both collagen and elastin, so exposure is going to make your eye skin thinner and less elastic," says Dr. Hooper. "My number one tip is to be sure you're applying sunblocks to your upper and lower lids, to the lashes, and reapplying to these areas during the day, because that's going to keep your skin as protected as possible." Up that protection by wearing sunglasses whenever you're outside, says Shani Darden, esthetician and founder of an eponymous skin-care line. Yes, even if it's not super sunny.Sometimes, sunscreen can irritate your eyes when you apply it directly. To avoid this, Dr. Hooper recommends looking for gentle formulas. Generally, mineral sunscreens are better tolerated than chemical sunscreens.
Be gentle
Your eye skin is super delicate, so Darden says you have to be careful when you're touching it. "Use gentle movements when cleansing the eye area and gently smooth or pat when applying any products," she explains. "You never want to tug at the skin."
Apply products to both your upper and lower lids
Everyone is often focused on caring for their under-eye, but you don't want to forget about your eyelids. "Depending on your ethnicity and your genetics, you see problems on the under-eye starting around age, honestly, 30," says Dr. Hooper. "Then, the upper eyelid starts going on everybody in the mid-40s." If your goal is to delay signs of aging, Dr. Hooper says the sooner you start taking proper care of both your eye skin, the better.
