Do your eyes look tired lately? When your eyes are bright, your whole face lights up. Read on for our tips on how to make sure your inner glow shines through.
What causes that tired, gaunt look?
“Eye contours have a tough job,” explains skin expert Pascale Mora, Director of scientific communications at Vichy. “Our eyelids are constantly moving – we blink around 10,000 times each day – and we often find ourselves rubbing and tugging at our eyes. The skin around the eyes is thinner, looser and more elastic than elsewhere.” All these factors can result in expression and fatigue lines, and dehydration. The skin’s texture and color begins to change, and dark circles* appear. The overall result? Skin loses its ability to reflect light and loses its radiance.
Go easy on the makeup remover
Avoid the temptation to rub your eyes when removing makeup – this can irritate the eye contour area and make your eyes look tired.
Our expert Annic Lefol-Malosse, Director of the Vichy Institute, has a great method of removing makeup without rubbing so that you can protect this delicate area:
- Moisten a cotton pad with makeup remover.
- Place it on your eyelids and eyebrows and dab gently.
- Carefully swipe it down towards your eyelashes, then press again to dissolve any remaining mascara.
Multi-action eye cream: choose active ingredients
The best products act on the texture, color and radiance of the skin around your eyes.
Pascale Mora says it’s best to buy products containing the following ingredients:
- Vitamin Cg (a vitamin C derivative) helps smooth out fine lines.
- Active ingredients with anti-pigmentation, anti_wrinkles or and soothing properties reduce the appearance of dark circles.
- Caffeine decongests puffy areas and reduces shadows.
Soft, flexible silicone applicators are ideal for targeting the problem area. As Annic Lefol-Malosse explains, they offer greater precision than fingers and rule out any risk of irritating the fragile eye contour. And if you can manage to find a product with corrective pigments and pearls for instant radiance**, your eyes will begin to sparkle in no time!
Keep eyes bright in the long term
As you can see, all it takes is a little self-care and before you know it, your eyes will be sparkling again. Still need a little help?
Exercise: Moving your body regularly is probably the best way to bring back the glow to your face. Exercise boosts the oxygen and blood supply around your eyes and helps combat dark circles.
Eat right: Consume foods rich in essential fatty acids and drink plenty of water. These actions can help reduce the effects of overheated or air-conditioned environments that cause dehydration lines.
Self-massage: Give yourself a great draining massage at home, either when you wake up with puffy eyes or in the evening to relax. Press lightly with your middle finger on the inside corner of the eye, at the bottom in the middle of your dark circles, at the top under the eyebrow and then on your temple.