One of the most common questions we are asked at the clinic is how to improve the appearance of the eye contour area. The skin around your eyes is around 7 times thinner than other areas of your face and this is why it’s often where we see the first signs of ageing as the thinner skin is more susceptible to collagen and elastin depletion and damage from environmental stressors. It's for this reason that you do need to show this area some extra TLC for it to be it's beautiful best!

When it comes to the eye contour area, the conditions that are most common include:

Skin Laxity and Lines - Fine lines around the eye area are usually down to dehydration so before you do anything drastic, make sure you’re actually hydrating the area as you may see a huge improvement. Deeper lines and wrinkles that appear around the eye area down to our naturally depleting levels of collagen and elastin when we age

Puffiness - this is a build-up of fluid in the eye area, causing localised swelling around the eye area. This is down to sluggish lymphatic drainage and can be easily managed with the correct massage techniques and some lifestyle tweaks. 

Dark Circles - Dark circles can occur for a multitude of reasons. You can be genetically predisposed to them, or they can come about because of environmental factors including lack of sleep, toxin build-up, or thinner skin which means darker, more blue veins are more obvious. 

How Can Treatments Help?

When treating the eye area, treatments that stimulate collagen and elastin production are the best options for improving the eye contour area. 

Ultra Synergy - just beginning to notice some fine lines that are bothering you? Our needling treatment, Ultra Synergy, is a fantastic advanced treatment to incorporate into your routine. Needling creates microchannels into the skin which our custom blended serums can use to reach the deeper layers of the skin. This is a fantastic way to boost hydration levels (one of the main reasons for fine lines) as well as lightly stimulating collagen and elastin production. 

Renew You - feeling adventurous or wanting to target more deep-set lines? The fractional laser that we use in this treatment targets water, so it evaporates tiny micro-channels in the skin in order to create skin remodelling - stimulating significant collagen and elastin renewal. Through intensive skin rejuvenation, fine lines and wrinkles are significantly improved without the need for botox or filler.

What products support improvement?

The eye area's needs are vastly different to the rest of your skin, therefore it will benefit from different care - this is why we think eye cream is non-negotiable.

Eye creams are also rich in targeted ingredients specifically designed to improve the area so you’re more likely to see results.

If dehydrated eyes are your main concern, then Eyes 27 is a deliciously light and hydrating product that will really deliver and reduce dehydration lines under the eyes.

If you’re looking to improve skin density then it’s important to include ingredients that assist the production of collagen and elastin such as vitamin A, peptides, algae extracts, and vitamin C. We don’t play favourites usually but Elequra Eye Architecture Cream really is the best we have found and contains a little bit of retinol to kick start skin regeneration. For retinol free alternatives, Esse Eye Contour Cream or Odacité Ba+S Eye Contour.

What can you do?

Facial massage is a fantastic way to help improve the health and appearance of the eye contour area. If you’re looking to target puffiness, then performing lymphatic massage will help to move any stagnant fluid along. Lightly tap with your ring finger from the inner corner of your eye outwards then sweep from your temples down to bring the excess fluid to your lymph nodes. To help target fine lines and boost hydration, gua sha massage is fantastic. This traditional Chinese massage technique translates as ‘scraping sand’ and helps to boost circulation, assists toxin removal, and releases muscle tension. You can find our massage tutorials here. 

Use a gentle touch - the skin is delicate so always make sure you’re treating it with kindness. Don’t scrub or rub when cleansing and always pat products into the skin to avoid dragging the skin. Let the products do the work when removing makeup. Use oil cleansers or removers that will dissolve everything without the need for mechanical action. Our favourite technique is to soak a cotton pad in the product, gently press onto the eye area for a while before gently swiping outwards. 

Just as your eyes are the window to the soul, the eye area is a window to what is happening within. If you’re feeling under the weather, not sleeping well, experiencing seasonal allergies or have a sluggish system the eye area is usually one of the first places to show it. Inner health really shines out so make sure you’re drinking water, getting your beauty sleep, eating a diverse diet and taking care of your mind and body too. These changes really will show in your skin.