Ugh!!! I’ve been traveling over the last four days and I don’t know if it’s just the stress of being on the move constantly, the utter lack of sleep (lately I’ve been getting to bed around 2AM), the skipping vitamins and overdosing on caffeine drinks to stay awake but my skin looks like hell. My under-eye circles are BLACK reallly I mean so dark-blue it looks black. I can’t tell you how many people are asking me if didn’t get enough rest (which I haven’t), if I am sick (no) or if I am anemic (probably – my diet sucks right now). Anyhow, I look positively horrendous. Oh, and I I forgot to pack my moisturizer for this trip so I tried using a body/hand lotion provided by the hotel – BIG MISTAKE. It burned like nothing else and then I had red tiny spots to coordinate with the dark circles.
Under-eye concealer doesn’t even begin to cover the darkness. And if the dark circles under my eyes weren’t bad enough my skin is dehydrated and the concealor accentuates each and every ugly wrinkle. I am back home now and will make a point of resting and re-hydrating.
Submitted by Ms. distressedDERMA on Friday, 19 January 2007
January 17th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
I appreciate your consumer information on this blog!
I totally identify with your undereye woes. If I don’t follow my regimen, I look like something from a horror movie. The eye area is the “canary in a coal mine”: if anything in my body health is off, it shows first under my eyes.
It sounds like you know the common sense non-cosmetic solutions for dry skin, dark circles, wrinkles and puffiness (and general overall body)health:
1. drink lots of non-caffeinated fluids (I’m just not that motivated to drink pure H20, but I binge on flavored waters and decaf green tea)
2. avoid over-salty food, excess caffeine, and booze to prevent bloat everywhere –my eyes show it first
3. keep up with sensible vitamin/mineral/omega-3 supplements (no need to go bonkers with this, just a few pills/day total)and
4. REST, REST, REST. Too little OR too much sleep is bad news.
5. Also, air travel zaps the underyes no matter what you do ahead of time. Maybe it’s the pressurization and dry air. Count on a day or two of bad eyes after a flight unless you can take the time to rest with cold cucumber slices or cooled used wet cammomile tea bags. This helps but who has time?
Even doing all of that religiously, without cosmecuticals, I’d have slight bags, residual dark circles and dry crepey skin on under and upper lids. Also, I have thin, easily irritated skin, especially around the eyes, and my eyes (eyeballs, to be crude) themselves are sensitive to almost every product I’ve tried — fragrance, many chemicals and preservatives make them burn, redden and water. There is no cream sunscreen, for example, that does not make me look like I’ve had a 4-day crying jag if it gets anywhere near my eyes (not in, just near). Forget corrective seurums (burning) or rich moisturizers (huge bags and puffiness). Even the hypoallergenic moisture products irritate my eyeball itself and/or the skin.
Well, I have to share with you the cosmetic regimen that has worked for me for a year now after almost 20 years of trying everything on the market(I’m 40). Philosophy has two eye products I use together. I’m not a “Philosophy Girl”, just these two products. And not everyone loves them, but I’d almost rather be without a toothbrush than this pair, and I’ve even figured out a suscreen solution.
Philosophy Eye Believe is a corrective product even I can use, with proper application (only 1 time a day, gently pat small amounts around eye orbit, keep away from upper lid and don’t get to close to inner and outer eye corners, it can sting IN the eye, but no irritation if not. Eye Believe is silky smooth, soaks in instantly in small doses, has immediate smoothing benefits and within 6 weeks I saw a reduction in fine lines and a dramatic lightening of the dark circles. Best of all, the bags and puffiness are almost completely gone as long as I stick to the common sense regimen above. I believe! However, it is not at all a moisturizer, so I follow with:
Philosophy Hope in A Tube is a dense moisturizing cream that soaks in easily in small doses, patted in, and I can even use it on my upper eyelids themselves (I rinse my fingertips after the Eye Believe so none gets on the eyelid, then pat it around the rest of the eye separately). If you want a heavy cream that looks shiny and leaves a residue on the skin to believe it works, this is not for you. But for the rest of us, the moisture IS there without adding to puffiness or leaving an oil slick. Again small amount is key. Give it a few minutes to soak in, and eye makeup goes on perfectly and stays on. My permanent crepey skin is much much improved and my eyes feel and look fabulous, non-irritated, for the first time in years.
Finally, I’ve used bare minerals for years as makeup, and since I use a SPF moisturizer on the rest of my face religiously, I never thought much about the foundation’s SPF 15 protection. Then I thought to try it around my eyes as a sunscreen. It bugged me that with all the care I take to protect my face, I couldn’t use a cream sunscreen around the most vulnerable place for sun damage, the eyes. Miracle! It does not irritate my around-eye skin OR my eyeballs themselves!! Not a tingle, no burn. And it works as a great concealing base for eyeshadow. Nothing can cure my pink, transparent eyelids discoloration, but this covers it beautifully. Any slight residual darkness under my eyes (much reduced by Philosophy, but still not perfect) disappears. I apply a very small amount with a flat brush, blend gently (as if using the bare minerals Bisque product, but this has the sunscreen Bisque lacks). I don’t need any other concealer. The foundation may be too powdery and acentuate very dry wrinkled skin, but with small amounts and after using the Philosophy products above, it’s a system that works for me.
Sorry for very long comment, but I finally have a solution to my lifelong stubborn eye area problems, and I wanted to share with your users. Again, this may not work for everyone with irritation or sensitivity issues, and I’ve read a few comments on Philosophy reviews that not everyone loves it. But this has been my experience and it’s worth a try.
Thanks again for your wonderful consumer-oriented site!
Harriet
January 18th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Hi Harriet,
Thank you for your comment and product review. Sharing your experience will help other readers searching for a solution to their under-eye skin problems.
I have been using DERMAdoctor eye balm and Neova eye serum and they have worked well but my skin tends to get used to products after long term use so I am always looking for a product to alternate for 4 to 6 weeks before returning to my regular skin care regimen.
I had been considering Hylexin but it is so expensive and I actually buy the products I review (except the sephora no!no! which was provided as a tester) so I am very careful where I spend my money because I work hard for it
. I think I will try the Philosophy Eye Believe product you reviewed and use, first 
I appreciate your kind words regarding my skin care site.