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The skin around your eyes is especially delicate and prone to fine lines, sun damage, pollution and irritation. Because of this, it’s important to establish an eyecare routine to complement your anti-aging or targetted smoothing regime that you use for the rest of your face. An eye cream is formulated with slightly different concerns in mind than a face moisturizer, so it’s essential to be using both synergistically.
The Skin Around Your Eyes
What are the primary differences between fragile eye skin and the dermal layers on the rest of your face? Mainly, the skin around your eyes is 3 to 7 times thinner than that on the rest of your face. Additionally, pores are a few hundred times smaller around the eye area than the skin on other areas of your face. Because of this, it’s quite uncommon to get acne or congested pores in the eye area – you don’t run the same risks of breaking out due to excess dead skin and sebum, and this means that it’s less necessary to use anti-acne astringents or exfoliating products around the eyes. Even conventional astringents and acne treatments - which are supposed to clarify and smooth thicker skin areas around the jaw and cheeks - will likely irritate your skin when applied around the eyelids and tear ducts. The takeaway? Conventional clarifying and exfoliating facial treatments should not be used around the eye area – better to opt with a gentler natural formula that takes into consideration the unique skin composition around the eye.
Note that the FDA does regulate products designed to be applied topically around the eye area (more so than it does for conventional cosmetics meant to be applied to the face), due in part to the threat of blindness that’s posed by eye contamination. That said, there’s still a great deal of wiggle room with regards to what large cosmetic companies include in their “fragrance” formulas, and it’s not uncommon to develop cysts, eye irritation, and swelling due to overuse of mainstream eye makeup and product formulas. Overall, gentle plant-based ingredients are your best bet for your sensitive peepers.
With these considerations in mind, we’ve formulated our Yerba Mate Eye Cream to specifically address the unique needs of the eye area. Its base is comprised of organic yerba mate water - a caffeine rich humectant which stimulates circulation and restores brightness to the undereye crescent. Yerba Mate is also super high in antioxidants, meaning that it effectively reverses and prevents oxidative damage in the eye area caused by sun exposure and pollutants. Plus it’s chock full of vitamin A (for healthy skin cell renewal), Vitamin C (for boosting collagen production), and fatty acids (for increasing moisture retention and vibrancy). Over all, Yerba Mate is the ideal plant based under-eye savior, and can be used daily for ultra bright eyes.
Along with Yerba Mate, Puristry’s Yerba Mate Eye Cream also features organic shea butter, which addresses eye area dryness and the associated flaking or irritation that can come with it. Additionally the formula contains antioxidant rich and collagen stimulating grapeseed oil - a key eye treatment ingredient that addresses the ultra sensitive area. And for antibacterial and anti-toxin action that wards off eye infection and irritation, the formula features the naturally aromatic and antimicrobial organica bergaptene free bergamot oil, a star ingredient that also regulates the supply of melanin, helping to even skin tone and eye area discoloration. Due to the thin and translucent nature of the skin around your eyes, it’s extra vulnerable to UV damage and trauma from squinting and rubbing. Signs of aging appear there first, so extra care needs to be taken to give your eyes targeted skin-loving ingredients that help you look alert and vibrant.
How to Apply Eye Cream
Puristry’s must-have Yerba Mate eye cream is packed with nutrients that nourish and heal the extra precious skin around your eyes–but without the right application techniques, you might still be exacerbating signs of aging and sleepiness in the eye area. A soft touch is key, as the extra thin skin requires gentle application, light pressure, and an ultra small amount of product.
DO’s
So what’s the secret technique? Start by applying several small dots of eye cream in a circle around your eye: two dots on the half moon below your eye, one in the corner where crows feet like to develop, and two more on the eyelid. To allow the product to absorb and to distribute it evenly, let it sink in using light gentle tapping motions (instead of pulling or tugging). This will ensure that the product has permeated into your tiny eye-area pores, without stretching the skin or causing redness. Massage the skin in gentle upward motions (never downward, as the motion can actually increase droopiness). And for an extra cooling and de-puffing hack, try storing your eye cream in the fridge: the coolness will increase its effectiveness in reducing any swelling, and will wake up your eye area when you need to fake a full eight hours of sleep.
DON’Ts
Now that we’ve given the breakdown of how to apply properly, what about Don’ts? In order to let your Yerba Mate eye cream (or your other fave eye cream) sink in, it’s essential that you don’t apply additional products or makeup over the eye area for at least a minute after application. Let the product cool and permeate, and give it a moment to work, especially if it contains caffeine like our Yerba Mate Eye cream formula–caffeine will take a moment to constrict blood vessels and reduce swelling and puffiness, so don’t be impatient! Next thing to keep in mind: don’t put on too much. Using huge globs of product will potentially clog pores on your upper cheeks, overwhelm the eye area with hydrants, and potentially risk getting product in your eyes and causing irritation. And perhaps the most important don’t: don’t pull, tug or rub the fragile skin around your eye. This will cause redness and potential inflammation, and cause more harm than good.
Armed with these smart application tips and schooled up on benefits of the Puristry Yerba Mate eye cream formula, you’re ready to incorporate eye cream into your nightly PM regime. The bottom line is that eye cream is fundamentally different than face cream. Subbing a face serum or moisturizer in for an eye cream can be seriously harmful, as active exfoliants and conventional clarifiers are best kept out of the eye area. The skin around the eyes will respond most effectively to ultra gentle and nourishing formulas which take into consideration the factors causing under eye fluid buildup and shadows. Our Yerba Mate Eye Cream formula is designed to treat and counteract these symptoms, and with its skin-loving formula, will leave you bright eyed, awake-looking, and youthful.
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