Are your eyes giving away your age?

If you’re in your forties or past that milestone, chances are the signs of ageing have started to make an unwelcome appearance around your eyes.

Dealing with crow’s feet, sagging brows, puffiness and dark circles can be a daily struggle, unless you’re armed with the right knowledge and products.

We chatted to Karen Varker, educator for skin care brand NeoStrata, to get the lowdown on how the skin around your eyes ages, and the eye cream ingredients to look out for if you want younger-looking eyes.

How does the skin around your eyes change once you hit 40?

“As you age into your forties and fifties, your skin starts to change dramatically due to hormonal changes, the intrinsic natural ageing process, and from environmental factors such as UV damage over the years,” she says.

But the real action is happening deep within the skin and out of sight. “The slowing down of elastin and collagen production that starts in your thirties continues, along with a loss of skin volume. These lead to a change in the contours of the face and skin sagging. This is particularly so in the eye area, where the skin is much thinner and reacts quickly to changes in the skin.”

Are there any signs that you need to use an eye cream?

“The primary sign of ageing around the eyes is the formation of crow’s feet at the outer edge of the eyes,” explains Karen. “As you age, these become more pronounced and deeper and they remain visible all the time – not just through facial expressions, laughter or squinting in sunlight.”

And the second sign? “When the skin around the eye becomes crepey, and wrinkles begin to form on the eyelid and below the eye. This is where lines and sagging become more pronounced. Other key signs include upper eyelid hanging or sagging and when the top of the brows start to lower towards the eyelid.”

What ingredients should you look out for when choosing a product to tackle the signs of ageing? How do they help?

You’ve probably heard of the anti-ageing benefits of active ingredients like retinol, hyaluronic acid and peptides, but NeoStrata uses some new players that have been proven to reverse the signs of ageing around the eye area.

“New advanced ingredients from NeoStrata (the inventors of AHAs), called NeoGlucosamine, NeoCitrate and Aminofil, have been clinically proven in international dermatologist trials to increase skin volume and thickness, as well as plump deep wrinkles and lift sagging skin. These ingredients also help to smooth the skin’s texture and even out discolouration, which helps to brighten the eyes and reduce appearance of puffiness.”

So, if you’re after an anti-ageing sidekick, the NeoStrata Skin Active Intensive Eye Therapy is it. It combines NeoStrata’s powerful new age-fighting active ingredients with peptides, hyaluronic acid and caffeine to target all the signs of eye ageing.

After cleansing, use your ring finger to gently dab the cream around your eye area and follow by applying your cream moisturiser. With daily use, you’ll be on your way to getting younger-looking skin in a matter of weeks  - and that includes firmer, brighter and more lifted eyes!

Can you see the signs of ageing around your eyes? Would you like to try the NeoStrata eye cream?