GUEST POST

The skin around our eyes is delicate, and therefore, must be treated differently than other areas of our face. The skin here is thin and prone to fine lines – it is often the first place we see the signs of aging (ah winkles!). In this article, I will teach you the best natural anti-aging treatment for eyes to delay the aging process and keep the skin around your eyes looking younger for longer (you can’t stop aging, but thankfully, you can slow it down).

First off Let’s Talk About Prevention

Preventing eye area wrinkles is easy enough to do, though not all of us actually do it. I am here to tell you that these preventative measures work! So make an effort to do them 🙂 Here are some tips on preventing wrinkles from forming in the first place:

• Wear sunglasses – this will protect your eye area from the sun and keep you from squinting (which causes wrinkles).
• Be gentle with your eye area – do not tug, pull, or rub this area. When you do, it stretches the skin and breaks the little fibers that keep your skin firm. Pat your eye creams on with your pinky. Dab your eyes with soft tissue paper if they are watering.
• Use a daily and nightly eye cream – a well formulated eye cream will help keep the skin around your eyes plump and hydrated, thus stalling wrinkle formation (dry skin = wrinkles).
• Perform eye massages – A nightly eye massage with a carrier oil (and maybe a drop of essential oil) will improve the blood circulation around your eyes and keep them healthy and robust (we will explain how to do this below).

How to Perform an Eye Massage

1. Start with clean hands and your choice of oil. I recommend using jojoba, apricot kernel or sweet almond oil. If you want you can add one drop of frankincense essential oil to one teaspoon of carrier oil for a more robust treatment. Frankincense is one of the most potent essential oils for wrinkle prevention and treatment.
2. Place one or two drops of your oil onto your pinky and gently massage under your eyes with small circular motions. Do not apply the oil to your eyelid.
3. Perform this for a few minutes every night.

The antioxidants and nutrients in your massage oil will nourish the skin under your eyes, helping to prevent wrinkles and other signs of aging. An eye area massage can also help keep your eyesight strong because of the increased circulation that it brings.

What to do About Existing Wrinkles

If you already have eye area wrinkles and you want to help treat them, a vitamin C serum will be a wonderful addition to your skincare routine. Vitamin C is a potent anti-aging ingredient that stimulates collagen production (one of the few scientifically proven to do so – see two studies here and here). It can help even skin tone and diminish those pesky little wrinkles when used consistently.

I recommend: My Skin’s Friend Multi-C Serum or 100% Pure Vitamin C Serum

Other Eye Area Problems

• Puffiness

Usually caused by an excess buildup of fluid, under eye puffiness can be the result of too little sleep, alcohol consumption, internal dehydration, salty foods, and/or allergies.

To prevent fluid build-up, sleep on your back with your head propped up on a couple of pillows. If you have allergies, consider an air purifier to reduce airborne allergens. Drink enough water, avoid too much alcohol (no more than an average of 1 alcoholic beverage per day), and eat less salt.

Caffeine and cold temperatures are effective ways of reducing puffiness. Look for an eye cream containing caffeine and keep it in the refrigerator.

I recommend: 100% Pure Coffee Bean Eye Cream

• Dark Circles

Dark circles need to be treated differently depending on their cause.

Blue under eye circles are the result of blood pooling beneath the under eye skin. As we age, our skin gets thinner and this pooled blood shows through. Placing something cold on your eye area can help constrict blood vessels and reduce blue circles.

Look for eye creams with one of these ingredients:

• Caffeine – Helps constrict blood vessels and boost circulation.
• Hyaluronic acid –  A skin-plumping ingredient that will push the under eye skin up and away from the blood vessels.
• Vitamin C – Helps keep the skin under your eye from thinning so less blood shows through.

I recommend: 100% Pure Coffee Bean Eye Cream

Brown under eye circles are the result of hyperpigmentation. Using a serum or cream with natural skin lighteners such as kojic acid, licorice extract or vitamin C will be your best approach.

I recommend: 100% Pure Brightening Serum

• Vitamin K for Dark Circles

Topical application of vitamin K is showing promising results for reducing dark circles. Vitamin K reduces inflammation and improves blood circulation. A study done in 2004 reported moderate improvement of dark under eye circles in participants who applied a gel containing 2% vitamin K. It is important to note that the eye gel also contained 0.1% vitamin C, 0.1% vitamin E and 0.1% retinol, thus the study does not prove that vitamin K worked alone.

If you would like to give vitamin K a try, make sure you look for a product that contains a potent concentration of the vitamin. There are also natural sources of vitamin K for topical use, these include pumpkin seed oil as well as prickly pear seed oil.

We can learn to treat our eyes with love and care. All it takes is some know-how, a few minutes of our time and a couple if natural products to give our eyes the attention they deserve.

Author Bio: Hello, I am Andrea, an organic skin care blogger at The Best Organic Skin Care. I love learning about plant based ingredients and how nature can nourish our skin. I spent hours drooling over skin care products and writing articles that will benefit my audience.