Skin Care Q and A How Can I Protect The Skin Under My Eyes?

• Core Facts

If you’re like many people you’re plagued with under-eye circles and bags and sags after a night of insufficient or fitful sleep. After several nights in a row or living habitually with too little quality sleep, you’re likely to look 10 years older. Concealers and other cosmetics can help us look better but, sometimes, there’s more behind the circles and bags than meets the eye. It’s important to know when you just need a little more sleep, when you need a skin care product that offers more protection, and when you need to see a doctor.

The skin under the eyes is thinner, more delicate and more sensitive than on other parts of the body and therefore needs a special skin care routine. Under-eye skin also doesn’t have the same protective layer: The skin’s surface, no matter where on the body, consists of dead skin cells, oils and fats. But the skin under the eyes has fewer oil glands. Consequently, it is more easily damaged than the rest of our skin, manifests problems more obviously, and is affected by adverse conditions more readily.

What are these adverse conditions? Natural aging, stress (both physical and emotional), allergies, cigarette smoking, sun exposure, disease or illness, poor diet or nutrition (sugar and caffeine are major contributors to under-eye problems) and, yes, too little or poor quality sleep.

Finding out if the problem is sleep deprivation is easy enough – either you get enough sleep, or you don’t. This, by the way, is not purely subjective: Some people say they do fine on five hours sleep but, really, that doesn’t alter the fact that the body needs more. Seven is usually the minimum. Find a way to get it, and make sure you’re not woken up frequently by snoring or other disturbances.

If the problem is your skin care product – or lack thereof – here are a few things to look for: Is the skin care product you’re using natural or does it contain harsh chemicals? The vast majority of traditional skin care products contain chemicals that really have no business on our skin or in our body. This is true of moisturizers, cosmetics, and sun block.

Also, are you using the same skin care product under your eyes as on your arms or legs? Delicate under-eye skin doesn’t compare to the thick skin on our calves so, in most cases, that won’t fly. One exception to this rule is shielding lotion. A good shielding lotion is gentle enough to work for the entire body, although it offers maximum protection: It bonds with the outer layer of the skin to form a new protective layer that locks out chemicals and locks in natural moisture. That’s good skin care, for every body part.

When is it time to see a doctor? You would usually start looking for other problems when the bags are obviously not just temporary and nothing else works. However, if you have any other symptoms of illness, it’s best to see a doctor immediately. Bags under the eyes could be a symptom of liver or immune system dysfunction, among other things. This can also apply to someone who’s had bags under the eyes for most of their life – they could have an underlying condition that, if remedied, will not only help the bags, it will also improve their overall health.

A good diet, low in caffeine and sugar and high in nutrient-rich natural foods, a good night’s sleep, natural skin care products, and cutting down on cigarettes could be all you need to resolve your under-eye problems. Give it a try. But don’t forget the shielding lotion – no matter what else is going on, your under-eye skin needs skin care treatment that provides the special protection it needs.

Technorati Tags: skin care, skin care treatment, skin care product, skin care products, shielding lotion, bags under the eyes