You can look easily 5 years younger – how?

By starting looking after the skin around your eyes!

 

Most women don’t know how to properly take care of the skin of the eye area – let alone how to apply eye cream correctly.

This leads to premature wrinkles, dark circles, crow’s feet etc.

 

In my case, it didn’t even occur to me that I should also be super careful about the eye area on top of my religious skincare routine until I started to see some ageing signs when I hit around 30.

 

Now, I’m 39 at the time of writing – looking like below.

 

 

So over the past decade, I’ve been ultra vigilant with the eye area.

 

The skin around the eyes is extremely delicate – it’s easy to form fine lines and wrinkles if you’re not careful. So, you would need separate skincare products for the eye area.

 

Eye cream – this is what you want to add to your skincare routine 😉

 

I’m Japanese, and I’ve been doing the typical Japanese skincare routine for the past 25 years.

I swear by the power of J-Beauty and can share the wisdom with you today!

 

Let’s learn how to apply eye cream properly, so you can look younger!

 

 

What Does Eye Cream Do?

 

 

Eye creams are different from face creams.

They are specifically designed for the delicacy of the eye area.

 

The skin around your eye is:

• much thinner – the eyelids and under-eyes have the thinnest skin, 0.5mm thick
• more sensitive – since it’s so thin, it’s sensitive to external stimuli
• drier – there are only a few oil glands in the eye area unlike the rest of the face

 

It is so fragile – that is why you want a cream just for the eyes.

Eye creams are gentler than face cream without irritants like alcohol or fragrance.

 

Do you have (or want to prevent) fine lines or puffiness under the eyes?

Eye creams can help you with that!

 

Is Eye Cream Necessary?

 

 

From my experience, definitely yes!

I didn’t know how fragile the eye area was, so I was just using face cream for the eye area…

 

A big mistake.

 

Fine lines around the eyes started to fade when I switched to eye creams.

(also, applying super gently like treating a baby’s skin)

 

Eye creams can make a difference: less visible wrinkles & puffiness, and slower ageing.

 

Even if you don’t feel the need yet, use it as a moisturiser for the eyes.

Eye makeup also sits better if the area is moisturised – more gorgeous eyes?! 😉

 

So, YES to eye creams.

Now, you just have to apply eye creams correctly, so it works.

 

How To Apply Eye Cream (So It Works!)

 

There are 2 points you need to master:

• The order
• How to apply

 

The Right Order

 

In principle, apply right after toner, (face mask), serum.

e.g.

1. Cleansing
2. Toning (lotion, toner, essence)
3. Serum
4. Eye cream – here!
5. Face cream

** The order may be different depending on the brand. Always read the label of the eye cream for specific instruction.

 

How To Apply Eye Cream

 

 

 

(STEP1)

Warm up the eye cream with your fingers

 

It gets absorbed better when the cream is like your skin’s temperature. Since the area is delicate, you want to make sure the cream is soft as well.

 

(STEP 2)

Apply like placing little dots on eyelids and under the eyes

You want to apply with the least amount of pressure. Do it VERY gently. Use the ring finger, so you only put minimum pressure.

 

(STEP 3)

Hand-press gently to absorb

Use the pad of the ring finger to hand-press. Never rub – if you do, it can eventually create wrinkles!

 

Remember:

• It takes about 15 minutes for the eye cream to be fully absorbed by the skin.
• Wait for 15 mins to put on other skincare products or makeup.

If the area feels still dry, or you have concerns like fine lines/wrinkles, apply another thin layer on top.

 

8 J-Beauty Tips on Making Eye Cream Work Like Magic

 

 

Here are the 8 tips J-Beauty recommends to take it up a notch 😉

 

1.  Do NOT Put Pressure – Never Rub or Stretch, EVER

Do everything gently with your skin if you want to avoid premature ageing.

Too often, most people put too much pressure when applying eye cream.

It irritates the eye area’s delicate skin and eventually leads to fine lines, wrinkles and even dark circles.

 

2.  Use the Ring Finger

The ring finger is called Skincare finger or makeup finger in Japan.

This is because it’s the key to applying eye cream (or skincare products, makeup) most effectively.

The skin on the index finger is harder than that of other fingers. It’s also easy to put pressure with it. So, it’s best to use the ring finger which you only can pressure little.

 

3.  Use the Right Amount

Using too little would cause friction between the skin and the finger. This can damage the eye area or even cause discolouration.

Follow the instruction of the eye cream you’re using. Use the recommended amount.

Never too little, never too much – just the right amount.

 

4.  Apply From the Outer Area To Inwards

If you look closely at the fine lines/wrinkles around the eyes, you can see they form in an outward direction (deeper around the corner, thinner farther out)

Apply eye cream backwards.

Go from the outer area towards the corner of the eye. This allows you to put a little more where wrinkles are deeper.

5.  Follow the Order of Skincare

The beauty ingredients of your eye cream will not work if you applied in the wrong order!

As mentioned earlier, apply after toner/serum

i.e.

1. Cleansing
2. Toning (lotion, toner, essence)
3. Serum
4. Eye cream – here!
5. Face cream

The principle of skin care is to apply products with high % of water content first.

So, you start with liquid types and then move onto serum and/or cream types of products.

(** the order can differ depending on the brand – always read the label)

 

6.  Allow Time To Penetrate

It takes about 15 minutes for the eye cream to be fully absorbed by the skin.

Wait for 15 minutes to put on other skincare products or makeup.

 

7.  Do It Every Day – Be Consistent

For ANY skincare products to work, you have to apply every day.

It’s like dieting – you can’t just do it today and forget tomorrow 😛

Consistency is key.

Put this into context, skin cell turnover takes about 30 days. The turnover cycle gets slower with age, and it can last about 2-3 months for older people.

So, that’s why you have to keep applying for at least a month to see results.

Be patient.

Don’t quit too soon before the eye cream starts to work!

 

8.  Use It Before Makeup In The Morning

Moisturise the eye area before putting makeup on.

This will help eye shadows last longer. Be careful not to put too much because makeup will end up smudgy.

 

How To Choose Eye Cream

 

Now you know how to apply eye cream correctly, it’s time to choose your eye cream!

I recommend you look at the 2 points below when choosing an eye cream.

 

Think of which concern you want to treat.

Hydration or anti-ageing.

 

1.  Eye Cream for Moisturising (Dry Skin)

 

credit: SK-ll

My favourite eye cream for intensive hydration

SK-II R.N.A Power Eye Cream

 

➤ Typical moisturising ingredients are:

• Ceramide
• Elastin
• Hyaluronic acid
• Collagen
• Glycerin

 

2.  Eye Cream for Skin Ageing Concerns

(Wrinkles, Sagging, Puffiness)

 

credit: Shiseido

 My favourite eye cream (Japan’s No.1 in eye care)

 ELIXIR Enriched Wrinkle Cream (Shiseido)

➤ Choose an eye cream that contains:

• Elastin
• Niacinamide
• Retinol

(** If fine lines/wrinkles are appearing due to dryness, go for the option 1)

 

Look Younger With Eye Cream

 

 

The eye area is where the first signs of ageing appear.

 

If you don’t start looking after the eye area now, you will soon start to get:

• Crow’s feet
• Dark circles
• Eye bags

 

Your eyes decide the impression of you to others, and you don’t want to look older than necessary with those ageing signs.

 

So, to stay beautiful as long as possible, you want to start using eye cream ✨.

Obviously, we cannot avoid ageing, but we can delay it with the right skincare.

( →  here’s a good article on how skin ageing occurs if you’re curious)

 

It is never too late.

If you start now, you could still reverse the ageing process a little bit.

You could look 5 years younger with consistent application of eye cream.

 

Hope this article was helpful for you.

Let’s stay beautiful with eye cream ❤️.