Body & beauty

Younger looking eyes

Don’t let bags and wrinkles let the side down. Dazzle with these anti-ageing eye tips from top holistic make-up guru Sarah Jagger instead.

Don’t let bags and wrinkles let the side down. Dazzle with these anti-ageing eye tips from top holistic make-up guru Sarah Jagger instead.
When we’re tired and run down, the eyes are usually the first place to show it and when it comes to the tell-tale signs of ageing, for many of us the skin around the eyes is our main area of concern. Luckily, help is at hand with these quick, brightening and firming eye tricks to wake you up and turn back the clock.

Reduce bags

‘Eye bags’ or puffiness around the eyes can be down to many contributing factors. Some of these are obvious: not enough sleep or too much to drink the night before are common culprits, however you could be waking up with puffy eyes simply because you’ve eaten too much salt the day before. The other reason could be that you’re using too much eye cream or facial moisturisers around the eyes where the skin is much thinner than the rest of the face and can easily absorb too much product.

I always keep a couple of teaspoons in the fridge for those days when unwelcome ‘extra baggage’ comes on board. Simply hold them over the eyes for three minutes and the cold metal will de-puff them instantly. Follow with an eye treatment like Laidbare Naturaceuticals Pack Your Bags Tighten & Lighten Eye (£15.30), which contains buckwheat to de-puff, wild mango butter to hydrate and cotton seed oil to soothe.

If you still need a bit of extra help, use a strategically placed concealer to eradicate them all together. You will need a richly pigmented concealer like Nvey Eco Certified Organic Erase Corrector, £18, to really make a difference. Use a concealer brush to place a small amount of concealer only along the tear trough (the semi circular line beneath the puffiness). Use the warm of your fingertip to gently pat the concealer into the skin, being careful not to smear too much concealer onto the puffy area itself as this can highlight a bag even more.

Minimise wrinkles

The best way to smooth out fine lines and wrinkles around the eyes is to layer very sheer applications of three products over one another. Start with a makeup primer designed to fill these lines such as Arbonne Virtual Illusion Wake-up Primer, which also contains hyaluronic acid to help plump beneath lines. Follow with a concealer that is lightweight enough not to look obvious. My favouriteis RMS Uncover Up, £28. Pat a little under and around the eyes and up to the brow bone. Lastly, set your concealer with powder. Many women avoid powder under the eyes, fearing that it will accentuate wrinkles but BareMinerals Illuminating Mineral Veil is so lightweight that you really won’t know it’s there. It also contains light reflective particles, which cleverly bounce more light onto the area – an optical illusion that diffuses the appearance of lines and shadows.

Banish dark shadows

Using an eye gel or cream is vital

Persistent dark shadows under the eyes are a clear indication that you need to look at the amount of sleep you’re getting or perhaps that your lifestyle and diet could do with a little detoxing. Try starting each day with a slice of lemon in hot water to kickstart your system and gently boost liver and kidney function. When it comes to a quick fix, help comes in the form of an under-eye concealer like Jane Iredale’s Active Light, £22. Also containing those magic light reflective particles (made from finely milled crushed minerals), these minerals instantly brighten the whole eye area. It also has a pinkie-peach hue which counteracts blue and grey toned shadows. Add some to the inner corner of the eye, beside the bridge of the nose and up to the eyebrow – an area which is often overlooked.

Firm and lift

An eye gel, rather than a cream, is by far the best way to firm around the eyes. I love Nude Advanced Eye Complex, £62, which delivers a dramatic lifting effect instantly. Nude’s anti-ageing formula of probiotics protect while CoQ10, milk peptides andmountain ash smooth wrinkles as well as reducing puffiness. Follow with a pale illuminating liquid like Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Pearl, £32, used on the highest part of the cheekbone and up around the brow bone. This has an instant eye-lifting, brow-lifting effect and also enhances the cheekbones.

Brighter eyes

One of the best-kept secrets in my make-up kit is Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals Well Rested, £18, which I use on almost everyone. This can be used alone as a natural-looking eye shadow or as a base for coloured eye shadows. It can also be added around the eyes, nose and lips whenever you feel the need for a brightening pick-me-up during the day.

Red-rimmed eyes? Try Jane Iredale’s Mystikol pencil, £17.95, a doubleended eye pencil with a difference. One end will give you a jewel-like, smoky eyeliner and the other end comes in pearl, ivory or beige for use on the inner rim of the eyes to instantly eradicate redness.

A great product to carry in your handbag for a quick office-to-party ‘wake up’ is Lavera My Age Cooling Eye Roll, £15.90, a lovely cooling and refreshing eye gel containing hyaluronic acid to plump sagging skin and organic aloe vera to moisturise and sooth tired peepers.

The ‘wake up’ massage

Using an eye cream or eye gel is a vital part of an anti-ageing skin care regime, however the way that you apply your eye products is equally important. The first step is to make sure that you’re not overusing your product – an amount the size of a grain of rice will do both eyes.

Use your ring finger to apply product (because it has the lightest touch) and start at the inner corner of the eye. Use firm but gentle pressure to pat the cream or gel into the skin, working along the orbital bone, all the way around the eye. This includes up to and beneath the eyebrow, beside the bridge of the nose and back to the inner corner of the eye. Repeating this technique every day will reduce puffiness and will work the product in thoroughly so that it can act to its full potential. There is no need to smear creams all the way up to the eye itself because the skin is so delicate and fine in this area that it acts like blotting paper, drinking up any product.

Try this… Eye Yoga

Try this eye-firming yoga technique from natural health’s yoga expert Sue Fuller

Changing your focus will keep your eye muscles strong and flexible. Try the following exercise at least three times a week

Sit comfortably with a straight spine.
Extend both arms in front of you, turn your palms to face you and make a gentle fist.
Lift your first fingers. Keep your left arm extended and bring your right hand towards you whilst focusing on the lifted finger of the right hand. Stop when the hand is about 4cm from your nose.
As you inhale, continue to focus on the lifted finger on the right hand.
As you exhale, switch your focus to the lifted finger on the left hand. Inhale and change the focus back to the right hand.
Continue with the technique, changing your focus between the two fingers whilst breathing slowly through your nose for up to 20 breaths.

Sue Fuller has devised two eye yoga sessions available on CD £16.99) and MP3 (£14.99). Visit yoga2hear.co.uk

Article by

Sarah Jagger

Holistic Make-up Artist