At What Age Should I Start Using an Eye Cream?

When it comes to using eye creams and gels, there are no rules or regulations on how old you should be. Keep in mind that a large factor that affects the quality of your skin is genetics. Your skin condition will most likely mirror the trend seen in your parents and siblings.

However, many lifestyle choices affect skin, including lack of sleep, neglecting to use sunscreen, smoking, and drinking excessively. If you indulge a bit too much, the ill effects of skin aging will start showing first around your eyes. You’ll start seeing eye wrinkles and fine lines around the eyes that make you look older than you are.

Therefore, it is never too early to start adopting good eye care habits. At a young age, you can start using sunscreen on a daily basis, and wearing a hat or sunglasses outdoors. Perhaps you may look into buying an eye gel or cream with SPF. By applying eye gels and creams at a young age, you help supplement the moisture to the delicate eye area. Many times, it is the lack of oil glands in that area that cause the eye area skin to dry faster and/or show wrinkles, so applying an eye gel regularly helps.

While wrinkles may not be a problem in your younger years, dark circles under the eyes are a common complaint. An eye cream can help soothe puffy eyes and help you appear wide awake and bright eyed (you don’t need everyone to know how late you were up the night before!). If dark circles are caused by hyperpigmentation, eye creams and gels containing skin-bleaching ingredients, such as hydroquinone, can be used to lighten the dark circles over time. With skin lightening products, the key is being consistent with usage.

Don’t wait until you start noticing the eye wrinkles and fine lines around the eyes to think about using eye gels and creams. Starting in your 30’s (as you, ahem, age) you can start using eye gels that contain anti-wrinkle fighting ingredients such as alpha hydroxy acids and retinol (vitami
A). These ingredients help hasten the shedding of dead surface skin cells, revealing the smooth layer beneath. This action helps diminish the appearance of eye wrinkles. Alpha hydroxy acids and retinol also protect the skin cells from the damaging effects of free radicals.

Like it or not, our skin will age. But regular use of eye gels and creams can keep the skin around the eyes in good condition. There’s no miracle cure in a bottle, but eye gels can certainly slow down the signs of aging.