ARE ASIAN EYES REALLY DIFFERENT?
Tried everything and the kitchen sink to hide and heal unsightly undereye bags? As I’ve noted before, the whys and wherefores of puffy peepers are vexing and varied: Anything from allergies and alcohol to food and fatigue can cause swollen eyes.
There is, however, one last and very fascinating factor to consider: Are you Asian?
Take it from Dave English, international skincare expert for The Body Shop, who says that Asian eyes are fundamentally different from Caucasian ones.
First, the good news: Because Asians boast denser, more collagen-rich skin, we’re better able to forestall the first signs of aging. Hurrah.
Now for the bad. Because our eyes tend to be elongated in shape, Dave English says we’re also more susceptible to sagging and bagging: “[Asian lids are] more prone to show a loss of shape with age; for example, they may appear to sag more than Caucasian eyes.”
Translation? Our quite literally “thick skin” is good – up to a point. Pass a certain threshold in time and our skin’s scaffolding starts to fall apart. Remedy? A gentle rub-down is of the essence: “The compact epidermis of Asian skin reduces the adsorption of substances applied onto the skin, which is why properly massaging an eye care product into the skin is important,” says Dave English.
Entirely welcome beauty bonus: A good under eye massage is an excellent depuffing exercise. Here’s The Body Shop’s Dave English again: “Eye bags can be due to poor drainage and liquids pooling beneath the skin. Massaging away from the nose helps stimulate microcirculation and remove any settled liquids.”
THE TRICK TO DEPUFFING EYE BAGS
Here’s how. Use your middle or ring finger to tap on the tender tissue directly under the eye, starting from the inner corner and tracing an arc under your lower lash line and up to your brow bone so that you end up back at the inner corners.
Repeat this circular tapping motion several times to free up accumulated fluid lodged under your eye; all told, the entire shebang should take no more than three minutes, tops.
Pro tip: Be sure to focus on the pressure points at the brow bone as well as on the inner and outer eye corners, which are the key areas for the drainage of toxins.
Oh, here’s a crucial caveat: If your eyebags are due to an excess of fatty undereye deposits; that is, if you were basically “born” with baggy eyes, this enterprise is essentially useless. Sorry!
THE EVEN FASTER TRICK TO DEPUFFING EYE BAGS
Can’t spare the extra three minutes in the morning? A rollerball applicator makes for a fab quick fix that both maximises microcirculation and rids you of water retention. Try The Body Shop’s Drops of Youth Eye Concentrate, which comes with a really cool (and really cooling) metal tip that dispenses an emollient enriched with Edelweiss extracts said to even out signs of stress-related fatigue.
Other tools in my anti-aging arsenal? I adore Boscia’s new Super Cool De-Puffing Eye Balm, a soothing salve shot through with plumping peptides and a depuffing agent that gets straight to work at ironing out lumps and bumps. Then there’s Sephora’s Instant Depuffing Roll-On Gel, which I love for its thoughtful three-pronged applicator – terrific for flattening bags in a jiffy.
Purse-friendly DIY hack: Rinse out the applicator when the product proper has run its course, and stash for use as a massage tool. Ingenious, yes. I trust this has been an enlightening exercise. Here’s to “smoother” days ahead!
The Body Shop Drops of Youth Eye Concentrate, $49.90 for 10 ml, is available at all The Body Shop stores. For more information, visit www.thebodyshop.com.sg and follow The Body Shop Singapore on Facebook and Instagram.
Boscia Super Cool De-Puffing Eye Balm, $36, and Sephora Collection Instant Depuffing Roll-On Gel, $26, are available at all Sephora stores. For more information, visit www.sephora.com and follow Sephora Singapore on Facebook and Twitter.