Tired Eyes? We Can Help With That

The skin around your eyes is prone to dryness and dehydration. It’s thin and fragile; it can’t help it.

Dry, dehydrated skin is no joke. And dry skin around your eyes? Seriously, no joke at all.

Much more prevalent in the winter when the air becomes dry, cold and has a tendency to suck all the moisture from your skin (something to look forward to there, then!), dryness around your eyes is a real pain in the butt. And it can swiftly lead to itching, flaky skin, irritation and soreness, especially if you leave it untreated.

Of course, dry skin (which is a lack of sebum/oil in your skin) is something you’re often born with and, annoyingly, you can’t change your genes. However, there are many ways to improve and take care of dryness around the eyes, especially when it’s coupled with a lack of moisture, aka dehydration.

Read on for five of the best ways to deal with dry, dehydrated skin around your eyes.

1. Avoid The Big Three Dehydrators

There are no prizes for guessing the three biggest offenders when it comes to what you put into your body on a regular basis and how they affect the skin around your eyes. Yes, they’re alcohol, caffeine and tobacco.

Thankfully, the number of adults in the US who smoke cigarettes continues to fall but even so, in 2021 an estimated 28.3 million adults were still at it. And it’s terrible for your skin. Not only does smoking cause unnecessary squinting as you inhale, accelerating the formation of dynamic wrinkles, but cigs are packed with thousands of chemicals which enhance dark bags around your eyes and exacerbate dryness and dehydration.

Caffeine and alcohol also have dehydrating effects, screwing up sebum production, messing with your barrier function and making your skin prone to moisture loss and irritation.

Of course, we all have our vices, but if the skin around your eyes is really suffering because of them, you might be wise to slow down with at least one.

2. Use A Hydrating Eye Cream

Eye creams come in many shapes and sizes and, while many people are sceptical about their worth, eye creams are actually important business. Sure, you can apply regular moisturizer to the skin around your eyes if it works for your needs, but if you want to target specific eye-related concerns like puffiness or dark circles, then your daily moisturizer is not going to cut the mustard.

The skin around your eyes is slightly different to the rest of your face. It’s way thinner for starters which makes it more fragile and prone to irritation and premature aging. It also contains fewer sebaceous glands (they’re the ones that produce sebum, aka oil) so it’s not able to keep itself as moisturized as other areas of your face.

Eye creams focus on this exact type of skin, using soothing ingredients to limit irritation while concentrating on gentle actives to reduce fine lines, eye bags, dryness and dehydration. We have many formulations that treat different eye needs but if it’s the two ds (dryness and dehydration, in case you didn’t get that!) you’re into, or not as the case may be, you have to try our Hyaluronic Eye Cream which uses HA and panthenol to draw in moisture and target tired, dehydrated skin.

3. Wear Sunglasses

We don’t need to tell you for the hundredth time how important SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen with Vitamin C is for protecting your skin from the damaging effects of UV radiation. Or maybe we do? Because, while you may be vigilant with your daily facial protection, what about the skin around your eyes?

Some sunscreens might not be suitable for the sensitive skin around your eyes but if you go carefully and avoid harsh, chemical formulations in favor of mineral sunscreens that use zinc oxide or titanium dioxide to shield your skin you should be OK. Still wary of getting sunscreen in your eyes (which let’s face it, is no fun)? Then, the very least you can do is to wear some oversized sunglasses whenever you go outside or are in the car – even in winter.

Any excuse to treat yourself to a new pair of shades, right?

4. Make Quality Sleep A Priority

Show of hands if you’ve ever woken up after a cruddy night’s sleep and the skin around your eyes has punished you, big time. Dark circles and puffiness in the eye area are dead giveaways that you’ve missed out on some valuable zzzs, but continue to burn the candle at both ends and your skin will also suffer with long-term dryness and dehydration.

When you don’t get sufficient sleep your barrier function misses out on its valuable regeneration time which makes it perform poorly, allowing moisture to readily escape and irritants to literally get under your skin. Couple this with the stress a lack of sleep puts on your body and the skin, and you really are asking for trouble. Warning: the skin around your eyes, in particular, will suffer more than the rest of your face due to its thinness and vulnerability.

According to The Sleep Foundation, the average adult needs at least seven hours of sleep per night. We know this isn’t always possible – because life – but try to go to bed and get up at the same time each day to get yourself into a rhythm. This is super important for achieving a quality night’s rest. Also, if you live in a dry climate, pop a humidifier in your bedroom to combat low levels of water in the air. This will reduce moisture loss as you sleep. It’s called science.

5. Reassess Your Entire Beauty Routine

Last, but certainly not least, look at your beauty routine to check for anything that could be causing dryness and dehydration around your eyes. Harsh soaps and strong makeup remover that contains bad alcohols are both major culprits, but even things like dirty makeup brushes, out-of-date mascara or cleansing with too-hot water can cause the skin around your eyes to feel dry and itchy.

Don’t forget your shampoo and conditioner, either. These may contain strong cleansing ingredients like sulfates that are getting in your eyes and irritating the skin when you wash your hair in the shower.

Basically, leave no table unturned!

No idea why you’re getting an influx of acne right now? Many lifestyle habits can trigger your breakouts ­­­­­– and sometimes they’re found in the most unsuspecting places.

As you know, acne is caused by one thing and one thing alone: an excess of sebum that causes your pores to become blocked with oil, dead skin cells, bacteria and other impurities. Eating too much chocolate doesn’t give you pimples. Neither does moisturizer. Sure, they can trigger breakouts if you’re genetically susceptible to them, but acne isn’t caused by uncleanliness, a poor diet or crummy skincare routine. It’s caused by blocked pores. End of.

OK, so this begs the question: why bother trying to cure them if your breakouts are totally out of your control? Well, here’s the thing. You can’t change your genes, that’s for certain. However, what you can do is keep acne-triggering factors under control to help lessen the blow. Sleeping well, reducing emotional stress and eating a healthy, well-balanced diet; all these things are important for maintaining balanced sebum and therefore reducing the likelihood of you breaking out week after week.

But there are also some less obvious reasons why you face might be suffering with regular breakouts. So if you’ve already dispensed with things like smoking, poor cleansing and too much exfoliation, but you’re still getting pimples on the reg, it might be time to look at some of the more unexpected areas of your life.

On that note, read on for five slightly more unusual causes for your breakouts.

1. Your Pillowcase

Getting enough beauty sleep is crucial for the health of your skin, but if you’re sleeping on a dirty pillowcase for a solid eight hours every night dirt and bacteria is inevitably going to build up and irritate your pores. This is especially true if you sleep on a synthetic pillowcase because man-made fibers don’t absorb sweat as effectively as natural fibres like cotton or linen.

The answer? Go natural all the way, for starters. Also, cleanse and moisturize your skin before bed to reduce the amount of grime getting on your pillowcase. Tea Tree Super Cleanser+ is a great acne-fighting cleanser that balances and clarifies your pores. Follow this with Retinol Moisturizer to lightly hydrate and moisturize your skin while boosting cellular turnover to keep your pores free of dead skin cells.

Finally, wash your pillowcase every three or four days. And ditto, your face towel. Old, dirty towels that are used by the whole family for drying their hands and who-knows-what-else are another breeding ground for germs and bacteria. Do you really want to be swiping this all over your freshly cleansed skin? Thought not. So, invest in a couple of cotton face towels for you and you alone and wash them every other day.

2. Your Makeup & Hair Products

Your skincare routine might be spot on, but what about your makeup and hair products? Rich hair conditioners, for example, are notorious for containing heavy ingredients like cocoa butter and coconut oil which, granted, are incredible for moisturizing your precious locks, but are not so great for acne-prone skin. Of course, we know you’re not smothering your face with conditioner but still, it can settle on your face when you rinse your hair so always cleanse your skin after, never before conditioning.

Makeup can similarly clog up your pores, especially if you use formulations that contain oil. So don’t do that. Instead, look out for noncomedogenic products (this means they’re less likely to block pores) and use powder rather than liquid formulations whenever possible.

3. Your Workout Routine

Do you love to get a good sweat on when you’re working out? High fives to you. However, allow all that sweat and grime to sit on your skin and your pores are going to clog up quicker than your instructor can say ‘hit the floor for ten push-ups.’

Cleanse your skin thoroughly and swiftly after exercising (the longer you leave your skin doused in sweat and grimy workout gear, the more bacteria is likely to breed), and always use a mild but effective cleanser that helps to detoxify your skin without drying it out. Our Charcoal Clarifying Cleanser is a goodie as it harnesses the powers of coconut-derived activated charcoal which destroys skin-smothering impurities to offer a deep, gently purifying clean every time.

4. Your Winter Cover-Ups

Any fabric that rubs against your skin can lead to unwanted issues in the long-term. Remember how face masks were causing ‘maskne’ back in the pandemic? This was all due to friction from the mask combining with the obvious culprits of sweat, dirt, oil, bacteria and humidity which caused dryness, irritation and pimples.

Thankfully, for most of us, the days of having to wear a mask 24/7 are over. However, if you spend a lot of time outdoors in the winter and like to wrap yourself up in woollen hats and thick, heavy scarves, these can cause similar problems, trapping sweat and increasing friction around your chin, jaw, neck and forehead.

To help reduce breakouts caused by beanies, scarves (and even turtleneck sweaters), avoid synthetic fabrics and launder your winter cover-ups regularly. Weekly, at least.

5. Your Laundry Detergent

Speaking of laundry, your choice of detergent is also imperative. Just like your beauty routine, certain ingredients in your laundry detergent can be super irritating – especially if you have extremely sensitive or acne-prone skin. Fragrance, for example, can be a real Debbie Downer, as can harsh dyes, essentials oils, strong surfactants and preservatives.

To reduce the likelihood of your laundry detergent triggering those pesky breakouts, first up, choose liquid over powder detergents. Why? Because these leave behind less residue on your clothes and fabrics (who knew?!). Also, never use more detergent than is recommended on the label, avoid fabric softeners and try double rinsing your laundry after washing to remove as much residue as possible.