Skincare Journal wk 26: Pamper your eyes

Your eye area is the first place to show signs of aging, the skin there is the most fragile, and don’t ever rub it. People say that all the time and mostly it just means that once you are in your mid-20s, start dabbing on some eye cream as part of your skincare regimen. But if your eyes frequently hurt due to dryness, staring at computer screen etc, there are some nice pampering options out there. Just like how you should take a shower but baths are not necessary, you should use eye cream but these aren’t really necessary. With that said, I’ve got dry eyes so I’m all for things that pampers my eyes……

There are a couple different types, so let’s start with the one I like first…..

Cream/gel mask: Origins No Puffery Eye Mask is one of my stable items. When I wake up in the morning with incredible dry eyes, I use a couple drops eye drops then apply this mask to the eye contour area before getting out of bed and it puts me in a much better mood by the time I do my skincare. And you know how masks say you shouldn’t apply them near the eye area? but since you are going to rinse off the mask it’s not practical to apply eye cream with a mask on, so this is what I reach for.

Rollerball eye treatment: While this does not provide as much hydration as eye cream or gel, it is a great refresher on the go. If your face feel dry and warm and stuffy, like after a nap, under the sun too long, or due to indoor heat in the winter, I like using this and a couple spritz of facial spray to make me feel more awake. Personally most of them feel the same and it’s a temporary thing so I have no preference.

Pads/masks: This is great if you have very dry undereye area but are not that dry elsewhere. I tried Bliss undereye pads, Sephora eye mask, and most recently Karuna undereye pads. Bliss is a thick cloth pad dripping with liquid. You can definitely do two applications if you don’t pour all the liquid onto the pad the first time. Karuna is a thin film of a cloth pad kept between two plastic sheet. It is wet but not dripping wet and my eyes were definitely not as dry the next day I wake up. The Karuna pads are a tad larger than Bliss, but the thin sheet clings well and you can go about your business without worrying about it falling off unlike Bliss. Both masks are still damp/wet for almost an hr, way longer than their recommended time. The sephora eye mask, however, is just a sheet of cloth with a damp gel on one side. It feels nice but did not do anything for me. =/

Then there’s the gel-in-plastic, identity concealing kind of mask that you see a lot in drugstores. It’s great for cooling the area, but that’s it. Maybe it’s my head shape, but it never fit close enough around the eye area and I much prefer a cold damp towel. And the gel dries up/harden/gets weird after a year or two. Anyways, those are all my dry eye fixes, what are yours?

Skin condition: Aside from a couple small, already dried up whiteheads, there are no other problems. And all the brightening stuff I used earlier this month worked, since my skin right now is not as bright, and the Philosophy peel I used didn’t make my skin smooth as hoped. Oh well. =/

Products used: I’ve been trying out Philosophy Microdelivery enzyme peel as the exfoliator this week. MMmmm, it kind of reminds me of a milder, gel version of ExfoliKate but, not a fan. And I grabbed one of the new Sephora Collection sheet mask to try, it’s the rose one and while nice, I prefer Karuna or SK-II more. Aside from those the rest of the regimen stayed the same:

• AmorePacific Gentle treatment cleansing foam
• Etude House Wonderpore Toner
• Tarte Maracuja C-brighter eye cream
• Clinique Moisture Surge gel cream

Hmm, I kind of skipped serum this week since it’s too hot/warm and everything feels stuffy.

Other influences: So I might have been eating a bit more sweets this week, but not enough to affect my skin, I think. I haven’t been exercising lately since it’s so hot, I don’t feel like doing anything….which is basically laziness. *sigh* I need more self-discipline. =X