The eyes are the windows to...your wallet AND bonus Boots No7 line correcting booster serum review

Today I will discuss all things eyes. There are lot of confusions around eye cream, what it is meant to do, how to apply it etc etc so I will attempt to clear them up.

The difference between the skin around the eye and the rest of the face is that the skin is much thinner because technically it is not designed to take the same amount of wear and tear as the rest of the face. It has far fewer oil glands which are required to give a protective barrier to the skin and keep it supple under the tension of movement, and it has significantly less collagen and elastin fibres. This area also moves a lot more than other areas of the face.

We blink around 10,000 times a day and every facial expression will affect the eye area in some way.

Combine that with the fact that due to the thin skin, the eye area is more sensitive to product, more prone to inflammation and allows the underlying blood vessels to show through more than on the rest of the face, and you feel like you’re fighting a losing battle with anti-ageing.

For this reason, cosmetic and skin companies brought out a million and one different eye creams all promising to improve the look of lines and dark circles (note the marketing speak, “improve the look”, completely unquantifiable)

The only way you will see a genuine reduction in lines and wrinkles around the eye area is Botox. If you stop the muscles moving, you decrease the tension on the skin and you reduce the amount of times the skin creases due to expression. This is great for those who want to do Botox, but many do not, or cannot. Similarly, Botox can only be applied in certain areas around the eye (no one wants a paralysed eyeball) and the skin will still crease due to movement of the cheeks and other muscles, which cannot be prevented.

Dark Circles

There are 4 reasons for dark circles, and they all look slightly different.  

1 is simply due to the skin being thinner and the area being highly vascularised (lots of blood vessels). This gives a blue ish appearance to the under eye area. Lack of sleep or illness will increase the appearance of this due to a change in the skin texture, just as lack of sleep makes your skin generally lack lustre.

The extent of the dark circle also depends on the shape of the eye socket and the level of fat deposit around the eye. If you have deep socketed eyes, there is more chance for shadowing and this can also present as a dark circle. 

Similarly, if you have a smooth and even layer of fat around the eye, you will have less of a dark circle. However if this fat moves or lessons in some areas more than others – which it does with age, the a puffy/bag appearance is created. The contrast between the raised area and flat area of skin beyond it will create a shadow.

 The final reason can be due to pigmentation of the under eye area. This is more common in darker skin tones and is often inherited genetically but can also be due to poor sun protection leading to sun damage and pigmentation in the area

You can tell if this is the case by gentle pulling the under eye skin down. 

If the colour moves with it i.e. onto the top of the cheek bone, then you know that the skin is pigmented.

If the colour does not move, i.e. the skin which appeared dark when in the under-eye area, is now a normal colour when over the cheek bone, you know that the darkness is caused by the visible blood vessels rather than pigmentation. 

Pigmentation can be improved with carious products including vitamin C (my favourite is the Ordinary Vitamin C powder which can simply be mixed into your eye cream or serum), and the brilliant iS Clinical White Lightening Complex and NeoStrata Enlighten Pigment Lightening Gel, Pricey, but they work. Cheaper alternative: Alpha H Absolute Eye Complex

Of course, you MUST take your SPF up to the lashline. If it causes sensitivity then look out for my post on SPF's for picky skin, coming soon

My top tips:

    1) Take MOST of your serums up to the lash line AND over the lid. Droopy, wrinkled lids will counteract any good work you have done on the under-eye area. The proviso with this statement is that certain active ingredients may cause problems if applied too close to the eye area.

      Retinol, for example, which can cause dryness initially at least, if applied to the under-eye area can actually make them look worse before they look better. However, retinol travels so even if you avoid the eye area, it will work its way up anyway. Personally, I apply my retinol serums all around the eye area. With the stronger ones I put a layer of moisturiser underneath to protect. This is especially important if you are using retinol (vs retinoids) or prescription strength retinoic acid.
Similarly, vitamin c can tingle so go carefully

          Hyaluronic acid, niacinamide etc are fantastic around the eyes

   2) You need to have different products for de-puffing and hydrating. These 2 problems require complete opposite tactics to deal with them.

Puffiness is a build-up of fluid around the eye area. It can be caused by: 

·     occlusive skin care e.g. creams that are too rich a reaction to something – either topical, or things like hay feverfood – salty food, rich food, alcohol will all cause puffiness

·    having a cold/being ill and run down

·    for some people even lying too flat in bed can cause it

In order to solve puffiness, you need to remove the fluid from the area. I would do this in 2 ways

     

•       Use a caffeine based eye product – there are loads of great ones but I love The Ordinary version (bear in mind, this draws moisture out of the eye, so use this, brush your teeth/do your hair then apply something moisturising over the top
•       move fluid away from the area via lymphatic drainage massage. This involves gentle tapping under the eye moving from the inner corner of the eye towards the temples. You can also apply gentle pressure under the brow bone at the beginning of the eyebrow and press along the brow bone out towards the temples
•       I also use my foreo luna mini device to help drain as the vibration will stimulate flow better than any finger tapping. I hold it gently on the inner part of the under-eye area and move out towards the temple, then use it to lift up the arch of the brow and hold it there. This also gives you a little brow/eye lift.

       3)   Eye creams – choose these carefully. Do not expect them to do anything miraculous. I purely use one because my eye area is much drier than the rest of my face, so I want an extra layer there before I apply an oil free moisturiser. They will not anti-age better than the serums or moisturisers you use on the rest of your face however they can decrease dehydration and allow make up to sit far nicer than on dry crepey skin.

  

      Here are some I like:

       Eucerin Anti-Ageing Hyaluron FillerEye Treatment – I have re-purchased this many many times. It doesn’t sting, it moisturises, it plumps, make up applies over it. Nuff said.

       nspa Smoothing Eye Cream – I bought this because I had run out of eye cream and was in Asda, so this was the first thing I grabbed. It does nothing special however it hydrates for the full day, concealer goes over it incredibly well, and after having my eye lashes tinted whilst on roaccutane where the skin under my eyes was red raw, this was the only thing that calmed it and didn’t sting…AT ALL.

      Olay Pro-Retinol Eye treatment. Use this if you are scared of using retinol too close to the eyes, or are on a stronger retinol product and can’t deal with the dry flaking under eye area for the 3-6 months it takes to settle

      No7 Laboratories LINE CORRECTING Booster Serum - My new favourite. This is not designed as an eye cream but it IS designed to target areas with more lines/dehydration/signs of ageing. I can honestly say that this does work. If you have deep wrinkles it will soften them slightly, if you have signs of dehydration under the eye (think cakey concealer) it will definitely improve the plumpness and any fine lines will definitely be reduced. It is very liquidy, it can be mixed in with other eye creams, serums or moisturisers but I use it neat and it works amazingly. I do not feel the need to apply anything on top and I am usually a richer-the-better under the eye kinda gal. 

Do not waste your money on expensive eye creams. There is nothing extra they can add to make it worth it. The honest truth is that no cream will ever get rid of the dark circle, all you can hope to do is strengthen, plump and fortify the skin over the top so 1) the veins underneath are less visible because the skin is slightly less sunken when plumped and hydrated and 2) the skin is smooth so bounces light by itself (like an inbuilt Touche Eclat).

      Concealer is your best friend.

   

      My dark circles are bad enough to require 2 concealers.

      I stay away from heavy formulas under the eye like Laura Mercier secret camouflage/Tarte shape tape as these are absolutely no good unless you do not have a single line or wrinkle under your eye and if they cake or crease this will just make the area look heavily made up, which defeats the object of what you are doing.

      Instead I apply a high coverage liquid concealer – Estee Lauder Double Wear concealer is my favourite. This just goes in the dark areas – the blueish bit from the inner corner of the eye to the nose, and the little dark area in the outer corner.

      I then apply a light reflective concealer – I prefer a combination of light reflection and coverage vs the straight up highlighting pens like YSL Touche Eclat or Dior flash.

      My favourites are Clinique airbrush concealer 

      Maybelline Dream Touch Lumi Concealer 

      Maybelline Age Rewind Eye Concealer in light OR neutraliser.

      If all else fails, camouflage with mascara or eye make up

      On days where I’m going more natural or can’t be bothered, I love Max Factor Mastertouch Concealer

      Hope this helps!

      Picture credits.

   

      https://www.tmbcosmeticsurgery.com/tmb-truly-modern-blog/why-do-i-look-tired-dark-under-eye-circles-why-we-get-them-and-how-to-get-rid-of-them/

      http://www.shoreaesthetics.com/tear-trough-treatment-dark-circles-under-eyes/

      https://www.charlottaeve.com/2017/11/09/howtodeepseteyesmakeup/

The long and painful journey of Roaccutane (isotretinoin)

When I first started on Roaccutane, I searched for various peoples experiences on the drug.

The problems I found were:
1) The writers or youtube videos were mostly from people the the USA. Anyone above the poverty line in America will have been seeing a dermatologist since they were about 5, and the FDA approvals and drug doses of Roaccutane are vastly different to the UK. Both these factors meant that whilst they could be helpful, they also had to be taken with a pinch of salt.
2) The writers or youtube "stars" were all about 12. They therefore had no other skin care concerns beyond the acne. No aging to worry about. Yes I wanted to fix my acne, but I also don't have teenage skin that bounces back from anything. Similarly 99% of them had oily skin which can tolerate the same force of product as a rhino, I do not.
3) It was almost impossible to find any advice one what skincare you GENUINELY can and can't use whilst taking the drug, because they just recommend moisturiser and lipbalm...oh and the wondrous cetaphil. As a 28 year old product junkie, this was not going to cut it.

For this reason, I feel this blog post might be helpful to some thinking about starting the medication.

So, lets start on a bit of education about why acne occurs, because then the understanding of how to fix it will make more sense.

The cause of acne on a skin level has a number of facets.
1) Generally more oil is produced. This may be all over the face or in certain areas. In reality, only a very small percentage of the population have a true oily skin, and these are the only people that should be using skin care lines dedicated to acne.
2) The oil is stickier than in someone without this problem.
It is worth noting that testosterone boosts the product of oil which is why during pre menstrual or menstrual times you can get spots, particularly along the jaw line.

3) The skin cells around the "pores" - pores being the area around a hair follicle - are sticky and lazy. This means that rather than the body natural exfoliating and losing these skin cells, they stick, layer up, block the oil which naturally occurs around a hair, and cause a big blockage.

This blockage can present as a blackhead or white head (closed or open comedones)

The trapped oil as discussed above, becomes trapped and forms a white blocked area. If exposed to the air this discolours and turns dark - making a black head.

If the area becomes infected with bacteria, which is mostly likely will be as nice sticky skin cells and oil are an ideal breeding ground for bacteria, the area becomes red, inflamed, and will often contain pus. This is your spot.

I am now going to insert a few photos. Please be nice. This is my skin at its worst and at its regular slightly less than awful state.

This was at a calmer time, however you can still see all the bumps under the skin waiting to arise,
and the spots that are present are the typical ones I would get

Comedones ahoy

So I started taking my Roaccutane in October 2017. I was started on a low dose. All dermatologists do things differently, some blast you with the max dose from the start, but considering the list of side effects of isotretinoin is as long as your arm, and is powerful enough to cause foetal abnormalities, I was quite happy to start slow.

By January I was on the max dose of 60mg. In the UK Drs are only allowed to give a max of 1mg per kilo body weight, in the USA the doses can go up to double.

I noticed in the first month a bit of a "purge" of my skin. Roaccutane reduces keratin in the skin, switches off your oil glands and causes your skin to "turnover" (shed and replace itself) more quickly. Therefore all the crap that was lurking in the pores ready to give months of hell, instead gives the hell in a shorter faster burst.

That being said, I did not have a single cystic spot for the whole time I was on the medication unless it was self caused by the dreaded picking.

Very soon on, my lips felt like they were going to fall off, and I don't mean the bit of dryness you get from going out in the cold, I mean crack-until-they-bleed dry. Fortunately I had products on hand to deal with this, to the point where the dermatologist was concerned I was not metabolising the drug as my lips did not appear dry (score). Despite this, every smile or yawn caused another split and even wiping with a towel would cause a layer of skin to come off.

I used many products I probably shouldn't have which led to extreme chemical burns, then flaking like a shedding snake, then finally peeling.


My body skin did not suffer at all except for a slight bit of dryness on my knees.

Beyond the more superficial side effects, I had a constant upset stomach, my knees ached to the point I could not run for the last month of treatment and are only just recovering a month post finishing it. My feet and ankles were also extremely painful which, as someone who spends most the day on their week, was unpleasant. Whilst I had no back pain I did spend a fortune on physios to fix the various neck and shoulder pains I had. Also, your eyes will be dry, and your nose will feel like the Sahara desert but with added bleeding. Be prepared for your tissues to be blood stained for the next 6 months.

So...back to the superficial stuff.

I have made a table of things I found helpful, and REALLY not helpful as well as links to the products. Feel free to shop around for better prices.

Product	What for	Outcome
Snowfire ointment https://www.amazon.co.uk/Snowfire-Ointment-Stick-emollient-ointment/dp/B002YIXRRO	Lips, cuticles	This is the only lipbalm I have ever used at night but it became a necessity to have one in every bag, every room of the house, my car, because every other lip balm , at worst – burnt , at best – did nothing. They are also reaalllyy cheap. Bear in mind there is absolutely nothing glamourous about it. It smells funny and makes your lips a bit white. 3 months into roaccutane you wont care.
Cereve hydrating cleanser http://www.boots.com/cerave-hydrating-cleanser-236ml-10246701	Facial cleanser	Nicer to use than the bog standard Cetaphil, but is fragrance, soap, preservative etc free. This one also contains ceramides which are crucial for restoring the skins barrier which is destroyed by the sun, air con, heating, roaccutane and products you shouldn’t use when taking roaccutane…
The ordinary advanced retinoid 2% http://theordinary.com/product/rdn-advanced-retinoid-2pct-30ml	If you are concerned about aging or skin texture	Whilst I knew the roaccutane would clear the acne from the pore level, as a product junkie I was unprepared to give up the lovely smooth even skin you get from using a topical retinol. I – stupidly – tried using my usual beloved Neostrata retinol NAG and woke up looking like a beetroot with intense burning painful skin, this progressed to skin so flaky it looked like I had painted PVA glue on my face which then dried, then it all peeled off. This one by the ordinary is wonderful and causes no irritation at all.
La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo+ 40ml http://www.boots.com/la-roche-posay-effaclar-duo-40ml-10169551 The ordinary Niacinamide 10% Zinc 1% http://theordinary.com/product/rdn-niacinamide-10pct-zinc-1pct-30ml	While your skin is still purging the crap and you have a few spots or still have the fear of getting them	The effaclar duo contains the beloved benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid (2% - the only percentage that actually works). It vastly improved my skin before even considering roaccutane and caused no irritation whilst still on it. The Niacinamide and zinc work in a plethora of ways to hydrate, limit inflammation and calm the skin. Niacinamide also has anti-aging benefits
Skinoren 20% azelaic acid cream – prescription only https://www.pharmacy2u.co.uk/skinoren.html	Bumpy skin	Whilst the roaccutane cleared my spots and any comodones (clogged pores/bumps) on the majority of my skin, I still suffered with them on my chin. Not only is azaleic acid great for exfoliating the poor it is also a great anti-inflammatory, so much so that it is one of the front line treatments for rosacea which is about the most inflammatory cosmetic skin condition out there . It also works in preventing melasma, which I also suffer from so this was a triple winner.
Dermalogica active moist https://www.dermalogica.co.uk/active-moist/14,en_GB,pd.html La roche posay toleriane fluid http://www.boots.com/la-roche-posay-toleriane-ultra-fluide-40ml-10189529 toleriane rich LIMITED AREAS OF THE FACE ONLY https://www.lookfantastic.com/la-roche-posay-toleriane-riche-soothing-protective-cream-40ml/11091889.html	Oil free moisturisers that actually moisturise	It is beyond a struggle to find oil free products that are moisturising enough to use during the drying process of roaccutane. Similarly, if you are anything like me, I became sensitive to EVERYTHING, so fragrance was also a no no . Also be prepared to use 2 different moisturisers for different areas of your face. I do not suffer with black heads, comodones etc around my eyes and cheek bones but these dried the most so I used Toleriane rich in these areas
Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5 http://theordinary.com/product/rdn-hyaluronic-acid-2pct-b5-30ml If you want to be fancy.. NIOD Multi molecular hyaluronic acid complex http://niod.com/product/multi-molecular-hyaluronic-complex-15ml	If a moisturiser alone is not enough	My skin has now become used to having an oil free moisturiser over the whole face, with maybe an added top up with something heavier just around the eye/cheek bone area, however there are days it needs something more. These products do not clog. Hyaluronic acid and glycerine are “humectants” i.e. they attract and hold water, up to 100’s of times their weight in water in fact. They are therefore very helpful in products to keep the skin hydrated and less like a snake shedding itself.
Vaseline body moisturiser worked perfectly fine for me. It has a slight fragrance but I believe they do a fragrance free and even with my prolonged chlorine exposure I felt moisturised even until the end of the day https://www.superdrug.com/Vaseline/Vaseline-Intensive-Care-Essential-Lotion-400ml/p/320602	Body moisturiser	I swim every day, so I was fully prepared at the start of treatment for my body skin to crack into a million pieces and fall off. I did not experience any issues. I also had waxing done on my body with no problem, but you would have to check this.
Ren evercalm ultra comforting face mask https://www.renskincare.com/uk/evercalm-ultra-comforting-rescue-mask.html	Emergency situations where you have used one of the products below that you shouldn’t have and have burned yourself like a sun dried tomato.	This was the only thing that took down redness that wasn’t a leave on product. I did not want a cream that was left on because all the healing ones are packed with oil, shea butter etc so this mask was a good compromise, particularly for times when I needed my skin to look ok, e.g. parties where I just needed it to CALM THE F*** DOWN.
SkinCeuticals Protect Sheer Mineral UV Defense SPF 50 https://www.amazon.co.uk/SkinCeuticals-Protect-Sheer-Mineral-Defense/dp/B005GK7C64 You can also get this in the tinted form as this does leave a white cast on the skin, which can be hidden by make up if needed EltaMD UV Clear Broad-Spectrum SPF 46 TINTED https://eltamd.com/product/uv-clear-broad-spectrum-spf-46/	Sunscreen	I used to HATE sunscreen. I would use it and immediately or post holiday get more spots. I realise now that the sun has a temporary anti inflammatory effect so will, whilst exposed, reduce the spot size. It also however increases oil production, increases the thickness of the skin and increases the cells clogging the pores. Therefore as soon as you come home BOOM even more spots than you had before which is enough to render that lovely golden tan completely pointless. Of course the sun is also extremely damaging, increasing lines, wrinkles, dark spots and cancer risk. Physical sunscreen is a must. This one caused absolutely no break outs at all. Yay
Eye drops	For dry eyes	I was prepared for hellish dry eyes, especially considering I immerse myself in diluted bleach at the pool most days, so I used these for the first month of my treatment, and didn't seem to need them beyond that! They also do some with hyaluronic acid which are meant to hydrate longer but I found these perfectly fine.
DO NOT USE  - mistakes I made
Chemical peeling agents. Glycolic acid, neat salicylic acid, retinols. This is the burn I had an several occasions...		JUST DON’T DO IT. Retinoids however I have found to be fine, see above. I would not start using them if you have never used them before however. My skin was tolerant to the much higher levels prior to taking Roaccutane
Micro needling		JUST DON’T DO IT.
Foaming face wash		Unless you want your morning and evening routine to sting like hell and for it to not matter what you put on top because the skin surface is so dry it won’t absorb anything…don’t do it.
Facial hair removal		JUST DON’T DO IT.
Oil		I realised this quite late on. It is extremely confusing to know what to do with all the beauty press urging people with oily or acne prone skin to make sure they are hydrated. Whilst an oil like the clarins lotus oil might do wonders for an unbalanced skin, a clear skin that just gets spotty due to hormones etc , on a skin with true acne it will just lead to blocked pores. It is beyond a struggle to find oil free products that are moisturising enough to use during the drying process of roaccutane
Spot squeezing		Do not do it. Do not do it with your nails, do not do it with a tool. All that happens is you peel off the layer of skin over the spot leaving a red oozy mess with the spot still happily in tact underneath

Hope this helps !! This is where I am now. I still have a bit of bumpyness on my chin however it has gone from 1000 comedones to maybe 20 and is decreasing daily.

I could have filtered this or done my hair but I wanted to show my face, in A LOT of daylight, no make up.
There is still some redness and scarring but no spots and smooth skin!

http://skinspecialistinrajendranagar.com/what-causes-acne-whats-the-difference-in-a-normal-skin-and-a-skin-with-acne/
https://www.amazon.com/Cliganic-Blackhead-Remover-Extractor-Instructions/dp/B013P26K9O