Age-fighting eye creams: how much can they do?

As many beginning-to-age women are finding, the eyes are the first to go. While this is mostly because of the design of eye-area skin, the fact is that most people would rather do without the tired, aging look that accompanies crow's-feet, puffiness, shadows, and bags. Some turn immediately to surgery. But for most, the first course of action is less drastic: an eye cream. The attraction is obvious: these specialized moisturizers claim to be everything from eight hours of sleep in a tube to an eye-lift alternative. But at prices often upwards of $25, are these products a good investment?

Why age hits eyes so hard. Everybody sees some damage to the eye area sooner or later. In most cases it's sooner, since the skin here is the thinnest on the body. (At a half millimeter, it's as fine as an eggshell and at least four times thinner than the skin on the sole of the foot.) Because of its thinness, moisture evaporates easily, leaving skin dehydrated. The eye area is also prone to crinkling because of repeated fine-etching movements, like blinking, squinting, and smiling. And it's an easy target for sun damage, discoloring and losing elasticity more readily than thicker-skinned body parts. Factor in common genetic tendencies toward dark circles, sags, and bags, and it's obvious why eye products-including gels, serums, and even eye masks-- crowd cosmetics counters.

Not just another moisturizer. There are reasons, beyond profits, for their presence. "It's important that products used near the eyes be appropriate for this sensitive area, where stinging and burning can happen all too easily," says New York City-based dermatologist Karen Burke, M.D., Ph.D. That's why some ingredients that are regularly used in facial moisturizers, like fragrances and certain emollients and emulsifiers, are eliminated from eye products, says Jack Mausner, Ph.D., senior vice president of research and development at Chanel. Another consideration for cosmetics chemists is something called the "wick" effect. It occurs when the fine lines act as conduits, drawing products into the eye, explains Daniel Maes, Ph.D., vice president of research at Estee Lauder. To counteract this problem, formulators are adding ingredients like polymers that block the potentially irritating migration.

The skin around the eye also presents another problem in that it loses moisture easily but can't tolerate heavy products. This is because the oil glands in the eye area are fewer in number and smaller in size than those on the rest of the face. According to David Orentreich, M.D., clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, even standard moisturizers are heavy enough to potentially block oil glands around the eyes and cause the formation of milia, unsightly little yellow or white cysts.

To sidestep this problem, eye products usually contain light refined oils, like jojoba and safflower, as well as humectants, which draw moisture to the skin and hold it in place without clogging pores. The resulting skin-plumping action definitely helps minimize the appearance of fine lines, albeit only temporarily, according to Darrell Rigel, M.D., assistant professor of dermatology at New York University Medical Center.

Erasing circles and sags. Two other problems that eye elixirs often claim to alleviate are under-eye circles and puffiness. Dark circles are largely the result of blood passing through veins close to the skin's surface. The discoloration worsens with age, as eye skin becomes thinner and more translucent. Cosmetics companies have come up with several strategies to help minimize the bluish tint, such as adding the minerals mica and silica--which refract light and visually "fade" both lines and circles--to eye-care products. Some rinse-off eye masks contain the whitening agent titanium dioxide, which makes the eye area appear brighter and helps mask dark shadows.

Another new trick of the trade is to add a hint of color to eye creams, simultaneously lightening under-eye circles and smoothing fine lines.

There's also a trend toward including anti-irritants in eye products. These ingredients--often botanical extracts like yarrow, witch hazel, arnica, or peppermint--have a dual effect, simultaneously soothing and tightening the skin. They don't, however, have much effect on under-eye bags triggered by mild allergies (for example, to pets, dairy products, or nail polish) or on simple a.m. puffiness, which occurs when excess water collects in the soft tissue during sleep. A temporary solution to this latter phenomenon, says James Sternbery, M.D., assistant clinical professor of dermatology at UCLA Medical School, is simply standing up and allowing the water to filter out. But the products will tighten and firm lax skin--much as an egg white tightens the skin as it dries--making under-eye bags seem less pronounced for a few hours. This effect is strictly short-term, but for many people, that may be enough.

While eye creams are no panacea, the minimal upkeep they represent is worthwhile. If you think of your eyes as the aesthetic centerpiece of your face, keeping them framed in not-so-obviously aging skin is the reward.