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Anti-Wrinkle & Crows feet Anti-Wrinkle & Crows feet

How to Prevent and Treat Crow’s Feet and Wrinkles Around the Eyes

Aging isn’t without its perks. As you get older, you have retirement to look forward to. You enjoy time with family a little more than you used to. You’ve gotten to a more stable place in life with your finances and your relationships (hopefully). But one of the drawbacks is the crow’s feet that settle around your eyes after years of laughter with friends and family. You don’t regret all those happy times that lead to the wrinkles, but these fine lines are enough to make you feel a little insecure about your face.

So let’s talk about what crow’s feet wrinkles are, how they develop, how you can delay their onset, and how you can visibly reduce crow’s feet if you already have them.

 

 

What Are Crow’s Feet and What Causes Them?

If you’ve never noticed them on others before, you may be wondering what crow’s feet look like. Have you ever seen the wrinkles under your eyes when smiling? That’s what they are — those pesky little lines that appear around the corners of your eyes when you get a little older. Also called laugh lines, these are a primary aging concern in the skin care industry today.

Crow’s feet develop gradually over time with repeated muscle contractions that etch themselves into your skin; these are normal signs of aging eyes. You’ll see them when you squint, laugh, smile, blink, or cry — but your facial expressions aren’t the only cause of crow’s feet.

Other prominent causes include:

  • Loss of collagen and skin firmness from aging
  • Loss of skin elasticity (aging)
  • Sun exposure and ultraviolet radiation
  • Environmental toxins, like pollution
  • Bad habits, like smoking
  • Blue light exposure from computer screens

Your eye skin is especially vulnerable to premature wrinkling and other skin aging concerns because of how thin and delicate this area of your face is. In fact, it’s usually the first place your body starts to show signs of aging.

If you don’t already have them, eye wrinkles will appear with time. Not sure what to do for crow’s feet? Fortunately, wrinkles around the eyes can be smoothed out, and there are also ways of delaying the inevitable aging process. Below, we’ll talk about how to prevent eye wrinkles and how to get rid of wrinkles on the face that have already appeared.

 

Tips for Maintaining Eye Skin Health

While everyone’s skin type is different, there are some universal best practices to follow if you want to ensure sure the skin around your eyes stays healthy and vibrant:

  • Hydrate with products shown to improve the skin barrier (and use lighter creams around the eyes than you would on the rest of the face).
  • Use daily sunscreen (at least SPF 30) and topicals with antioxidants to fight free radical damage and protect the skin from the sun and environmental toxins.
  • Remove all eye makeup before bedtime.
  • Use a gentle cleanser instead of scrubs, abrasives, or harsh cleansers around the eyes.
  • Use a daily moisturizer in conjunction with other nourishing skin care products.
  • Wear a hat and sunglasses when outside.
  • Don’t smoke.
  • Avoid tanning beds at all costs.
  • Eat a healthy diet.
  • Get good sleep (7-9 hours per night).
  • Exercise to promote good circulation.
  • Stay hydrated.
  • Manage stress.

The American Academy of Dermatology also offers the following advice as you implement a skin care routine for your eyes:

  • Test new products before using them daily — even those labeled “hypoallergenic” — to make sure you’re not allergic.
  • Use products as directed.
  • Stop using products that sting or burn unless prescribed by a dermatologist.
  • Limit the number of products you use to avoid irritation and adverse reactions.
  • Shop smart (expensive skin care doesn’t always mean better skin care).
  • Give products time to work, as many of them need at least six weeks to produce results.

 

A Daily Skin Care Routine for Diminishing Crow’s Feet

There are a few rules of thumb for how to best apply skin care products in the morning and at night.

In the morning:

  • Gently cleanse skin around the eyes.
  • Apply serum and an eye cream or moisturizer.
  • Wait 30 to 60 seconds between each layer of skin care and apply a sunscreen at the end.

At night:

  • Gently cleanse skin around the eyes and remove all makeup.
  • Apply serum and an eye cream or moisturizer.

Other tips:

  • Apply serums before creams (except DefenAge's 8-in-1 BioSerum which should be applied as a step 3). Most of serums tend to be lighter and contain more active ingredients that your skin needs for maximum absorption. Wait 30 to 60 seconds between each layer to let the product sink in.
  • Water-based products should be closest to the skin (or applied first). Layer oil-based products on top.

Tips for Concealing Crow’s Feet With Makeup

Applying makeup to skin around the eyes can be tricky. The crinkly nature of the thinner skin around the eyes often causes makeup to cake up, causing wrinkles and lines to become more visible.

Here are three ways to more effectively conceal crow’s feet:

  • Moisturize with a light product to help plump the skin.
  • Use a lighter version of concealer (and less of it) around the eyes.
  • Use makeup to distract from the crow’s feet and draw attention to other features of the face, such as the cheeks or lips.

 

Treatments and Natural Remedies for Under-Eye Wrinkles

 

Moisturizer

The skin around your eyes craves hydration from a good moisturizer, which can also help to soften wrinkles. An effective moisturizer is one of the best ways to get rid of crow’s feet and other facial wrinkles. But remember that not all moisturizers are created equal; different types of moisturizers help hydrate the skin in unique ways:

  • Emollients provide a protective layer on the skin to hydrate and soothe it.
  • Occlusives create a barrier on the skin’s top layer to prevent water loss.
  • *Humectants draw moisture from the environment into the skin’s layers to smooth and plump crow’s feet.

*Humectants are particularly good moisturizers for the skin around the eyes. The following ingredients in humectant moisturizers help to draw moisture into the skin:

  • Hyaluronic acid
  • Glycerin
  • Sorbitol
  • Propylene or butylene glycol

[Source: Crow's Feet: 4 Tips for How to Get Rid of Crow's Feet Eyes – Colorescience]

 

Natural Remedies

Many women today want to know how to remove wrinkles from the face naturally. Plants and foods have been used to heal and rejuvenate the skin for centuries, and many are effective in hydrating and rejuvenating the skin around the eyes. If you try a natural remedy, be sure to first test it on a small area of the skin, as some of the following may be irritating to the eyes or cause allergic reactions.

Natural foods and plants with ingredients that help block sun damage include:

  • Aloe vera (applied as a gel or consumed)
  • Green tea
  • Coconut oil
  • Grape seeds
  • Ginger

Natural moisturizing emollients are:

  • Shea butter
  • Cocoa
  • Mango
  • Almond oil
  • Avocado oil
  • Coconut oil

Natural occlusive moisturizers include oils such as:

  • Olive
  • Jojoba
  • Coconut
  • Waxes from bees

Natural humectant moisturizers include:

  • Honey
  • Hyaluronic acid

[All food sources from this paper: Molecules | Free Full-Text | The New Challenge of Green Cosmetics: Natural Food Ingredients for Cosmetic Formulations | HTML (mdpi.com)]

If you prefer to eat your natural remedies rather than to apply them topically, there are plenty of whole foods you can add to your diet that will promote young-looking skin and eyes. It’s widely known that a daily diet emphasizing antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables lessens the effects of sun damage and skin aging and helps lower risk for age-related diseases like heart disease and cancer. Some drinks such as green tea can also offer benefits to the skin.

[Source: A Review of the Role of Green Tea (Camellia sinensis) in Antiphotoaging, Stress Resistance, Neuroprotection, and Autophagy (nih.gov)]

These are 10 items you might want to put on your next grocery list in the name of skin health:

  • Garlic
  • Acai berries
  • Chia seeds
  • Cinnamon
  • Salmon
  • Celery
  • Blueberries
  • Oranges
  • Avocado

[Source: 25 Healthy Foods That Fight Aging, According to Dermatologists (eatthis.com)]

Sleep and Meditation

It’s likely that at some point in life, you’ve shown up to school or work and had someone tell you that you look tired. When people say this, it almost always has to do with the appearance of the eyes. When sleep deprived, the eyes become dark, sunken, and lackluster. Getting 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep a night is critical to the health of your skin. In fact, researchers have found that even one night of poor sleep can cause more eye wrinkles and fine lines, not to mention dark circles.

To get optimal skin benefits from sleep:

  • Get a full night’s rest.
  • Gently wash your face before bedtime and follow with a moisturizer or eye cream.
  • Consider sleeping on your back and using a satin or silk pillowcase to avoid irritation from cotton.
  • Elevate your head.

[Source: Science Shows You Can Sleep Your Skin Younger — Here's How (healthline.com)]

Stress is powerful, and it appears to negatively impact our skin, especially around the eyes. That’s why relaxation and mindfulness are almost as important as sleep. Studies show that psychological stress might be linked to immune dysfunction, oxidative radicals, and even DNA damage. Signs of stress include dark circles as well as bags and wrinkles around the eyes, which can make you look tired and older.

As you confront the root of your stress with proven techniques like meditation, breathing exercises, and yoga, you may be able to slow the rate of aging occurring within your skin.

 

Eye-Specific-Anti-Wrinkle-Products

There are many skin care products formulated specifically to hydrate and rejuvenate the areas of the eyes. It’s important to look for these, as the skin around the eyes is more delicate than skin on the rest of the face. Formulating eye creams and serums requires the right combination of ingredients to address concerns like crow’s feet and creating a topical that can be evenly applied to the skin around the eyes and feels good to wear. The best topicals for the eyes are light and easy to apply.

Creams that target skin around the eyes, including crow’s feet, often contain vitamins and minerals that have proven to fight free-radical damage and improve skin health. These are a few of them:

  • Vitamin A derivatives, or prescription retinoids and nonprescription retinols, are known to diminish wrinkles, increase skin thickness, reduce pigmentation, and improve skin texture.
  • Vitamin C is an antioxidant that protects against sun damage and stimulates collagen production.
  • Peptides found in some eye skin care products can encourage collagen production and improve skin health.

In an ideal world, an effective eye cream or serum would be scientifically tested and come with a thorough report on the results. Unfortunately, not all companies go through the scientific testing of their products because it is expensive and not required by the FDA. Keep this in mind as you shop for products.

Dermatologist-Administered-Treatments

If you’re looking for the best treatment for crow’s feet, today’s dermatological therapies make it easier than ever to conceal, delay, prevent, and even erase wrinkles around the eyes. Many dermatologists offer nonsurgical injectable options to help, including neuromodulators, such as Botulinum toxin type A (Botox), and hyaluronic acid fillers.

This treatment exfoliates the skin’s top layer.

  • Repeated treatment with energy devices, like radiofrequency, can soften crow’s feet around the eyes.
  • Laser treatments as well as microneedling have also been shown to help treat wrinkles around the eyes.

Defensins

If you’re wondering how to get rid of crow's feet without Botox, Defensins are another effective way to fight eye wrinkles. If you haven’t already heard of it, this ingredient in the DefenAge skin care line targets skin aging around the eyes without the irritation associated with retinoids and retinol skin care products.  

Defensins are molecules providing the first line of defense in the body’s immune system. They occur naturally in the skin and play an important role in the skin’s microbiome, encouraging the production of new stem cells. Products with defensins in the DefenAge skin care line are ideal for use around the eyes and lips — areas that can get irritated with topical Retin-A, retinols, or topicals with antioxidants and peptides.

 

DefenAge’s 3D Eye Radiance Cream’s Efficacy in Clinical Trials

DefenAge’s 3D Eye Radiance Cream has been scientifically studied for use around the eyes to prevent and treat crow’s feet and more. Scientists developed the 3D Eye Radiance Cream to rejuvenate and hydrate skin around the eyes and prevent further damage.

In one study, researchers had patients apply the cream morning and night, after cleansing, for six weeks. Patients reported 3D Eye Radiance Cream improved:

  • Skin quality and firmness
  • Redness
  • Age spots
  • And crow’s feet

Researchers reported these findings in a study published in the scientific publication, the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology. [Effect of defensins-containing eye cream on periocular rhytids and skin quality - PubMed (nih.gov)]

Like other products in the DefenAge line, the 3D Eye Radiance Cream features anti-aging defensins as well as niacinamide, another key ingredient shown to improve skin health.

 

Make Defensins a Part of Your Eye Skin Care Routine

You can’t stop the clock from turning, but you can take preventative measures to defy your age. Defensins are one of your best bets when it comes to preventive care and wrinkle treatment. So what are you waiting for? Contact DefenAge today to see how this innovative product could turn back time on your skin.

Visit our blog to learn more about ways to maintain healthy skin and combat the effects of aging with DefenAge’s proprietary formulas.

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