I have probably invested the most in my eyes.
Four-eyed since the age of 7; where wearing glasses seemed cool and a grown-up thing to have, they start to become an eyesore towards upper secondary and tertiary, where their cumbersome nature gets in the way of the boys and my face. With all those horror stories of contact lenses melting in people’s eyes at a BBQ or having those plastic bits roll to the back of their eyes and never finding them again, made it tough to convince any parent. Then, everyone started wearing these “invisible eyes” and H-U-R-R-A-Y! What a god-sent!
But life is not smooth-sailing like that.
Some silly boys started to poke fun at my dark eye rings during tertiary days and that got me worried, knowing the amount of midnight oil that’s gonna burn during the 2 years. Not forgetting, mum’s wise warnings “Sleep so late! Get eye bags and dark circles, then you’ll know!” Now I know, mum.
So since the age of 17, my very first advertisement recollection was the Olay Eye Gel. Can’t recall its exact name though (it’s been a long time, you know….) but it’s definitely not “age/wrinkle/lifting” related. That would have scared me loads.
Looks alot like this Olay Eye Gel – must have gotten a renaming though. “Age-defying”at age 17 doesn’t sound legit.
A distinct memory ingrained in my mind were the cucumber extracts and aloe vera, which conjures up 2 slices of cucumbers covering the eyes, no? Well, I know I did religiously dab those gel onto my eye bags back then! What I do remember, is that they felt cool and comforting, and that seemed nice.
So, over the years, eye care has become an utmost concern. Yes, the bags and dark circles are still obvious – GAH! Well, being knowledgable and educated beings, please don’t expect miracles in a jar. Those excess baggage and discolouration around the eye areas are part genetic and part lifestyle-influenced. Those concoctions only help to reduce, but if the bad lifestyle (like sleeping late, smoking, drinking alcohol etc) stay, that ain’t gonna help much.
Here’s a sneak peak into my beauty stash on the eye care that I’ve been using for the past year:
Bioxil Protective Eye Cream, Simple Regenerating Age-resisting Eye Cream, ZA Future Defense Eye Cream, SkinVitals Brightening Eye Cream and SkinVitals Firming Eye Cream.
Bioxil Protective Eye Cream
– Lightweight cream with no artificial fragrance (great for those with sensitive skin!)
– Didn’t feel nourishing enough for my dry undereyes though
Simple Regenerating Age-resisting Eye Cream
– Spreads easily and absorbs well
– On certain days, tends to feel a tad too rich for my skin
ZA Future Defense Eye Cream
– The Beauty Advisor shared a tip: squeeze a pea size on the tip of ring fingers, warm the cream by rubbing the fingers and dab onto eye areas. Since then, I’ve been using the trick!
– This eye cream felt the “richest” and its viscosity was thicker too. Perhaps, psychologically, it gave me an assurance that it was nourishing my thin skin!
SkinVitals Brightening Eye Cream
– Had heard positive reviews from users who experienced significant reduction of dark eye circles! Not too sure how it worked on me though cos I was still keeping late nights plus using another eye cream during the same period
– Light texture was definitely a plus. No artifical fragrance or weird smell either, which was great!
SkinVitals Firming Eye Cream
– During the first few use, I thought I did experience some slight firming effects.
– Soft and light texture makes it easy to spread and easily absorbed
During my recent trip to Macau, I took the plunge and bought a counterbrand eye cream, in an attempt to see what good it can bring! Amongst the wide myraid of brands, which one caught my eye?
At HKD$274 (after 20% off at SaSa), this is quite an investment for a 15ml eye cream.
Though the late nights will most likely stay (sigh), TLC for my peepers are definitely a must-have! Afterall, now that I’m no longer hiding behind glasses, this little treat is detrimental to having them look good after the iris have been given a new lease of life, thanks to LASIK.
**Additional post (28 October ’12):
Being diligent is very important especially when it comes to skin care. As promised, here’s my 2 cents’ worth on my personal thoughts of the Elizabeth Arden White Glove Extreme Brightening Eye Moisture Cream:
– Texture is smooth and creamy, allowing it to be easily spread on finger tips (warming it up with fingertips, as shared by the ZA Beauty Advisor!)
– Easily absorbed by skin under eyes, a breeze to massage in as well.
– With daily use of concealer on my undereyes, it seems to be drying them up faster than the cream is feeding nutrients/skin is aborbing. Like that the cream is non-greasy and makeup goes on effortlessly with sticky afterfeel!
