What Causes Wrinkles and Bags Around Your Eyes?
Your eyes are often the first thing people see and make a big first impression. Unfortunately, tired eyes with dark circles, puffy skin, and wrinkles could make the wrong impression.
If you're tired of looking older than your years, tackle the problem head-on by making some lifestyle changes and switching to handcrafted skincare options. Learn more about what causes wrinkles and bags around your eyes and what to do about it.
Sun Exposure
The more UV rays you soak up, the more likely you are to see a trifecta of wrinkles, baggy skin under your eyes, and dark circles. Exposure to UV rays triggers the body to produce more melatonin, which is why your skin darkens and tans. Unfortunately, it makes the dark circles around your eyes look more severe.
Sunlight also degrades your body's natural collagen production and elastin, responsible for your skin's firmness. Soon the skin around your eyes looks like it's sagging and rapidly ages your appearances.
Using the Wrong Skincare Products
If you're using inferior cosmetics or skin care products, it could cause the tissues around your eyes to swell. Overloading your eye area with too much moisturizer and the wrong kind also creates puffiness and a stinging sensation.
Even some dermatologist-tested skin care products are not as they seem. They may still include fragrances, essential oils, dyes, and pegs that lead to wrinkles and swollen skin around your eyes. It simply means a dermatologist signed-off on the creams and cleansers as safe for use on the skin.
Choose handcrafted skincare products free from parabens. Our Ceramide Vitamin-C Peptide Eye Cream helps soothe, hydrate, and reduce under-eye puffiness. We curate our ingredients to include rich natural emollients, anti-aging peptides, and safe and effective retinol alternatives.
Dehydration
The skin around your eyes are thinner than other areas of your body and quickly look wrinkled when you're dehydrated. The rest of your face may also look dry and sunken without proper hydration and further the droopiness around your eyes.
Good dehydration includes drinking plenty of water and using a quality moisturizer for your skin. While your body is getting hydrated with more water consumption, handcrafted skincare products also help with moisture around your eyes. The moisturizer also creates a protective barrier to retain more moisture and keep harmful pollutants out, triggering signs of aging and wrinkles.
Allergies
Sometimes it's difficult to tell what’s bothering your eyes and treat the problem accordingly. Seasonal allergies are often a culprit in aggravating eyes and skin, including pollen and weeds. Other allergies to cosmetics and irritants create eyelid dermatitis, also called eyelid eczema.
If you're not already taking an antihistamine, talk to your general practitioner about appropriate medication. A dermatologist can discuss eyelid dermatitis and which products to use. They may prescribe a steroid-based cream to treat the inflammation depending on its severity.
However, handcrafted skincare products are also essential to gently cleanse and moisturize your skin. Generic skincare products often contain dyes, fragrances, and essential oils that can cause contact dermatitis and worsen your skin and signs of aging.
Fluid Retention
Fluid retention, or edema, is often uncomfortable and embarrassing. It's never pleasant anywhere it appears on your body, but fluid retention around your eyes is especially prominent.
The retention is often a symptom of a more significant issue, like a medical condition or too much exposure to the sun. Gently tapping the skin around your eyes could trigger lymphatic drainage and reduce puffiness. A cold compress may also help reduce the swelling. Your diet may also play a role in fluid retention. Drinking too much alcohol and consuming a high-salt diet are often associated with inflammation and fluid retention.
Lack of Sleep
A lack of sleep is responsible for all sorts of conditions, from weakened immunity to under-eye bags and dark circles. When your sleep is poor, or you don't prioritize it, your blood vessels dilate and increase blood flow. Unfortunately, it also creates a dark tint under your eyes. Not sleeping enough is also known to aggravate wrinkles, speed up elasticity loss, and dry out your skin.
Poor Diet
Many people don't think about how a poor diet impacts the condition of their skin, especially around the eyes. Refined sugars, too much salt, processed foods, and a lack of fresh fruit, vegetables, and nutrients like Omega-3 fatty acids lead to dark circles around your eyes. When you eat more nutrient-filled foods, your energy increases, you sleep better, and the dark circles around your eyes diminish.
Rubbing Your Eyes
Rubbing your eyes won't cause immediate wrinkles, but it could make your skin look swollen. Over time, you may develop an irritation or thicker skin around the eyes that look aged. Excessive rubbing may also cause your blood vessels to break and create dark circles and wrinkles around your eyes. Beyond your skin, rubbing will likely lead to the development of bloodshot eyes, which also makes your eyes look older.
Repetitive Expressions
When the muscles around your eyes repeatedly contract, it quickly leads to dynamic wrinkles. These wrinkles show up when you move your face and trigger crow's feet and smile lines. Static wrinkles are seen even when your face isn't moving but can be caused by long-term static wrinkles and sun exposure.
The answer isn't necessarily to stop moving your face but to stay aware of your body. You may need to focus on relaxing more and consider whether or not you're frowning, squinting, or furrowing your brows without even realizing it.
Smoking
The toxic chemicals in tobacco products damage your skin cells and escalate the aging process. The more you smoke, the more likely you are to see deep wrinkles between your eyebrows, your mouth, and around your eyes. Fortunately, when you stop smoking, Vitamin C and collagen production return to relatively normal levels after a few months. Some issues with your skin, like slight wrinkles and mild skin discoloration, could also resolve themselves once you eliminate nicotine products.
Medical Conditions
Some medical conditions quickly lead to wrinkles, dark skin, and under-eye circles. Renal disease, thyroid eye disease, ocular rosacea, and dermatomyositis are just some conditions to consider. If the skin around your eyes is puffy or dark and coupled with vision problems, headaches, or a rash, speak to your doctor to rule out any medical conditions. Prescription medicine and handcrafted skincare products can also help soothe your skin and reduce the signs of aging.
Genetics
Genetics often play a large role in aging that isn't easy to resolve, and you may be naturally prone to premature wrinkles. However, improving your diet and hydration, using handcrafted skincare, and staying out of the sun could help minimize the signs of aging.
Although nothing can stop or reverse the signs of aging completely, there are ways to slow it down and improve your appearance. Beyond lifestyle changes, turn to handcrafted, small-batch skincare. Our products are the first truly effective, clinic-grade, anti-aging skincare system for sensitive, rosacea-prone skin. We use a blend of anti-aging peptides, antioxidants, natural emollients, vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin E, collagen peptide, hyaluronic acid, and 15 moisturizers.
Next Steps
Take the next step in reducing signs of aging with our small batch selection of products. J. Sanchez Skin Care carefully curates high-quality ingredients to create small-batch products in Miami. Choose our Radiance Eye Cream, Radiance Moisturizer, and Radiance Serum to treat your skin with the care it deserves. Browse all of our products here.