Battling Dark Circles; an Experiment.

It’s difficult to find under eye products that work – however – it’s best to stick with a routine in order to achieve results, as the delicate skin around our eyes does not handle stress, harsh environmental factors and a lack of sleep very well…Those with dark under eye circles usually have a genetic predisposition to them in part, which can be exacerbated by lifestyle factors and the environment. I notice that my under eye circles become especially bad when my migraines hit and when I don’t sleep well due to stress or anxiety. I use a two different eye cream daily (one for mornings and for night time – read why in my Eye Care 101 Post here) however, while the eye area looks better when it’s all plump and hydrated, I still haven’t found any cream to seriously help with lightening the pigmentation of my dark under eye circles. The worst is when you actually feel rested and in good form – but you still look tired because of your eyes. Nicki from Futurederm mentioned a study conducted by the Cosmetic Dermatology textbook, which studied the combination of vitamin K (also known asphytonadione) and retinol (at least 0.15%) and their effects when used together, around the eye area. 93% of patients studied claimed to see a decent reduction in their under eye circles due to epidermal and dermal melanin reduction after treatment (which didn’t reoccur up to a year later!). I don’t know about you beauties, but hearing that – from a scientific study none-the-less, is like music to my ears! Now some dermatologists don’t recommend using high strength retinol around the eye area, but there are also many dermatologists which think that it is perfectly ok (such as DermaDoctor’s, Audrey Kunin M.D.), as long as you introduce retinol into your eye care routine gradually and carefully. Because I oh so want to reduce my under eye circles, I decided to give this combination of ingredients a go! The only other issue is that you won’t usually find an eye cream with a decent amount of retinol in it’s formula (enough to lighten under eye circles) let alone combined with vitamin K, so I needed to find two separate products and pair them together. And so here is my dynamic duo!

I already use Futurederm’s Time Release Retinol 0.5, which is a gel and micro-encapsulated retinol. It sinks into the skin instantly and because of it’s gel formula and retinol micro-encapsulation, it releases in the deeper level of the skin gradually over 8 hours, minimising irritation (which around the eye area is super important). It also contains aloe vera and witch hazel, just to help ease the possible dryness associated with introducing a retinol to your skin. I’ve been slowly introducing the retinol to my eye area by using it only every third night or so, underneath my eye cream, however so far – no irritation at all which is amazing – and at the concentration of 0.5%, it is going to work like a bomb (a delicate, yet powerful bomb that is :P).

The only eye care product that I could find with a high dose of vitamin K, was Peter Thomas Roth’s Power K Eye Rescue Eye Treatment. I’m not sure exactly what the vitamin K concentration is, but it’s right up there in the ingredient list and Nicki from Futurederm recommends it! It is expensive, but it also contains other great ingredients, so I’m hoping that it works it’s magic! You don’t need to introduce this product into your routine slowly, so you can use it from the get go. I will be using my retinol product first on the eye area and then pop the Power K Eye Treatment over the top. I will only use this duo at night, because retinol makes your skin sensitive to the suns rays. Perhaps it’s best to not start this combination in summer time.

As I have just started using this duo – I can’t report on the effects just yet, but – I will report back in about three months time and let you know how I am travelling, as I am just as anxious to see results and share them with you!

I will also just add that it was difficult trying to find the Peter Thomas Roth Power K Eye Rescue Eye Treatment. I ended up buying mine from Fresh Fragrance & Cosmetics as I get a discount on every purchase I make with them (as does everyone if you sign up to their loyalty program) and I redeemed my loyalty points to lower the price to a cool 80 buckaroos (I was saving those points for a long time…)! However, I do think their regular price is a little high compared to Mecca Cosmetica – the only catch is, they only sell the eye cream in store (why I do not know).

I can’t wait to report back, but in the mean time, let me know if you are a fan of eye creams and what you have been using lately!

Until next time,

Beauty Bee~

*UPDATE* Check out the 6-monthly update on my experiment here!

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