Eye Opening!

Posted: Tuesday 23 November 2010 11:54am

Through my 20s and 30s, before the advent of “dermatechnology” (lasers, fillers et al) and “cosmeceutical” skin care, I haunted the cosmetic counters of department stores in quest of the ever-elusive miracle that would wipe away the deep, premature crevasses around my eyes.

Inevitably I would crawl away, ego in a thousand pieces after all but being told it was a wonder I’d left home without a bag on my head, laden with product I didn’t need and couldn’t afford. And produced no discernible results.

Sales pitches and skin care technology have come a long way since then …

Two bouts of ablative laser resurfacing five years apart did the trick, albeit I was left with red panda rings under my eyes for several months.

But inevitably the lines crept back, bigger and badder than before (probably not, but it seemed so after the lengths I’d been to).

That was when a dermatologist by chance asked if I used product right up to the lashline. Er, no. I’d always been instructed by the Cruella De Vils of the cosmetics counters to dab cream only along the orbital bone under the eyes and it would “creep” up. Unfortunately, it seemed the only thing that did the creeping was the wrinkles.

Since this revelation several years ago, the texture of the skin under my eyes (those nemeses in the mirror) has significantly improved. The gallop of time has slowed to somewhere between a trot and canter. Granted, it has also recently had a massive boost from a Thermage skin tightening treatment followed by Fraxel non-ablative laser on upper and lower eyelids by Sydney dermtologist Dr Mei Heng-Tan. But that’s an another story.

Being able to apply cream over the entire lid has been made possible by the leaps and bounds of cosmeceutical technology. Even 10 years ago, applying cream in this way ran the risk of your eyes puffing and watering as if in the grip of a severe allergic reaction (which, in a way, it was). But serums and moisturisers with active ingredients and that are light enough to take right to the lash line now abound.

Elizabeth Arden has taken this technology a step further by producing PREVAGE Eye Ultra Protection Anti-aging Moisturiser SPF 15 that contains an “encapsulated” sunscreen.

The product was launched in Sydney recently by visiting American specialist Dr Wendy Lee, Assistant Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology at the Bascom-Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami. (However, it is not available on counter here until February 27, 2011.)

Elizabeth Arden has recently developed a partnership with the institute, which is rated number one in opthamology in the US.

Among Dr Lee’s specialities is performing reconstructive surgery on eyelids due to skin cancers.

“It’s critically important to put SPF protection on your [upper as well as lower] eyelids”, she says. “And it’s also important that the sunscreen is encapsulated, to provide protection without the irritation,” she said.

“ncapsulation ensures that the product doesn’t travel on your face after it’s applied, meaning that it can be taken right up to the lashline.”

PREVAGE Eye Ultra Protection Anti-aging Moisturiser SPF 15 is designed to be worn over the existing PREVAGE Eye Advanced Anti-aging Serum.

Both products have been formulated using idebenone technology and are clinically shown to address all of the common eyes concerns such as wrinkles, lines, crows feet, puffiness, dark circles, loss of firmness and crepiness.

“The skin around the eye area is very thin, making it more susceptible to free radical damage from UV rays as well as pollution and the environment, which can penetrate more easily,” says Tony Vargas, Vice President research and Development, Elizabeth Arden.

“It needs more protection and using topical antioxidants combined with sunscreens during the day can help shield this delicate area from the visible effects of environmental damage.”

Anti-oxidants neutralise free radicals, providing protection that sunscreens can’t. Sunscreens only protect against UV received through the body’s natural processes (though this ability decreases with age), through food or by topical application.

Idebenone is known as the most powerful anti-oxidant in the world, with an Environmental Protection Factor (EPF) of 95, which ranks it higher than vitamin C, vitamin E or coenzyme Q-10, among others. The new eye cream uses the advanced idebenone ester, which has fatty acid added to it for better delivery and sustained release.

by Jenni Gilbert

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