Ahh eye bags! Blessed with chronic sinus problems, bad genes and an immunity to sleep, I have suffered from these as long as I can remember. They don't bother me nearly as much as they bother my mum and dad ("Do you ever sleep? Look at your face"). And as I don't wear make up on a daily basis, most of the time I wear my bags with pride. However, I go positively all out out with my under eye concealor if I am going to be wearing eyeliner or a full face of makeup that day. Its the step I put the most love and dedication into. In this series, we will be breaking this crucial make up feature into simple steps, discussing techniques and products along the way.
So heres the Everything you need to know about Under Eye Concealing...Skin Prep
Step One - Skin Prep
You hear make up gurus talk about it all the time, preparing and loving your skin before applying makeup. And it's true, especially for your under eyes.
The skin under your eyes is particularly fragile and thin, which is why some eye bags appear as dark sockets. As your skin ages and loses elasctisy, eye bags get worse. Long story short, you need to take good care of your under eyes. Some good products I've used and know work well under makeup I have listed below.
The Body Shop Elderflower Unfragranced Eye Gel - 15 ml - £7.00
Such a weird product in my opinion, I was drawn in my the gimmick of eye gel. In retrospect, this product doesn't really claim to help with under eye bags, just to "refresh and cool". This was great when my eyes were dry, itchy, and irritated, usually after a bout of hay fever. I would keep this in the fridge and the cooling sensation on my eyes would help ease the irritation. However, it wasn't great underneath makeup, I had to wait a good few minutes for it to absorb into my skin. A few times it actually balled up which was not a good look! I don't think I would buy this again, but we had fun whilst my tub lasted.
Ponds Eye Contour Cream - 15 ml - £7.99
I stumbled upon this by accident. It was on offer and a friend bought me a tub. It was love at first sight. University nights had not been kind to me, and this stuff seriously hydrated my bags, not to mention allowed not-so-creamy concealors to glide on my skin like a penguin on skates. Its light, and just melts into your skin, and though it wasn't overnight, I did notice a difference. Not bad for the price too. A definite all time favourite.
Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye - 15ml - £40.00
Okay, so I know what you're thinking, judging me behind that screen! I didn't pay full price for this (yay for friends with discount) but still, it was definitely a moment of splurging. I had done a lot of research into eye creams and this was one that kept cropping up on every beauty blog as a Holy Grail product. More of a gel than a creme, this stuff feels like luxury. You need the absolutely tiniest amount for both eyes, and you get a little spatula to apply it with. Instantly, your eyes feel super hydrated, and smooth, a perfect base for makeup. Did I notice any reduction in eye bags? My skin certainly felt a lot more loved than before, thats for sure. But the more I used this stuff, the more milia I noticed under my eyes. Milia are raised, pearly-white or yellowish bumps on the skin, filled with keratin. They were unsightly even though you could only notice them close up, so I stopped using this everyday and opted to use it once a week. It is still a good product in my opinion, just a little heavy on my skin. I wouldn't repurchase it because I am boycotting all companies that support Israel the best that I can (Estee Lauder being one of them) and it was stupidly expensive.
Almond Oil
Almond Oil was something I didn't think would help my under eyes but I read about it online and thought hey, why not. As this would be disastrous underneath makeup, I use it at night. Simply put, I didn't notice a huge difference in my under eyes aside from they o feel much more supple and hydrated in the morning. Can be little messy trying to get a small enough amount on your under eyes so as not to grease out your face. I should probably do this more often to see better results though. In fact, I will! Blogpost coming soon...
The skin under your eyes is particularly fragile and thin, which is why some eye bags appear as dark sockets. As your skin ages and loses elasctisy, eye bags get worse. Long story short, you need to take good care of your under eyes. Some good products I've used and know work well under makeup I have listed below.
Products at a glance
The Body Shop Elderflower Unfragranced Eye Gel - 15 ml - £7.00
Such a weird product in my opinion, I was drawn in my the gimmick of eye gel. In retrospect, this product doesn't really claim to help with under eye bags, just to "refresh and cool". This was great when my eyes were dry, itchy, and irritated, usually after a bout of hay fever. I would keep this in the fridge and the cooling sensation on my eyes would help ease the irritation. However, it wasn't great underneath makeup, I had to wait a good few minutes for it to absorb into my skin. A few times it actually balled up which was not a good look! I don't think I would buy this again, but we had fun whilst my tub lasted.
Ponds Eye Contour Cream - 15 ml - £7.99
I stumbled upon this by accident. It was on offer and a friend bought me a tub. It was love at first sight. University nights had not been kind to me, and this stuff seriously hydrated my bags, not to mention allowed not-so-creamy concealors to glide on my skin like a penguin on skates. Its light, and just melts into your skin, and though it wasn't overnight, I did notice a difference. Not bad for the price too. A definite all time favourite.
Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye - 15ml - £40.00
Okay, so I know what you're thinking, judging me behind that screen! I didn't pay full price for this (yay for friends with discount) but still, it was definitely a moment of splurging. I had done a lot of research into eye creams and this was one that kept cropping up on every beauty blog as a Holy Grail product. More of a gel than a creme, this stuff feels like luxury. You need the absolutely tiniest amount for both eyes, and you get a little spatula to apply it with. Instantly, your eyes feel super hydrated, and smooth, a perfect base for makeup. Did I notice any reduction in eye bags? My skin certainly felt a lot more loved than before, thats for sure. But the more I used this stuff, the more milia I noticed under my eyes. Milia are raised, pearly-white or yellowish bumps on the skin, filled with keratin. They were unsightly even though you could only notice them close up, so I stopped using this everyday and opted to use it once a week. It is still a good product in my opinion, just a little heavy on my skin. I wouldn't repurchase it because I am boycotting all companies that support Israel the best that I can (Estee Lauder being one of them) and it was stupidly expensive.
Almond Oil
Almond Oil was something I didn't think would help my under eyes but I read about it online and thought hey, why not. As this would be disastrous underneath makeup, I use it at night. Simply put, I didn't notice a huge difference in my under eyes aside from they o feel much more supple and hydrated in the morning. Can be little messy trying to get a small enough amount on your under eyes so as not to grease out your face. I should probably do this more often to see better results though. In fact, I will! Blogpost coming soon...
You want to be moisturising your under eyes every night, even more so if you suffer from dry skin all over. Having hydrated under eyes with fewer fine lines means your concealer will apply like a dream; nothing is worse than when makeup tugs on your skin. Get going!
Nahlabee x
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