Product Review- Ageless Derma Eye Cream

Ageless Derma Eye Cream Review



From the Brand:

Ageless Derma Eye Cream is a powerful new anti-aging treatment that helps to prevent and reverse the signs of aging. Its unique formula combines Retinol, the purest form of Vitamin A, with Vitamins C, E and K to soften the appearance of dark circles, smooth fine lines and wrinkles and improve skin texture around the delicate eye area.

Dark circles are bruises that appear when the delicate capillaries under the eyes get damaged. Vitamin K is excellent at healing broken capillaries, getting straight to the source of dark circles, and also adds volume to the skin to add further protection. Vitamin C, meanwhile, strengthens the walls of blood vessels, making them less visible and less likely to break in the future, while Vitamin A, and particularly the dose provided by Retinol, effectively reduces fine lines and wrinkles.

Retails for:  $59.00


Where to Buy:  AgelessDerma.com


My Thoughts:  You may have seen at the end of my review of the Ageless Derma Anti-Aging Cream review, I commented on how impressed I was with the face cream and wondered how good the eye cream was.  Well, soon enough there was a complimentary bottle of the Ageless Derma eye cream in my mailbox for me to test out!  It's been about two and a half months now that I've been using the eye cream several times a week, and I'm fairly confident I can give an honest review on it now.

First let's talk about the claims for reducing fine lines.  My profile may not show it due to my makeup skills and the photographers lighting and editing, but I do have some fine lines around my eyes.  In my late 20s, my eye area really started to show age much faster than anywhere else on my body.  My eyelids have started to fold over, my circles have gotten much much darker (although I blame that on two kids under 10!), and I've gotten an increasing number or severity of fine lines at the outside corners of my eyes.  Nothing too severe, mind you, but it is a daily reminder that my 20s are gone, and without constant prevention and maintenance my skin isn't going to bounce back the way it did when I was younger.

That being said, after using this eye cream for the past few months, the fine lines on the outside corners of my eyes have completely disappeared!  I knew that it was a potent combination of vitamins and Retinol, but I wasn't really expecting such a big difference.  I wish I'd taken a before photo to show a comparison.  I preach all the time about using an eye cream, and yet I'm one of those people who neglects their own advice all the time and forgets to put some on.  I'm sure that simple fact contributed immensely to the dryness around my eyes that was alleviated with the use of the eye cream, but I really think it was mainly the Retinol.

Even the label will tell you that it's not a daily eye cream if you have sensitive skin, and the Retinol will cause some peeling.  I would put it on before bed and after about 20 minutes, I could run my fingertip around the orbital bone and feel little bits of skin rolling off from the Retinol peeling the surface up to promote skin cell turnover.  It's both weird and cool at the same time.  Just be careful you don't get any in your actual eye.

The hydration provided by the eye cream is excellent for something that also promotes peeling.  It also absorbs really quickly, so I don't have to wait forever before putting on my concealer.  I do my eyes first and then the rest of my skin care products so that it has ample time to penetrate, but total time I'd say is no more than five minutes.  I usually brush my teeth or my hair and then get started on my makeup.  Or maybe make a cup of tea or coffee.

The only downside I'd say is that it hasn't helped much at all for my dark circles.  They are slightly less evident, and I have a multitude of issues that contribute to their intensity, so I wasn't expecting much.  I've tried every eye cream on the planet in the last ten years to no avail.  I think that over time with continued use the Vitamin K in this eye cream in combination with the Retinol and Vitamin C would improve it more, but in the two and a half months I've been using it I haven't seen the kind of improvement consumers have been conditioned by advertising to expect.  Therefore, I can't endorse this eye cream as one giving users a dramatic improvement in dark circles in a time frame they'd consider "long enough", and most people would probably stop using it and switch to another.  (Can you sense my frustration with modern skincare advertisements and consumer expectations?)  However, if you are willing to continue use for several months or more, I'm confident it would provide the significant improvement the majority of users would find appropriate.


Final Verdict:  Fantastic for plumping up and smoothing out fine lines around the eyes and with continued use could provide measurable improvement for dark circles.

**Disclaimer: As with all my product reviews, I was not paid by the cosmetic company to provide feedback or review/promote their products. All the opinions expressed in this article are my own. This product was provided to me for my consideration.. For more information on my policies, please view my Let's Chat page.

Makeup Tip #7: Neutralizing Dark Circles

It's a common misconception, not to mention very outdated I believe, that using a yellow or pink based concealer under the eyes to neutralize dark circles is the correct method.  Allow me to introduce you to a little color theory and see if we can't see why this misconception could be what's hampering your ability to look more fresh and awake!

The Color Wheel

First, let's learn a bit about the color wheel.  Did you ever learn about this in school as a kid?  I'm sure you're familiar with the rainbow: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple.  When referenced as bands of light they are next to one another.  In the color wheel, they are in a circular shaped pattern that looks like this:

Making Colors

There are three primary colors: Red, Yellow, and Blue.  These are colors that cannot be "made".  The colors Orange, Green, and Purple are secondary colors, "made" by combining two primary colors together.  Each secondary color has a primary color directly across from it on the color wheel.  These two colors are now called "complementary" colors.

Neutralizing

When you combine complementary colors, you create brown.  Therefore, in order to neutralize one of the colors on the color wheel, you need to mix it with it's complementary shade.  Here's a handy guide:

What Are Dark Circles?

Dark circles under your eyes are caused by a multitude of factors including capillary leakage, excess pigment, hormones, allergies, and dehydration.  The majority of dark circles that women are concerned with covering are due to a combination of these factors, but the coloration of them is what's really important for the sake of neutralizing.  The tiny capillaries under our eyes are from veins, which carry unoxygenated blood.  Blood with no oxygen is blue.  Therefore, the tint these veins give the undereye area is slightly bluish.

As we age, the walls of our capillaries naturally weaken, and microscopic bits of blood begin to leak into the surrounding tissue.  Excess alcohol, smoking, spicey foods, and dehydration can hasten this process and lead to chronic dark circles under our eyes.

Correction

The first step to correcting dark circles under the eyes caused by capillary leakage is to increase your hydration level both internally and externally.  This means loading up on water and eye cream.  Make sure that your eye creams contain ingredients like caffeine or chamomile which will help to flush the excess blood out of the tissues and back into your blood stream.  Vitamin K will also help to strengthen the capillary walls and reduce recurrences.

Now, since we want to neutralize the bluish dark circles, what on our handy color wheel would be the correct color to do so?  Orange!  Or more specifically when dealing with cosmetic colors, salmon.  The slightly more peach toned color will look more natural on the majority of skin tones, although darker skinned women can use a more true orange under their concealer or foundation to neutralize darkness.

Steps To Corrective Color

1. Start with your eye cream to thoroughly hydrate your under eye area.  Make sure you let it sit for a few minutes to fully absorb.  Pat the area with a single ply tissue to remove any residue that can break down your concealer or corrective color.
2. Apply your salmon colored corrector to the bluish tinted areas only.  There's no need to cover the entire under eye area.  For most people, this is the ridge on the lower quarter of their orbital bone, in an arc alongside their nose.  Use sparingly and pat the color into the skin with your ring finger.  
3. Allow to sit for a few minutes and begin to warm up with your body heat.  Pat the area again with your ring finger and then dab any oils from the corrective color up with your single ply tissue again.  This helps the product adhere to the skin more effectively and not slide into fine lines.
4. Top with your foundation.  When using corrective colors, you need to apply them before the rest of your foundation to ensure that the coverage is natural looking.  If you still feel that you need additional coverage, you can use a tiny bit of concealer over the area, but if you've effectively neutralized the dark circles and then evened out the skin tone with a foundation, this is usually overkill.

What If My Circles Aren't Blue?

Bluish dark circles aren't the only kind, but they are the most common.  Sometimes we also have capillary leakage from arteries, which gives us a reddish tint most people mislabel as rosacea.   If this occurs under your eyes combined with the bluish color, this can create a more purple tone to the area as a whole.  In this instance, yellow would be the more appropriate corrective color.  Other circles are caused by excess pigmentation in the skin, like giant freckles that cover the whole area or panda circles.  These are generally the result of hormone imbalances (like pregnancy) or allergies that cause the body to produce too much melanin (pigment) in a given area.  Since these are already brown, you can't really neutralize them with a corrective color.  In these instances, using a pinkish concealer is ok, given that the majority of them have a brightening agent added as well.  The pinkish hue will brighten up the area and help to reflect light and diminish the appearance of the darkened area.  However, keep in mind that using a much lighter colored concealer will work negatively against you!  Instead of reflecting light, it will give the skin a greyish cast and instead highlight the area you are looking to conceal.  Make sure that you are using a concealer that is the same darkness as the rest of your face for the most natural look.  I also caution you against over powdering the undereyes in any circumstance, as it has a tendency to make the eye area look dry and enhances fine lines.

Here's a handy video I filmed for my YouTube channel as well!  Enjoy!

How to Powder Under the Eyes and Around the Nose

Keeping your concealer from creasing under your eyes can be a major headache for some people.  Not only do you need to find a product that doesn't move and still gives you the right amount of coverage, you can't go and ruin that by applying your powder incorrectly.  Even if you don't have the perfect product, knowing how to powder it can at least give you better staying power until you do find that perfect product for you.

Personally, I love the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circle Treatment Concealer.

Then, I set my concealer with loose powder. Smashbox's Halo Hydrating Perfecting Powder is great because it works to hydrate the skin throughout the day, so it won't dry out your under eye and make it look more creased.  You can purchase both of these products at Ulta.  If you don't have an Ulta near you, the Maybelline products are available at any drugstore, and Smashbox is available both online and at Sephora.

Step by Step:

1. After you apply your concealer to your undereye area- Take a two-ply tissue and peel it apart so that you are left with an even thinner piece of tissue, and then wrap it around your ring finger.  Use that finger to gently pat away any excess pigment and oils from the products.  Once the concealer has been warmed up by your body, the concealer can move, so this takes away an extra that can settle into the fine lines and look cakey.
2. Dip your small fluffy brush into your loose powder and shake the excess off.
3. Lightly run the brush under the eye area to add some of the powder to the concealer and set it into place.
4. Lightly run the brush around the sides of the nostrils, upper lip, and your bottom lip to set any concealer you may have placed there.  The small brush will also allow you to target these smaller creases a larger traditional powder brush would miss.

Check out the video I filmed for my YouTube channel here!

Products used in this video were:

*Smashbox Halo Hydrating Perfecting Powder in Fair
*Real Techniques Setting Brush