One of the easiest ways to take your look up a notch this season is by transforming your eyes. It’s easy to do with a mix of both in-office procedures and at-home products. Add a little makeup and you’re all set. These tips, below, will result in bright eyes for the holidays.
Step 1: Fill Your Brows to Define Your Face
Eyebrows are one of the most prominent facial features. When they’re shaped, full, and defined—as opposed to being sparse and faint—they define the face and accentuate the eyes. One of my all-time favorite brow products is the Tom Ford Fiber Brow Gel, shown below. It’s a fiber-filled, water-resistant formula that fills brows, shaping them and setting them for an all-day defined look. Available in five light-to-dark shades, there’s a perfect shade for every skin tone.
Step 2: Apply Latisse to Transform Your Lashes
Long, luxurious lashes frame your eyes and can make your eyes look wider, which is why I recommend using Latisse to get bright eyes for the holidays. An FDA-approved treatment to grow eyelashes, Latisse is a no-fuss way to get lustrous lashes without having to get monthly lash extensions.
I have used Latisse for years and absolutely love it!
The active ingredient in Latisse is a glaucoma medication and is therefore very safe. Ophthalmologists noticed their patients were developing full, long lashes—and Latisse was born.
The best way to apply Latisse: put two drops in a small container and dip a thin, clean eyeliner brush into the liquid. Then apply to base of lashes as you would a liquid eyeliner. I don’t recommend the applicator that comes in the box, as this mostly absorbs the liquid and does not deliver much product to the lash line.
Just apply to the base of the upper lashes nightly before bed and within a few weeks you’ll begin to see thicker and longer lashes (it takes 16 weeks to see the full lash-lengthening benefits of Latisse). Yes, you can actually get camel lashes, why it’s recommended that you don’t apply to the bottom lashes. (Some of the product seeps down onto the lower lashes from the top so Latisse doesn’t need to be directly applied there—or your lashes may get too long on the bottom.)
Common side effects include itchy and red eyes, temporary darkening of the skin around the eyes (more common if you use too much of the solution and/or don’t apply in a thin line along the upper lashes).
In some cases, Latisse (namely the active ingredient bimatoprost) may cause permanent brownish darkening of the colored part of the eye (particularly for blue, green, and hazel eyes), though this is an effect I have yet to see in any of my patients.
Step 3: Smooth Crow’s Feet Around the Eyes
The delicate skin around the eyes—which is thinner than the skin on the rest of the face—is one of the first places to show aging.
Regular movement (i.e., smiling), as well as a loss of the structural proteins collagen and elastin over time is what produces the lines and wrinkles (also called “crow’s feet”) in the eye area.
There are two way to smooth crow’s feet around the eyes:
The first is by using an at-home product regularly. I recommend a product with neuropeptides, like Revox 7, which is clinically proven to smooth lines by stimulating the production of skin-firming collagen. It also contains topical neuropeptides, which are similar to Botox albeit in a very low dose. Revox 7 can be used around the eyes, as well as on the forehead, neck, and around the mouth. For best results, apply twice daily, morning and night.
The second is with an in-office injectable like Dysport or abobutulinumtoxinA. Like Botox, Dysport works by temporarily by reducing muscle activity, which causes accelerated breakdown of collagen and fine lines and wrinkles. When the muscles are less active, the collagen breakdown in slowed and our body’s own collagen production can “catch up” and fill in the lines. (Wrinkles are formed from constant movement; it’s like folding a piece of paper in the same spot over and over. When you keep “folding” the skin in a certain way, collagen breaks down in that area.) Compared to Botox, Dysport spreads or diffuses more—a result you want in this eye area.
Dysport gets faster results than an at-home product (you begin to see smoothing with just days of the injection)—something to keep in mind if you have a party to be at in a week.
For bright eyes for the holidays, I recommend using both topical skin care such as Revox 7 and a neurotoxin such as Dysport. You get the best result using both. To amp up the result even more, use a retinol or Retin-A at night (the most potent topical to stimulate collagen production). Any residual lines can be treated with peels (as you heal from a peel more collagen is produced) or laser treatments (which also stimulate collagen production).
When it comes to smooth, glowing, youthful-looking skin, it’s all about the collagen!
With accentuated features and smoother skin, your face will not only look refreshed, but your eyes will look more defined, before you even apply any makeup. Bright eyes for the holidays are very do-able. Get started today!