SKIN CARE 43
More than morning coffee for your eyes
n Emina Besic Gyenge, Stefan Hettwer, Brigit Suter, Sandra Breitenbach, Barbara Obermayer – Rahn, Switzerland
The eyes are the window to the soul and are the most sincere part of our face. Youthful, bright and energetic eye appearance is therefore our most prominent flagship. Dark circles and eye bags can make you look tired, dull and older than your years. Before you spend time and money buying concealers, you should understand why we have those pesky problems. Puffy eyes and dark circles around the eyes
generally result from a variety of factors such as lack of sleep, physical or emotional exhaustion, stress, allergies or inherited facial features. This condition affects individuals of all ages, genders and ethnicities. Additionally, our appearance worsens due to the ageing process of the skin, involving sagging skin, skin thinning and subcutaneous fat distribution. Although it is a not health- threatening condition it can influence quality of life and well being. Temporarily relief may be achieved through such home remedies as cold cucumber slices, but a longer-lasting solution requires identification of the underlying cause and specific treatment. As mentioned above, there are different factors that cause, or to be more precise, make periorbital dark circles visible. Firstly, skin around the eyelids, so called periorbital skin, is on average about 0.5 mm thick and compared to the rest of the body (average 2 mm) is the thinnest skin. This region contains many small blood vessels, which appear bluish through the pale skin. The reason is not that the veins and blood inside them are blue, but rather that subcutaneous tissue only reflects blue/violet wavelengths of light. If skin is darker or lighter, veins do not appear bluish. Rather, they are brown or greenish and for humans with albinism they are even dark purple or dark red, resembling the actual colour. Secondly, some red blood cells constantly leak into the surrounding skin. If the blood vessel walls are weakened or damaged, or if the circulation slows down, more red blood cells leak into the surrounding tissue where, just as in the case of a bruise, haemoglobin (the protein which transports oxygen and gives blood cells their red colour) gradually breaks down. It is the diversely coloured
November 2018 Abstract
The most delicate skin on our body is found around the eyes, so-called periorbital skin. Regardless of what skin type one has, you may assume that everyone has more or less sensitive skin in that area. This part of our body is always exposed to environmental conditions and is a mirror of how we feel. Therefore, it deserves special attention and intensive care. Rahn has developed a natural product with an ingenious combination of different xanthines, artichoke extract and the fructan polysaccharide (levan) addressing the problem of dark circles and puffy eyes. It successfully reduces eye bag volume and any associated skin discolouration, and rejuvenates the eye area.
4 0 -4 -8 -12 -16 -20 D29 ** D84
Figure 1: Application of an emulsion with 4% active significantly reduces eye bag volume. Eye bag volume was reduced by 6% after 29 days and 11.1% after 84 days of treatment. The effect was significantly over the baseline and placebo. Placebo treatment did not have any measurable effects. The statistical values in blue relate to the comparison of active with the placebo, whereas the black values relate to the comparison with the initial condition. Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
degradation products of the blood cells that cause dark discoloration under the eyes. The same effect is responsible for bruises, which heal within two to three weeks, going from blue-violet over green and finally to yellow. Thirdly, another problem that goes hand- in-hand with periorbital dark circles is puffiness. Swelling occurs in the eye area when the lymphatic circulation is delayed and fluid builds up increasingly due to fatigue or ageing (oedema). Puffiness of the skin tissue is a consequence of the delayed natural drainage of fluids below the eyes. Increased fragility in the smallest blood vessels can also lead to swelling around the eyes, since more vessel fluid can escape into the surrounding
tissue. However, swelling in the eye region can also arise due to age-related processes such as the storage of excess fatty tissue and sagging skin. Basically, the ligaments that support fat pads under the eyes weaken and cause the fat to slip and bulge forward. Bulging lower eyelids add a shadow effect and are detrimental to the appearance. There are different ways to solve the
problem and regain a youthful and bright- eyed appearance. Using special makeup techniques to camouflage or neutralise darkness produce immediate effects but only cover up the symptoms. Beneath the makeup layers and colour correcting concealers, dark circles lie in wait for the
PERSONAL CARE EUROPE * ***
Mean + SEM n=20;
* = p<0.05 ** = p<0.01 *** = p<0.001
n Placebo n Active 4%
Relative to initial condition (%)
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