Jo and Sarah answer real questions from readers: to put your query, go to beautybible.com
Q I’ve noticed lines under my eyes in recent months. Could you please advise the best products to reduce and smooth lines and wrinkles, conceal dark circles and help with long term puffiness due to lack of sleep.
A We can indeed advise you as two targeted eye products have just been the subjects of a Beauty Bible Special Report. PRAI Beauty, a US firm, has just launched two specific eye products into Marks & Spencer, and our 30-strong panel of testers was very impressed. Both products are already best sellers in the US.
PRAI offers an innovative duo of products: AGELESS Eye Tight Uplift Serum, £30 for 15ml, for the upper eye area, and AGELESS Eye D-Crease, £28 for 15ml, for under eyes. The thinking is that these two zones have different problems as the skin ages and there’s no way just one product can be a magic bullet.
Cathy Kangas, CEO and founder of PRAI Beauty, explains that ‘women experience different problems around the eyes [typically] sagging skin below the brow and fine lines and dark circles underneath the eye. So eye care doesn’t stop with one cream or serum.’
That does of course mean investing in two products but once our testers had trialled both – testing them on one eye only for comparison as per Beauty Bible protocol – they could absolutely see the logic. They pointed out that you only need to use a tiny amount so, as one concluded, ‘they’re economical in the long run’.
Like many women over 40, most of our testers had not used an eye product before, although many had considered it and felt they ‘should do something’. None had considered using two products. But two thirds said they would buy the duo and would – in many cases, had already – recommended to others based on their experience over 30 days, ie one skin cycle.
AGELESS Eye D-Crease performed excellently for the majority of testers in terms of lines, wrinkles, smoothness and plumpness. ‘On waking the morning after first applying the cream, my eye area was hydrated and refreshed. I noticed that my left eye area looked slightly brighter than the right. It felt hydrating and refreshing immediately with a slight tightness. It sinks in quickly and the pearlised cream gives an instant illusion of brighter, healthier skin. After four weeks, the tested left eye area looks so much more hydrated than the right. Fine lines look less defined and less prominent. I used it morning and evening and was surprised how quickly I could see a difference,’ said one.
But the result that amazed testers was the positive effect on dark circles. ‘I have pronounced dark circles and these really have lightened and brightened. And all my (perhaps short-sighted) friends have been making glowing comments on how I look,’ reported another tester.
With AGELESS Eye Tight Uplift Serum, which claims an ‘anti-gravity formula’, a majority of testers saw some degree of improvement within seven days. ‘There was an instant lift and smoothing of my upper eye under the brow,’ said one.
After four weeks, they really saw marked benefits as this tester describes: ‘After four weeks, I definitely saw a lift in the eye area. There seemed to be more space under my brow as this had started to drop. Whatever an anti-gravity formula is, if it means it lifts the eyes then, yes, it definitely did this. I have fine lines around my eyes, and they started to fade. My eyelids look more hydrated and I can wear eye shadow without it creasing too much. I have seen a difference in the tightness of [the skin around] my eyes.’
Generally, however, these products, like many similar ones, were less effective on puffiness so more sleep might be your best solution. We’ve also found that aerobic exercise, damp chamomile teabags and ice cubes wrapped in a thin flannel can help temporarily.
The PRAI products are sold separately now at M&S nationwide, and will launch as an anti-ageing eye kit later in the year.
Beauty Bible loves…
Elizabeth Arden March On Beautiful Color Moisturizing Lipstick, £24.
Yes, this is a pink lipstick. Hmmm. We’re not always sure about those. But there are several good reasons to love this particular Beautiful Color Moisturizing Lipstick, in Pink Punch, a shade hand-picked by Reese Witherspoon. (Not the least of this is at that we’re total fangirls when it comes to the dynamic actress, producer and Elizabeth Arden ambassador.)
First off, it may be pink, which is often deemed quite hard to wear – but this is a pink to appeal to red lipstick lovers (and frankly makes a spring-like change from our usual deep cherry red). It’s perfectly poised between a warm and a cool tone, to suit any skintone.
Secondly and perhaps more importantly, when you treat yourself to the 2019 March On lipstick – emblazoned with Reese’s signature flourished on the packaging – 100% of the proceeds to go UN Women. Yes, 100%. Not a token percentage, but the whole lot.
As they explain, this organisation ‘supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women worldwide.’
Putting a smile not just on your lips, but that of some truly deserving women, with every flourish of this pink, pink, pink lipstick.