The area around those two windows to your soul is the first place most of us notice signs of aging. Blame the loss of collagen coupled with decades of smiling and squinting, plus the inherent trickiness of shielding your eyes from the sun. (Age-accelerating UVA rays can sneak through your sunglasses.)
Any moisturizer (especially if it has hyaluronic acid, which draws moisture from the air) will plump up the area temporarily, but one that also has antioxidants like vitamins A, C, and E can help reverse the signs of sun damage and prevent further damage. What exactly do these alphabet answers to aging do? Vitamin A is the age-reversing ingredient in retinoids; vitamins C and E help protect against free-radical damage.
Bottom line: The best eye creams aren’t necessarily the most expensive ones. Pick a product that has antioxidants high on the ingredient list. And give it a chance to work before moving on to another. "You should stick with any anti-aging product for at least a month," says Diane Berson, MD, assistant professor of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College. "It takes time to see the benefits."
If OTC eye creams don’t give you the results you want, injectables like the muscle relaxers Botox and Dysport, or fillers such as Restylane and Juvederm, will help. These last anywhere from 3 to 18 months, and start at about $400 per treatment. Not cheap, but effective.
Smooth out smile lines
You don’t have to have ever lit up a cigarette to develop feathery vertical lines along your upper lip line, or be a Debbie Downer to get frown (aka "marionette") lines. Both are caused by a lifetime of facial expressions such as pursing your lips, smiling, and, yes, frowning. The fix usually involves some version of a plumper or filler.
Bottom line: A plumper helps temporarily fill out superficial, upper-lip lines, says Dr. Jaliman. But deeper lip lines usually call for in-office laser treatmentS at about $750 per session. As for erasing frown lines? "That ‘line’ is a deep fold caused by muscle contractions, not a crease, so a cream isn’t going to get rid of it," says Dr. Berson. If it really bothers you, she says you’re better off saving your money for an in-office skin-tightening procedure. Thermage, usually a one-time treatment, starts at about $1,000; injectable fillers such as Perlane, Juvederm, or Radiesse cost about $600 per injection. (Each treatment lasts six months to one year).
Refresh your neck, chest, and hands
According to a study published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, most men and women are able to correctly guess if a woman is in her 40s or beyond by glancing at her hands. The skin here, as well as on your neck and chest, has few sebaceous oil glands, making it especially susceptible to the aging process. But these three areas tend to suffer from neglect—as in, skipping the sunscreen or devoting all your skin-care dollars to your complexion. Then, the lack of care starts to show up in the form of uneven pigmentation, sunspots, and wrinkles.
Bottom line: "Rejuvenating the skin on your chest is all about cell turnover," says Sadick. "Use an over-the-counter product with an alpha- or beta-hydroxy acid or a retinol to help with the process."
For light sun spots, try an OTC bleaching cream. If you don’t get results in four to six weeks, move on to a prescription-strength hydroquinone cream. Your other option if those spots prove stubborn: See a derm about zapping them with a laser (cost: $500 to $700). "Lasers can remove every bit of sun damage—brown spots, uneven color—on the hands and legs, as well as the neck and chest," says Dr. Jaliman. "Often, all it takes is one treatment."
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