Use Collagen To Brighten Under Eyes, Here’s How!
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Has this ever happened to you? After a weekend, you walk into work and someone remarks, "Wow, tough weekend? You look tired!"
No one wants to look tired and old!
If you suffer from puffiness, bags under your eyes and/or dark eye circles (also known as hyperpigmentation), then you'll definitely find this article useful.
We have found effective ways to use collagen to brighten under eyes including beauty from within, natural approaches, eye mask, eye cream and eye serum to red light, derma rolling and fillers.
With one or more of these methods, you'll be able to reduce puffiness, reduce wrinkles and fine lines and increase collagen production to help firm and plump that delicate eye area.
Let's explore your eye skin to find all the ways you can use collagen to brighten under eyes!
Causes of Dark Eye Circles and Eye Bags
In this section, we'll explore the ways you have come to have wrinkles, fine lines and puffiness to form dark eye circles and tired-looking eyes.
Some reasons you'll have direct control over, others you won't. Either way, you can treat your delicate skin in the under eye area at home and inexpensively.
Aging
Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body (especially in the skin) and you are born with lots of it in your body.
It's often called the 'glue' or 'scaffolding' that holds the body together.
Unfortunately, as you approach your 30s, your body doesn't produce as much new collagen.
Not only that, but throughout life, you probably had lifestyle activities that damaged existing collagen.
What happens when you have less collagen production in your body?
In a nutshell, your skin gets thinner. Especially around the eye area which is more transparent as it is. Once the collagen lessens, the veins underneath the eye skin become more visible. Hence, you lose the bright eye of your youth and start to see dark eye circles.
Along with this, you'll start to notice the eye area shows wrinkles and fine lines around the eyes.
Another aspect of aging is we lose fat or fat moves around in the body.
As such, deep fat starts to disappear from under the eyes which then causes a hollowing look and dark circles.
Computer and device fatigue
Did you know that prolonged use of computer screens and electronic devices can also affect your undereye area?
In fact, tired eyes can cause inflammation of the blood vessels around the eyes and leads to bags and dark.
Along with this, blue light from these sources has been shown to be damaging to the skin around the eyes, even more so than UV light.
It should be noted that blue light causes oxidative stress. The oxidative stress leads to inflammation and collagen damage, weakens the first layer of your skin and slows down recovery from everyday skin damage.
Lifestyle
Maybe you're one of the few this thought about the affects of aging when you were much younger. Most of us don't....
As a result, we make lifestyle choices that cause more damage to the sensitive skin in this delicate area.
For example, not consistently wearing sunblock or sunglasses can damage existing collagen protein.
Speaking of lifestyle, not getting enough sleep, stress, lack of sleep, a poor diet, sugar and alcohol can cause fatigue in the skin. This fatigue leads to blood vessels showing more and increased fluid under the eyes.
Finally, low thyroid function can also contribute to your eye area condition.
Genetics
Like it or not, genetics also play a role in how our skin behaves and looks as we age.
For example, if you've inherited light colored skin, veins and capillaries are going to show more than those with naturally darker skin.
Allergies
If you suffer from allergies, then a natural byproduct are nasty histamines. These histamines cause inflammation of the blood vessels which, in turn, can cause eye puffiness and dry skin.
When you add more rubbing of the eyes during allergy season, you can see why your sensitive under eye area can become unattractive.
Are Collagen Supplements Good for Dark Circles?
You may have heard the saying that 'beauty and healthy skin comes from within'. That's why using eye creams or serums may not make a big difference in reducing wrinkles, fine lines, eye bags and dark circles.
However, companies have tested the need for collagen hydrolysate supplementation. The market has reacted! Collagen has exploded on the anti-aging and health and wellness scene.
As a result, you can easily get low-cost, high-quality collagen powder supplements in all kinds of forms. These supplements not only provide your body with more collagen protein, they also can help protect the collagen you already have.
What is a collagen peptide? It's where collagen protein that is derived from animals (bovine or marine sources) is broken down by using water (hydrolyzed) into tiny pieces called peptides. Peptides are more bio-available to the body.
By feeding your body clean collagen protein, that will help provide the additional structure your skin needs to look healthy, retain its elasticity and boost hyaluronic acid for hydration around the eye area.
What's powerful too is that you may realize other benefits of taking collagen to brighten eyes and shrink eye bags.
For example, you may experience:
- Healthier and thicker hair and stronger nails
- Stronger joint health
- Better gut health
- Stronger connective tissue (including the pelvic floor)
- Improved thyroid function
- Stronger and bigger muscles
- Improved eyesight
- Better-quality sleep
- Weight loss
What's really great is you can also add collagen to your daily routine through bone broth (homemade or store-bought), protein bars and highly bioavailable liquid collagen.
Collagen-Generating Foods and Lifestyle Choices
As we mentioned, beauty comes from within. The 'within' includes the food you eat. You may find these foods to to help shrink your eye bags and lighten dark circles.
You'll also want to add Vitamin E-rich foods like almond, red pepper, pumpkin and peanut butter since it works with vitamin C to provide moisture to your eye skin.
What about collagen eye cream and eye mask for eye bags and dark circles?
In addition to creating beauty from within, there are modern and effective topical ways to user collagen to brighten under eyes.
These include:
Eye cream, eye serum and eye gel: You'll want to choose a brightening collagen eye cream with vitamin C and use it religiously. It's the consistent and regular use that will help provide the results you'll want to see.
Eye mask/eye patch: You'll want to use eye masks as part of your anti-aging and self-care routine because not only do they help you look more well rested, they also hydrate and tighten the skin through ingredient like hyaluronic acid, ceramides, retinol and caffeine.
Your eye creams, serum, gels, mask and patches work even harder for you if you chill them before using. The cold will help reduce blood vessels and provide a better outcome.
Other ways to use collagen to brighten under eyes at home
In addition to eating the right foods as part of a healthy diet and taking a clean, quality collagen peptides supplement, many women use these methods to us use collagen to brighten under eyes:
- Microneedling: This approach uses a device with tiny needles that penetrate the skin to create tiny 'wounds'. These wounds signal the body to send in more collagen to kick off healing. It also helps your quality collagen cream and serum to go deeper into the skin.
- Fillers: Fillers done by a trained professional can help lighten shadows and fill in the the hollowness under the eyes by restoring the fat padding in the lower eyelid and cheek. Fillers can be made with collagen or from your own fat. A professional dermatologist or plastic surgeon can help guide you on which type of filler would be best for you.
- Jade roller (derma roller): This a long-standing K-beauty tool that is inexpensive and easy to use. Use the small end of the jade roller to encourage lymphatic drainage and help boost collagen. In fact, you'll want to keep the jade roller cold before using too.
- Red light: Another there to use is red light. Red light is painless, stress-relieving with no known side effects. It works because the frequency of red light penetrates through the layers of skin to get to the energy center of cells called the mitochondria. When the mitochondria is stimulated, it helps to create new collagen to improve puffy eyes and boosts elastin.
- Essential and other oils: Essential oils can be very strong on their own and, as a result, it is recommended to use a carrier oil or mix into other ingredients like clay, coconut oil, almond oil, shea butter, rose water or aloe vera. These essential oils have anti inflammatory properties help your body to create new collagen: lavender, lemon, rosehip, geranium, frankincense and carrot seed.
- Retinol: A derivative of vitamin A, retinol is effective in stimulating cell turnover. Due to this, collagen and elastin production increase and the skin is plumped up and brightened.
- Concealer: It's easy to get a high-quality under eye concealer with additional ingredients like collagen peptides and hyaluronic acid and/or aloe vera.
FINAL THOUGHTS
In closing, the approaches above aren't going to turn your eye skin back to when you were a child.
Moreover, not every suggestion mentioned will work for your body.
However, you can try a variety of ways to reduce and lighten undereye circles to see what works for you.
If all else fails, consult with a dermatologist or your favorite spa technician to see how they can help brighten your eyes and your mood!
