Tip #5 - Moisturizers, SPF, Sunglasses

"Fairy tales can come true, they can happen to you, if you're young at heart" - Frank Sinatra

Eye creams, throat crèmes, face serums and lotions. The market is glutted with so many choices. How does one know what to wear and when?

• First and foremost, at any age, don’t step outdoors without wearing a moisturizer with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).  If you don’t want one in your moisturizer, you better be certain your make-up foundation has one in it.

  The ACS says to avoid being outdoors in sunlight in the middle of the day when ultra-violet light is most intense.  

• Choose a nighttime moisturizer (obviously you don’t want to use your daytime one with the SPF in it) suitable for your specific skin type.  While your body needs consistent zzzzzz’s, so does your skin and sleep time is the prime time while it is at rest for it to rejuvenate with the moisture replenishing benefits of a good moisturizer.  If you need help analyzing your skin needs, visit a licensed esthetician or dermatologist.

• Marcy Betcher, a Mom with two children under the age of 8, says, “I just go more natural and keep my skin care regime to a minimum compared to when I wasn’t a busy working Mom.”

Betcher’s regime includes using a tinted moisturizing lotion with an SPF in it.  That way she gets the moisturizing benefits from the lotion combined with protection and doesn’t need to layer on a foundation over it for color.  It’s a perfect time-saver.  She follows up with a dusting of a bronzer, a light sweep of blush and a little under eye concealer to cover the damage done by those sleepless nights.  

• Your eye area has different needs than the rest of your face.  If your face skin is comparable to paper, then your eye area is more like the texture of tissue paper.  Treat it as such. 


• There are eye masks with a gel-like cream consistency that you can apply for 10 minutes and remove.  It’s a great pick-me-up before an evening out.  In the morning, use a puffiness-reducing cream tapping gently under the eye area. 


• Most importantly, apply an eye cream for anti wrinkle benefits every morning and evening using only an ever-so-small amount since too much product can cause puffiness.  So don’t overdue it but, be consistent with frequency of application.  Two times daily is perfect.

Anne Chou, a California cosmetologist, says, “If you wake up with dark circles or puffiness in the eye area, use cold compresses.  You can even refrigerate marbles or a small rock and gently roll them around your eye area.  It will firm up and tone.”

For eye protection outside during the day, the ACS recommends wearing sunglasses, especially a wrap-around pair with at least 99% UV absorption to give the best protection.

"The bigger the better,” says Sabel Herrera, retail manager at Lenscrafters in California, “That’s the trend.”