My EYES, fucking hell my EYES. You can’t really fake it with eyes and there’s no magic solution. Do eye creams work? I don’t know, I’ve tried a lot of them and I can’t really see how any of them are much better than a good dollop of Lansinoh or Eight Hour Cream.
Dark circles, puffiness – the only real cures for those are very clean living, more water than you thought was possible to drink (not even people who drink enough water drink enough water), taking your vitamins, going to bed early. And even then, when you are 38 with two small(ish) children and a life to live… your eyes take a battering.
I’m not saying targeted eye creams that promise to reduce dark circles and puffiness don’t do anything at all, I’m saying they’ve got a hell of a job to do and cannot on their own fight back the rising tide of too much wine, not enough water, or sunshine or meditation. And I sort of think “Christ, if I look this baggy and old and knackered using all this stuff… imagine how shite I’d look if I used nothing at all!”
The straight-talking American Trish McEvoy has got a thing about eyes, she does a lot of eye stuff. I faithfully used her Beauty Boost Eye Serum every night for two weeks and did not see an awful lot of difference, unless I was also living rather monastically. This is not to say it’s snake oil, just to say that nothing is a magic bullet.
But there were other things that are very good. Her Instant Eye Lift is just that, (again we’re not talking magic potion here and if you have an under-eye concealer you’re happy with, stick with it… I’m just reporting the facts) – paint it in a vague triangle shape under your eye and blend in and you feel a little less like topping yourself.
But it’s the next two things that are really, really good. First the mascara. I hadn’t realised that pretty much all other mascaras slightly irritate my eyes until I used this one, which feels completely weightless. It’s one of those “tubular” mascaras, which coat and form a seal around each lash so there is no flaking of tiny weeny flakes of mascara directly into your eye to send you potty with discomfort by 11am.
The thing I really love is called Eye Base Essentials. You apply this to clean eyelids with a brush and then put your eyeshadow on over the top and it doesn’t budge all night. Or day. Or for however long you want your eyeshadow to stay put.
I know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking “The kind of woman who puts a pre-sealant on her eyelids is not a woman I want to know” – but the thing is, it’s fine to put eyeshadow on in the evening and for it to be slopped around your face by 9pm when you are 25 because you’re 25.
But nowadays when I spend precious time that I could be using to read Marian Keyes or think about YSL handbags to apply eyeshadow I want it to stay there – because if it slops down around my face later I look like Zandra Rhodes and not in a good way.
I am really tempted by the mascara, also slightly scared of it. We didn’t get hover boards but we did get something that forms water-resistant tubes 360° around our lashes – does it really come off easily? Mascara irritation is a huge problem in my life. Well, a mascara-sized one anyway, you know. But it means I have to take my contacts out and tearlessly cry with relief sooner than I’d like. Trish McEvoy is a no nonsense name for a make up brand. Like an Olympic sailor or a distance cyclist. Bet she drinks enough water. My name would not inspire the same confidence.
“Cindy” sounds American though. “Cindy Vincent Pro-Collagen Cleanser”. I’d buy that. (I’d buy anything though). I think the mascara is revolutionary – you really don’t feel it when it’s on and yes I’m pretty sure it comes off easily. My nighttime cleansing routine is so hard-core that nothing on my face is left alive so the word “easily” isn’t one I can confirm or deny.
You have made it sound better – I was thinking it sounded more like Cindy’s Glitter Gloss Lip Balm Bombs that you stop buying when you leave school and get a job. I also think I’m missing a trick as a romance novelist.
ut Cindy, if you look yourself up on Amazon you will find that you are already a successful murder mystery novelist … https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cindy-Vincent/e/B007F38G4C
These have some amazing titles! Am tempted by ‘Bad Day for a Bombshell – A 1940s homefront mystery’
I too have contact/mascara nightmares. Tubing mascara sounds, well, weird, but great. The Max Factor foundation rec has actually got me wearing slap again, which makes me feel more like a grownup and less like a slob ( a Good Thing).
do you have the compact foundation – the powder stuff? that is SO impressive
That’s amazing. Makeover for Murder! I feel slightly robbed.
No, the Facefinity applied with a brush. Always get the colour wrong but thought “if it suits Esther it should be ok for me” and bingo! Perfect. And great coverage, so thank you vv much.
Cindy, self-googling always fun! I used to be (ie Other Me) a rally driver until I got married. Now *I* am nothing so interesting.
Other Esther Walker is a body builder 🙁
This whole message thread (and the ones below) had me snorting with laughter – v v amusing banter a complete tonic after a trying day! Will give the eye base a whirl – the discovery of eye primers (in the form of Benefit’s ‘Lemon Aid’) a couple of years ago was a complete revelation to me and completely agree that eyeshadow and mascara half way down one’s face is not a good look! Mascara sounds pretty good too – thanks for recommendations Esther!
Oh my WORD, my eyes are like pissholes in the snow. If I have salty food in the evening I get extra special puffy bags *on top* of the usual bags in the morning.
I recently bought the Clinique All About Eyes cream and I think it has had some effect. Maybe it’s the increased tippy-tapping around my eyes, but the dark circles are definitely not as bad. I’ve also got this colour corrector from Becca to use under concealer:
https://www.cultbeauty.co.uk/becca-under-eye-brightening-corrector.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9tLPgtbO3gIVhtCyCh2ubQRhEAQYAiABEgLfwfD_BwE&variant_id=5227&ef_id=W@lZaQAAANo3T8xc:20181112104353:s
and it’s been very effective at neutralising dark shadows. I mean I still look tired, but not murderer-tired.
I am a fan of tubing mascaras. I’ve got the Glossier Lash Slick, which I love and would recommend even though it’s quite understated. I’d also like to try the Clinique Flutter to Full one as lots of people seem to love it, but it looks like it’s sold out everywhere.
They really do come off very easily! I love tubing mascaras as otherwise I become a panda eyes victim, and they really do stay put. I’m going to add this one to my list to try next.
Cindy, tubing mascara is the best. It comes off with just warm water – you just wet a cloth and hold it on your eye for 30 seconds then it just comes away. None of that horrid rubbing and spreading as with a ‘waterproof’ mascara. For smudgy eye people, it NEVER smudges, even if you exercise, cry, whatever! No. 7 Stay Perfect is a reasonably priced tubing mascara.
With the added benefit of being very satisfying to remove. Like getting big chunks of sleep from your eyes. Or perhaps that’s just me…
Thanks all – it sounds great. However good a job I think I do I always feel like there’s still residue.
Primers are a good thing, if you remember to apply. Most times I’ve bunged on foundation and sat and stared at my primer yet again. Also it does make a different (I think) what product you use to remove eye makeup. I couldn’t work out why every mascara left smudges under my eyes, only to work out it was my oil based remover.
Best non-toxic, non-irritating, non-clumpy mascara I have ever used is W3ll People Expressionist Mascara which is now being sold at the Goop shop (I almost cried when I saw it there as Content Beauty used to have it online but stopped). I also use Nars Smudge Proof Eyeshadow base which I like as doesn’t irritate eyes and also rubs in clear (some of the others I’ve seen are tinted which I’m not a massive fan of). Micellar water seems to get rid of eye make up better than the oil-based removers I used to use.
Hello, so glad for this. I’m late 40s and my 14 yo daughter said “it’s not the wrinkles that make you look old Mummy it’s the huge dark circles under your eyes”.
I can’t do anything other than gallons of water which never happens. I went to Bobbi Brown and said sort it out please. They gave me the Corrector in Light to Medium Bisque and it’s like a new face. It’s not meant to be used under the eye like that but I put it on there incorrectly one day and thought that’s okay! And daughter said hmmmm that is a big improvement, rather than you have some thick gunk on what’s the matter with you? (We do love each other !)
Xx
‘Blinc’ mascara is also an excellent tubing mascara, I’ve used it for years and would NEVER go back to regular panda mascara that feels like dirt.
Great posts
Can also massively recommend NARS pro proof smudge proof base (think that’s it name) for eyes. I’ve got greasy eyelids (urgh) and eyeliner would always glide off panda like within an hour. Tried a million liner brands but all the same. Until this beauty. Purchased for about £20 and not expecting great things but it works brilliantly. Even lasts through an entire sweaty nursing shift!
All the No7 stuff is just the dog’s. Lift and Luminate serum, eye cream, mascara which doesn’t smudge or get in my contact lenses… going to Boots and getting one of those £3 /£5 off vouchers is like Christmas for me, but without having to suffer Mariah Carey and Christmas card guilt. Ruddy love it!