Aside from acne and necklines I think my biggest request has been to discuss lifting saggy eyelids.
REASONS
Saggy lids generally happen as we age for a few reasons. One is the fat loss in the temple area that causes the eye to droop. I see this especially when older people also try to diet. It also happens when people drink a lot of alcohol and their eyes puff up and then go back down again. The constant swelling messes with the eye's elasticity and causes it to bag and sag. Another more recent phenomenon for saggy lids is Botox®. The Botox site says that saggy lids happen to only 1 in 100 patients, but I find that those numbers don't seem to match my customer experience. Most of my clients tell me that they didn't have saggy lids until they got Botox. I guess part of that depends on the skill of the doctor. Very few said their doctors were able to lift their lids with Botox. There are also many other reasons that lids sag, but these are the main attractions.
SOME SOLUTIONS
The first and quickest fix is a blepharoplasty aka eyelid surgery. This option is generally helpful when the elasticity is shot in the lid from rubbing the eyes too much or getting too much sun damage. It can happen if perhaps you are a supermodel or child actress that has had more makeup applied and removed in two years than a woman generally does in a lifetime. Being a model can be rough! I will warn a good eye job lasts about 3-5 years max. There is only so much skin that can be cut so the number of eye jobs that can be done over a lifetime is limited. After that option has been maxed out the next option is a brow lift, but who wants to look scared all of the time?
Another option is non-ablative/non-surgical devices. Thermage and fraxel can help to lift or tighten the lids, but it doesn't work on everyone. I think we would hear more of it if it did.
Injecting the temporal area with filler to lift the lid is becoming a more popular option since that is generally the source of the problem anyway. It gives the face a more round and youthful look. What is the best filler for that? It's been several months since I've caught myself up to date on that, but I will make that another Tuesday tip in December when I go to my doctor convention.
The last option that I will be discussing (but certainly not the only) is isometrics or facial exercising. Just like the muscles on your body, your face needs exercising too!! I have been studying facial building for many years now and I have had several clients practicing it as well. All I can say is I TOTALLY can tell when they have been doing it and when they haven't. There is a huge difference. Cheeks are rounder, jaws are lifted, necklines are tighter, and lids are definitely lifted. It won't help to build collagen on loose skin, but it sure makes a beautiful frame for the skin to hang on. Check out my video on how to lift your lids and make sure you surf around youtube for other facial building exercises. There are a lot of great resources for facial exercises on there. Just make sure you have really clean hands or use gloves. A good rule of thumb is don't do anything that stretches out the skin. That is counter productive.
Happy Lifting!
