Skincare Sunday: How to maximize your eye mask

Anything chilled helps firm and deflate – ideal for tired, puffy under-eyes. The easy option is to store your eye masks in the fridge (aesthetician Joanna Czech runs the back of a chilled teaspoon around morning-after eyes), or, even better, keep a box of Anne Semonin Eye Express Radiance Ice Cubes in the freezer – beauty mogul Huda Kattan loves these so much she’s had a fridge installed in her office especially for them. Using frozen hyaluronic acid and marine water, they are great to use on jet-lagged, puffy or sore eyes to instantly calm, treat and hydrate. Famous for his 111Cryo clinic, Dr Yannis Alexandrides uses the same concept in his excellent 111Skin Sub-Zero De-Puffing Eye Mask, but what I like is that this is dry enough to use over makeup to revive office-weary eyes. I always have a rock crystal face roller in my fridge (it’s the fastest puffy-eye and face transformer there is), but now I’ve added the brilliant Angela Caglia Rosebud Eye Treatment Set to my chill cabinet. Roll these over your eye mask or eye cream to ensure the ingredients are better absorbed, while giving eyes a mini massage.

This is not for those with chronically puffy eyes, but it can work wonders on dry, dehydrated, crepey skin (dark shadows look worse when skin is dehydrated). I like a sheet mask, but I love a cream mask for face and eyes – personal favorites include Sisley Paris’ light but creamy Eye Contour Mask and Tata Harper’s beautiful Boosted Contouring Eye Mask – because they are so quick, easy and transformational to use. At night, try re-applying and layering up a cream mask so you really saturate dry skin and sleep with it on; by morning, the skin around your eyes will look plump and dewy.

Oculoplastic surgeon and aesthetic doctor Dr Maryam Zamani says that her own at-home tip is to use her eye masks under an LED face mask: “I do it while watching a movie; the combination helps dry skin, dark circles, crepey skin and fine lines, plus the LED makes you feel good.” Get the same look-good/feel-good factor by using Zamani’s MZ Skin Hydra-Bright Golden Eye Treatment Mask followed with a collagen-boosting session with Dr. Dennis Gross’ SpectraLite EyeCare Pro Mask, featuring 72 LED lights.