Crow’s Feet: Causes, Treatment, and Concealing
With the largest brain to body ratio of any bird, crows are one of the smartest animals in the world. While that’s certainly impressive, most people still don’t want the corners of their eyes to resemble the talons of this intelligent animal. So, to prevent crow’s feet from popping up on the side of your face anytime soon, let’s dive into what causes crow’s feet, as well as how to care for and conceal these frustrating fine lines.
What Are Crow's Feet?
The fine lines or deep wrinkles that form around your eyes are known as crow’s feet. Why are these lines or wrinkles called crow’s feet? Well, it’s because they usually look similar to a crow’s foot.
Having crow’s feet on the corners of your eyes definitely sounds harsh – especially when compared to bunny lines, which are another name for nose wrinkles – but truth be told, crow’s feet are simply a natural part of the aging process. At some point in your life, you will have crow’s feet – no matter your age! That’s why it’s so important to understand the different types of crow’s feet, as well as the causes of these fine lines and your treatment options.
Types Of Crow’s Feet
The two main types of crow’s feet are dynamic lines or wrinkles and static facial lines or static wrinkles.
Dynamic Lines or Dynamic Wrinkles: These types of lines or wrinkles become visible when your muscles contract. Therefore, frowning, squinting, and smiling can all activate your dynamic lines or dynamic wrinkles. However, these lines or wrinkles usually go away once you stop contracting your facial muscles.
Static Facial Lines or Static Wrinkles: Static facial lines or static wrinkles are visible at all times – even when your face is resting! Static facial lines or static wrinkles also tend to worsen whenever you contract your muscles by smiling, squinting, or frowning. And over time, your dynamic lines will eventually become static lines.
Causes Of Crow's Feet
While developing crow’s feet is a natural part of the aging process, some of the causes of crow’s feet can actually be self-inflicted. So, if you want to limit the severity of crow’s feet in the future, it’s important to understand what causes crow’s feet in the first place.
Aging Skin
There’s no way to turn back the clock to avoid aging skin (at least not yet!), but there are certain things you can do to slow down the development of crow’s feet. For instance, you can create a good skincare routine, eat healthy, and limit your exposure to ultraviolet rays.
Spending Too Much Time In The Sun
Unprotected exposure to ultraviolet rays is one of the top contributors to crow’s feet, and premature aging in general. So, wear a hat and SPF 30 (or more) whenever you’re in the sun. You should also wear sunglasses to prevent squinting since continuous squinting can cause collagen and elastic fibers to break down, which results in the formation of wrinkles.
Constant Stress
Stress can lead to frowning, and frowning is a repetitive motion that stretches out the delicate skin around your eyes. Therefore, if you feel yourself getting stressed, make it a point to de-stress ASAP!
An Unhealthy Diet
Eating unhealthy foods, especially ones high in sugar, can lead to crow’s feet. That’s because excess sugar levels within your bloodstream bind to collagen, which will render it dysfunctional. To protect your skin, add antioxidant rich fruits and nuts to your diet.
Your Pillowcase
While a good night’s sleep is one of the keys to limiting stress and keeping your skin radiant, make sure that you’re resting your face against a silk pillowcase in bed. That’s because a silk pillowcase can help prevent your skin from getting pulled while you’re sleeping. You can also make it a point to sleep on your back, as well.
Smoking
Not only do chemicals from inhaled tobacco cause internal damage to the skin structures and blood vessels around your eyes, the heat from burning cigarettes and all the squinting you need to do to keep the smoke out of your eyes also contributes to crow’s feet. Solution for this problem? Stop smoking!
How To Conceal Crow’s Feet
Think twice before using products like foundation or concealers to hide your crow’s feet as they’ll likely only make your crow’s feet stand out even more! However, if you really want to hide your crow’s feet from others, here are three suggestions.
Moisturize Every Day
Moisturizing regularly is one of the most important things you can do to minimize fine lines and wrinkles. For crow’s feet, apply eye cream in the morning before you put your makeup on and at bedtime.
Avoid Loose Powders
Loose powder can settle in your wrinkles and draw even more attention to your crow’s feet, which is exactly what you don’t want to do! So, don’t use loose powders if you’re trying to conceal your crow’s feet.
Draw Attention To Your Lips
Use a dramatic lipstick to draw attention away from your crow’s feet and toward your lips instead.
How To Care For Crow's Feet
There are several different eye wrinkle treatment options when it comes to caring for crow’s feet. Here are 5 ways to get rid of crow’s feet – ranging from simple home remedies to cosmetic procedures.
Use Eye Cream
Research suggests that topical creams containing vitamin A and its derivatives are effective in slowing down the aging process.
Consider A Chemical Peel
Chemical peels can improve the appearance of crow’s feet and promote younger, healthier looking skin by removing the outer layer of old skin and leaving behind new, smoother skin.
Make Your Own Face Mask
If chemical peels are too intense for your sensitive skin, make yourself a face mask using egg whites, which are known to tighten skin and shrink fine lines.
Get Botox
An option to consider starting in your 30s, Botox injections work by paralyzing specific muscles or blocking nerves. Therefore, doctors can use Botox to temporarily smooth facial wrinkles, including crow’s feet. Some potential side effects of Botox are bruising, swelling, and asymmetry. People who are pregnant or who have had facial paralysis should not use Botox.
Defend Against Crow’s Feet With Toute Nuit Wrinkle Patches
Want to defend yourself against crow’s feet like A-List celebs? Then start using these Toute Nuit Curve Shaped Facial Wrinkle Flattening Patches.
When used repeatedly starting in your 20s, Toute Nuit facial patches can be an effective way to prevent the formation of wrinkles. And while Toute Nuit facial patches offer a natural and noninvasive way to relax underlying facial muscles, they can also be worn over any Botox treated areas in order to extend the efficacy so that repeated injections can be less frequent.
Learn more about the magic of Toute Nuit here.
