A magnetic 'miracle' for the eyes

The skin around your eyes is three times thinner than anywhere else on your face, so it's more prone to sun damage and the wrinkles born of smiling and grimacing, says Loretta Miraglia of the Max Huber Research Labs, which develop cosmetics for La Mer.

Women, of course, put themselves through the extra wear and tear of daubing on makeup and then scraping it off again.

Huber researchers zeroed in on those dark circles, puffiness and wrinkles and assessed the roles played by skin dryness, loss of firmness and sensitivity.

You get the dark circles from fatigue, allergies and rubbing your eyes, and sometime the capillaries leak blood into the area, where it oxidises and leaves a blue cast. Fluid resulting from allergies, sinus problems, diet, changes in the weather and hormonal fluctuations causes puffiness under the eyes.

Lines and wrinkles are the result of sun damage, stress and squinting.

La Mer offers a counterpunch called "The Eye Concentrate", which contains the sea kelp used in its popular Miracle Broth formula, and magnetised hematite, a dense mineral that can firm and tone the skin.

"The eye area is filled with micro-capillaries that can cause dark circles," says Miraglia. "Interestingly, like blood, hematite is naturally rich in iron. Once we magnetise the colloidal hematite, carefully add it to the Eye Concentrate and apply it with a unique silver-tip applicator, it reduces the dark circles."

The applicator is designed to not only pick up the precise amount of product needed for each application, its silver tip cools the skin, improving blood circulation.