You’ve been told to invest in an eye cream, but you aren’t quite sure why you should fork out the extra dollars. After all, do you really need to use a separate cream for your eyes? Will your moisturiser not suffice? The short answer? Not necessarily. If all you are looking for is a little hydration around your eyes, then some gentle facial moisturisers can be perfectly suitable. But if you want to target something more specific (think dark circles, puffiness, fine lines, dryness or crepey-looking skin) that's when a dedicated eye treatment can really earn its place in your skincare routine! So, is your moisturiser enough or would your eyes benefit from something more targeted? Keep reading as we explain the difference, what to look for and how to choose the right option for your eyes.  Can you use your face moisturiser around your eyes? Yes, but it depends on the moisturiser! Not every facial moisturiser is designed to be applied so close to the eyes. The skin here is thinner and more delicate than much of the rest of your face, which can make it more prone to dryness and irritation. It's also constantly moving every time we smile, squint and blink, which is one of the reasons fine lines can become noticeable here relatively early! Your facial moisturiser may also contain active ingredients or fragrance that the rest of your face tolerates perfectly well, but your eye area doesn't. The easiest rule? Check the directions on your moisturiser. If it says to avoid the eye area, avoid it. And if it causes stinging, watering or irritation, that's a pretty good indication it doesn't belong there! Which ingredients are suitable around your eyes (and what should you avoid)? If you're using a facial moisturiser around your eyes, gentle hydrating and skin-supporting ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, glycerin, ceramides, peptides and squalane can all be useful. But remember, it's the overall formulation that matters. A moisturiser isn't automatically suitable for your eyes simply because it contains hyaluronic acid or peptides. It's also worth being a little more careful with stronger actives. High-strength retinol, exfoliating acids and heavily fragranced formulas may irritate the delicate eye area, particularly if the product wasn't formulated to be used there. That doesn't mean ingredients such as retinol are off limits around your eyes though. Far from it! If fine lines and visible signs of ageing are a concern, retinol can be useful, but look for an eye treatment specifically formulated for this delicate area rather than taking your usual facial retinol right up to your eyes! Try Pevonia’s Evolutive Eye Cream. It’s formulated with hyaluronic acid and retinyl palmitate (which is a gentler, more stable vitamin A derivative) so perfect for the delicate, yet ageing eye area! It not only deeply hydrates, brightens and firms the skin, it also actively reduces fine lines and crepiness! So, what does an eye cream actually do differently? Eye creams, gels and serums are specifically formulated for the delicate eye area and, importantly, can target concerns your everyday facial moisturiser may not address. The key is choosing one according to your needs. Rather than simply reaching for an eye cream labelled ‘anti-ageing’, think about what you'd actually like to improve. Is it dryness? Puffiness? Dark circles? Fine lines? Or perhaps a combination of a few? If dryness and dehydration are your main concerns, an eye treatment rich in hyaluronic acid and other nourishing ingredients including squalane, shea butter and vitamin e, can help replenish moisture and plump the appearance of fine dehydration lines. Want to know more? Here are 6 Reasons Why You Should Use Hyaluronic Acid Under Your Eyes For fine lines, loss of firmness and crepey-looking skin, look for targeted ingredients such as peptides, antioxidants, collagen-supporting ingredients and eye-friendly forms of vitamin A to help smooth and improve the appearance of ageing skin. Here are our expert approved eyes creams for ageing eyes, if you’re not sure where to start. If it's puffiness and tired looking eyes you’re looking to improve, ingredients such as caffeine, Acetyl tetrapeptide-5 and targeted botanical extracts like Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, can help refresh the eye area and improve the appearance of tired, puffy eyes. And then there are dark circles. These are a little more complicated because they can have several different causes, including genetics, pigmentation, visible blood vessels and hollowness beneath the eyes. Lack of sleep certainly doesn't help either! For the best recommendations on how to treat your under eyes bags, dark circles and puffiness, click here. So, do you really need an eye cream? If your moisturiser is gentle, suitable for use around the eyes and all you're looking for is a little extra hydration, it may be perfectly adequate. But if there's something specific you'd like to improve, whether that's puffiness, dark circles, fine lines, dryness or crepey-looking skin, that's when a targeted eye treatment really comes into its own. Rather than expecting your everyday moisturiser to do everything, you can choose a formula specifically designed for the delicate eye area and the concerns you actually want to address. And if you're going to add another step to your skincare routine, we think that's a pretty good reason to do it!

Its 11am you look in the mirror and you wonder why oh why you look like you’ve just rolled out of bed even though you spent time perfecting your makeup this morning.If this is you, we feel you, and so do many, many others. In fact, this is one of the most common questions we are asked – why doesn’t my makeup last?!In short, excess oil is the number one reason for your makeup breaking down, or simply sliding off your face should we say (thank you pores!) however we are here to tell you how to stop that from happening in 6 simple steps. Hells yeah. PREP YOUR SKIN Whether your skin is dry, oily or somewhere in between, it is essential to create the perfect canvas for your makeup and you can do this by correctly prepping your skin with the right skincare! Don’t full under the false pretence that your skin is oily and therefore doesn’t need hydration, incorrect. Your skin WILL produce more oil if it’s not properly hydrated so a skin specific moisturiser is essential. One of our favourites for oily skin types is Phytomer’s Oligopur Hydra-Matifying Control Cream – it literally does what it says on the bottle. Amazing stuff! Just be sure to give your moisturiser enough time to sink in before applying your foundation though. Five minutes at the minimum. Doing so will definitely help your makeup stay put for longer. PRIME TO PERFECTION Use a mattifying primer to create a barrier between your skin’s oil and your makeup. If you haven’t invested in a primer before, do so now. It’ll change your life! (or your makeup duration should we say!) Our absolute favourite is the ELES Retexturising Face Primer, not only does it help to protect and condition your skin it WILL NOT LET MAKEUP BUDGE. FIND THE RIGHT FOUNDATION FORMULATION Make sure you are using the correct foundation for your skin type. So if you tend to have combination to oily skin a water-based or oil-free formula will be your best friend. We and so many of our customers can’t get enough of the ELES Liquid Powder Mineral Foundation, it glides on smoothly but sets to a matte powder finish on application.If your skin is edging on the dry side opt for more nourishing formulations. We highly recommend the ELES HD Luminous Foundation. MIST IS A MUST A facial mist or ‘setting spray’ can help set makeup so if you’ve never used one before give it a try! BLOT BLOT BLOT Rather than reapplying makeup over that layer of shine, blot away excess oil using a makeup sponge, blotting sheets or a beauty blender! Used to apply foundation, a beauty blender can literally double up as a blotting cushion for the face, and its shape will enable you to get into every crevice to soak up that unwanted oil. DON’T TOUCH YOUR FACE You heard me, and we all do it! But really try to be conscious to not touch your face! Not only can it spread bacteria (not good for those pesky pimples!) the warmth from your hands literally breaks down makeup! Eek.

The experts here at ELES have been busy beavering away reading all those burning beauty questions you have and in turn have put together a weekly Q&A. Here’s hoping we can help everyone just a little achieve their perfect skincare and makeup daily!One of the most popular topics of 2018 and 2019 alike is LIPS, and how to make them look fuller naturally, so it’s no surprise that we were asked this very question numerous times too!Natural, pouty lips after all is something I’m sure we would all love to have but sadly some of us haven’t been genetically blessed, and if you are anything like me the idea of filler in the lips is a NO GO zone. I’m not sold, on the basis that I rarely find it looks natural? But all is not lost! With the right choice of products and crafty application you CAN achieve pouty, pillowy lips naturally and here is how; PREP First step is to prep lips. As you would exfoliate the rest of your face, the lips are no different, lips need to be free of dry, flaky skin. Be sure to use a gentle exfoliator and gentle rub off any excess with a face cloth. HYDRATION Yes we want to keep our lips moisturised, nourished, but we can’t emphasis the importance of hydrating the area around the lips too. Apply a really good lip cream like Phytomer Youth Contour Reviving Wrinkle Correction Cream – Eye and Lips, after all more often than not it is the lines around the lips which can actually be what’s making your lips look thin and aged.Top with a good lip conditioner. CONCEAL Take a cream or liquid concealer in a shade lighter than your natural lip colour and smooth all over the lips spreading it a little over your natural lip line. You want to blur the edges so that it’s harder to tell where your lip line is. Try ELES Dual Action Concealer. Next lightly blot your lips to remove excess product. LIP COLOUR Select a lip colour that will compliment your complexion but best to avoid dark shades which tend to make lips appear smaller. Better to go with a subtle shade that can be mistaken as our natural lip colour, only a shade or so darker. This will create the illusion of fuller lips. LIP LINER Once you have chosen your perfect lip colour, match with a Longwear Lipliner in the same or very close to shade. The lip liner will give your lips structure and act as a primer to help bind the lipstick to the lips. Carefully line your lips just outside your natural lip line. Fill the rest of the lips in with the liner, then apply your chosen lip colour. Try ELES Matte Lipstick. Apply with a good lip brush like ELES Lipliner brush for precision application. GO FOR GLOSS Next apply a lip gloss to your lips to accentuate them. A clear or natural colour lip gloss such as ELES Pucker up Lipgloss is the best makeup product for making lips look fuller. Applying the gloss just to the middle of the lips will make lips appear plumper. HIGHLIGHT Finally apply a highlighter on your cupids bow. Try ELES Liquid Illuminator. Follow all of these steps and achieve fuller lips instantly!