4 things you can do with your eyes to look younger in photos (#1 and #2 won’t cost a dime)
Have you ever seen yourself in a picture that someone snapped and wondered to yourself, “do I really look that tired?”
The number one thing about your face that ages you in pictures is your under eye area. If you have dark circles or shadows, you’ll like you didn’t have much sleep the night before and you’ll look older than your actual age.
As a NY-based cosmetic eye and face surgery specialist, I’ve seen so many frustrated clients who tried home remedies and over-the-counter creams before visiting me for a consultation. Some of them had used eye bag creams at the drug store and on the shopping networks, eyelid muscle exercises, concoctions using foods and oils, and even hemorrhoid cream! And none of these helped.
Here are 4 tricks with your eyes that will make you glow in your next picture:
#1: The Squinch
This is a trick that makes your eyes look warmer and your smile look more authentic. When someone is about to take your picture, make a full-face smile. Your cheeks should lift up and your eyes should slightly narrow. Then, open your eyes a tiny bit (or slightly look up) to prevent your upper eyelid from closing (which can make you look sleepy).
One amazing side-effect of the squinch is that it can make mild to moderate eye bags disappear by pushing back bulging under-eye fat as you tighten the eyelid muscles when you smile.
In this post, I go into more detail about the real way to squinch and how your eyelids move.
Here’s the squinch in action:
#2: The PT Tilt
This technique allows you to take advantage of the most important resource around you that will make you spontaneously and effortlessly amazing in pictures- light.
The Phototactic Tilt (or PT Tilt) is a quick, simple move that will become instinctual once you’ve mastered it. The key is to think like a moth.
Moths are positively phototactic insects, meaning they gravitate toward lights. When you sense someone is about to take your photo, make a fast scan around the room and find the brightest source of light around you, using your “moth vision”. You should be able to do this in less than a second.
Then, make sure the light isn’t directly above you. If it is, then move. Direct overhead lighting will cast a shadow over your eyes that is unflattering and will accentuate under-eye dark circles.
Tilt your face so the brightest light is shining directly at you while slightly sticking your chin forward. This achieves two important things: your face shadows will be at a minimum while your apparent neck length will be at a maximum.
Here’s how the PT Tilt will make you look better in photos- you will have a brighter looking face with less visible eye bags, and your jawline will have better definition with a definite reduction in the “double chin” effect.
#3: BB Cream
This is a product that contains a tinted moisturizer and a sunscreen (and sometimes antioxidants). It helps with dark circles from a few different angles.
- The tint brightens up your under-eyes and disguises darkness from pigment and blood vessels sitting in your eyelid skin.
- The sunscreen prevents your delicate eyelid skin from sun damage which can worsen dark circles and wrinkles.
When finding a BB cream, look for products that match your skin color and preferably one that is designed for the thin under-eye skin (so it’s less likely to cake-up or cause irritation). Finding the right color can take some trial and error. But the effort will be worth it. Some high-quality tinted- sunscreens can be also substituted for a BB cream under the eyes.
#4: Under-eye filler with a cannula
This is a specialized treatment that can be done within 15 minutes. In a doctor’s office, medical-grade, biocompatible gel made from hyaluronic acid is used to fill the hollows under your eyes, making the shadows almost magically fade.
But it needs to be done by an expert under-eye sculptor who knows the correct technique in order to be trusted with this delicate area.
My cosmetic oculoplastic surgery specialty has given me the wonderful (and fun) opportunity to help hundreds upon hundreds of people look and feel better by erasing their eye bags with fillers. And a significant part of my practice involves fixing under-eye fillers that weren’t done correctly by other injectors.
Experience has taught me that when a cannula (an ultrathin, non-sharp tube) is used instead of a needle to layer gel under the eyes, there is dramatically less bruising which means you can get back to your busy life that much sooner- usually right away.
This is how fillers can erase eye bags:
