Oil Slick

If eyes are the windows to the soul, those who have excessively oily eyelids yearn for the cosmetic equivalent of Windex. It's a hassle to deal with, especially in summer. Eyelids have much tinier oil glands than the rest of the face, so it really does matter if something is formulated for the area or not; plus there are stricter safety regulations for a product's use in the ocular region.

It's more difficult for some ingredients to assimilate into the delicate skin of your peepers, which is why you get those perplexing white bumps. They're called Milia, they are made of protein (keratin), calcium, and sebum (oil) and don't you dare try to pick at them; they live a bit deeper in the epidermal layers than your ordinary zit or blackhead. Milia are often caused by petroleum-based eye care and makeup, and require extraction by a professional. And oh, man, do we aestheticians love to get them out. Seriously, it sounds perverse but it's quite gratifying.

My clients who don't wear eye makeup are particularly frustrated by the lack of effective yet unobtrusive remedies for overly oily lids. "It's not fair", lamented one woman. "Why do I have to pile on eye shadow like a cheap floozy just to cover up the primer holding back the grease?" Why, indeed?

 It's a phenomenon into which I hadn't put much thought lately. Why can't there be something that mops up oil all day, doesn't irritate, won't run, is made specifically for the eyes and is invisible? After extensive field research, I have found not one, but two products that do all those things and more:


 Urban Decay Eye Shadow Primer Potion is exceptional. It works to absorb oil with talc in a silicone-based delivery system (and yes, is chock-full o'parabens, but at extremely low levels) and glides on easily. It's marketed as an eyeshadow base, but don't be deterred, you don't have to wear shadow-it works really well for minimalists. After drying to a nearly invisible finish, it stood up to a long day outside, and I noticed that my eyes were a lot less irritated than usual. Perhaps there are magical pollen-blocking properties in this stuff, because now I'm using it every day as an anti-allergen shield for my eyeballs. Who knew?

An excellent and unbelievably inexpensive ($2.50!) option is the Rice Powder Facial Block from the always awesome Pearl River Mart in NYC. Rice-based powders are so much finer than anything else. I adore it as an absorbent in eye products, because it's so gentle. This Chinese formula has been around for literally hundreds of years and remained virtually unchanged, and it looks so pretty on the shelf in my bathroom. I should note, though, that this powder isn't necessarily approved for use around the eyes. I've never had a problem, but proceed with caution. Just rub a clean, dry ring finger across the powder block and dab on your eyelids, and move on with your life, makeup-and grease-free.

Photo, pearlriver.com

Topics: beauty , rice powder , oily eyelids , primer , milia