HELP - Recent change in facial skin/muscle symmetry
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free skin care · Tue Apr 17, 2012 4:15 pm

I figured this is a skin care issue. Forgive me if this is the wrong forum to post my question in.
I started noticing my left eye closing more when I smile in August of 2011. At first I thought I had longer eye lashes on my right eye lids versus my left, but I soon realized it's a skin issue. I know no one's face is perfectly symmetrical, but this difference has amplified significantly in the past year, and it's very obvious in pictures.
I even saw an ophthalmologist to check if I had any ophthalmological issues and he said it's all in my head.
I need help figuring this out, I am desperate, please!

Here's some background info:
I am 27 years old.
I moved to AZ from upstate NY in February 2009 and haven't been diligent wearing SPF until this year.
I started using Revitalash in August 2011 (I thought my eye lashes were growing faster on my right eye, and that's what caused the asymmetry)
I was a stomach sleeper until recently (last week). I now try to sleep on my back or side.
One of the EDS members (Sage06) suggested it's UV damage as a result of UV exposure while driving. DrJ suggested it can be a result of sleep habits. (I asked about this in the AnteAge forum but it was part of a list of concerns, not the main focus, and did not provide pictures)
I decided to post photos to better explain what my concern is, but I don't know how to upload them since they aren't residing on the web. I really just want to even this out... Sad

If someone tells me how to upload them, I gladly will.

What can be the reason of this symmetry change and is there a way to reverse it?
Would topical creams, facial exercise, micro-current, light stim, facial massage help?
Should I see a dermatologist for a professional opinion?

Thank you so much...

free skin care · Tue Apr 17, 2012 4:21 pm

You need a photibucket or imageshack account or anything similar. Then [img]url of image and [/img] no spaces.

free skin care · Tue Apr 17, 2012 4:48 pm

DarkMoon wrote:

You need a photibucket or imageshack account or anything similar. Then [img]url of image and [/img] no spaces.

Thank you. I haven't been registered long enough to use the "Thank You" function.

Here we are...
April 2012, relaxed:

April 2012, smiling (even smile, corners of mouth rising evenly):

August 2011, even smile (when I first noticed this...):

October 2010, even smile (obviously wearing make-up to cover my horrific dark circles):

February 2010, even smile:

Tue Apr 17, 2012 6:41 pm

The difference is very insignificant from the pictures:)

Have you thought of muscle problem instead of skin problem?

free skin care · Tue Apr 17, 2012 6:56 pm

Lroche101 wrote:

The difference is very insignificant from the pictures:)

Have you thought of muscle problem instead of skin problem?

Thank you for your input. I think in the photo from August 2011 it is very obvious. That being said, I agree that I may be blowing this out of proportions since I probably have a schewed perception of myself...

I did think it can be a muscle problem. But if it is a muscle problem, is it that my right eye muscles are atrophied and don't contract enough, or is there a problem with my left eye muscles? That's what I can't figure out. And if it's a muscle problem, I assume I'd have to start facial exercises. I have the Facial Fitness book and DVD by Patricia Goroway, but that is not mentioned on this forum (I couldn't find any posts from members using it). What I did read on EDS is not to spot train, which was going to be my first attempt to fix this...

The difference is much more obvious when I'm tired, too. In the April 2012 photos I took them right before bed, but did not use a flash, which would have made my left eye close even more and look more like the August 2011 photo.

free skin care · Tue Apr 17, 2012 7:20 pm

I think your eyes look very symetrical.

I can only see a slight difference in the August 2011 picture, but your smiling so I think it could be quite normal to have one eye squinting a bit more. You have beautiful eyes!

Do you experience any sensitivity with Revitalash?

Tue Apr 17, 2012 7:30 pm

Fitgineer, my eye does the exact same thing as yours does and it drives me up the wall. And, as in your case, mine is also my left eye. I have yet to figure out what is causing my left eye to "shrink" when I smile but, as Lroche101 said, I too wonder if it may be related to something muscular. Granted, it could be skin (or other) related but something muscular just seems to make the most sense to me. I hate being photographed because in photo's one is usually expected to smile (say "cheese," lol) and, of course, this just happens to be when my left decides to go off hiding in Never-Never-Land. I mean, it still remains open but not near as open as my right eye does so, in pictures, one cannot help but notice the difference (I know I sure do!).

I hope you find an answer soon. If I myself find one I will be sure to share it with you.

By the way, I think you have absolutely stunning eyes and, to be honest with you, your eyes seems pretty symmetrical to me.

Heck, I'd take your eyes over mine any day, they are GORGEOUS! Smile

free skin care · Wed Apr 18, 2012 10:49 am

I really don't see much of a difference. I've always had more of a difference between my two eyes and it was never a big deal nor did anyone ever comment about it. I wouldn't worry. I just use a bit more eye makeup shading on my one eye than the other to even them out a bit.

free skin care · Wed Apr 18, 2012 11:26 am

brierrose wrote:

I think your eyes look very symetrical.

I can only see a slight difference in the August 2011 picture, but your smiling so I think it could be quite normal to have one eye squinting a bit more. You have beautiful eyes!

Do you experience any sensitivity with Revitalash?

I wonder if the fact that my eyelashes have grown longer and the fact that I can't get my left eye lashes to stay curled no matter what is making my left eye look smaller. Longer, curled lashes open up the eye, don't they? Hence why my right would appear bigger... Has anyone ever had this problem? I try to curl the left eye lashes extra hard, I use the blow drier to set them, and after a few minutes they are straight again. Not so with the right eye, where my eyelashes stay curly all day.
I wonder if my eyes are responding differently to Revitalash.
To answer your question, yes, my eye lids are red and my under eye circles have gotten much worse with every day use of Revitalash, but I stopped using it every day a couple of weeks ago, got it down to twice per week, and I think I no longer look like a zombie without concealer... I am looking to try Nutraluxe Lash MD next, I read it works similar to Latisse without the side effects... Plus, the ingredient list seems safer to me.

KrazyKanuck wrote:

Fitgineer, my eye does the exact same thing as yours does and it drives me up the wall. And, as in your case, mine is also my left eye. I have yet to figure out what is causing my left eye to "shrink" when I smile but, as Lroche101 said, I too wonder if it may be related to something muscular. Granted, it could be skin (or other) related but something muscular just seems to make the most sense to me. I hate being photographed because in photo's one is usually expected to smile (say "cheese," lol) and, of course, this just happens to be when my left decides to go off hiding in Never-Never-Land. I mean, it still remains open but not near as open as my right eye does so, in pictures, one cannot help but notice the difference (I know I sure do!).

I hope you find an answer soon. If I myself find one I will be sure to share it with you.

By the way, I think you have absolutely stunning eyes and, to be honest with you, your eyes seems pretty symmetrical to me.

Heck, I'd take your eyes over mine any day, they are GORGEOUS!

I really do appreciate everyone's support and compliments, but this is not why I started this topic. I really do worry and there are days when I look in the mirror and am about to cry because the difference is so obvious to me. I know I probably notice it more than anyone else, but I would like to at least stop further damage, which I assume happens with aging. If only I knew what caused it to get worse in the first place...

SoftSkin wrote:

I really don't see much of a difference. I've always had more of a difference between my two eyes and it was never a big deal nor did anyone ever comment about it. I wouldn't worry. I just use a bit more eye makeup shading on my one eye than the other to even them out a bit.

How do you use make-up to even them out? Which eye do you use more shading on? Do you do anything to your eyelashes different from one eye to the other?
I don't want to stop curling my eyelashes all together, and my right eye lashes seem curled even if I don't do anything to them... Sad

Here's a photo that shows what I'm talking about in terms of my eye lashes... it's difficult to see this in the photos I posted without makeup, which is probably why everyone says the difference is insignificant... Hopefully the photo below gives you a better idea:
Taken December 2011, smiling:

So maybe it's not so much a muscle or skin issue, but an eye lash issue? Or maybe it's all three... I obviously couldn't have noticed the difference in eye lashes before using eyelash serum, because my eyelashes were short and did not curl anyway. I did use Tarte Eyelash conditioner from March to August 2011, because I wanted something natural and safe, but did not notice any growth with it... that's when I switched to RevitaLash.

Thoughts? Thanks again...

free skin care · Wed Apr 18, 2012 11:35 am

There is a definite difference in your eyelashes and I honestly think the lash discrepancy is making your eyes appear more asymmetrical than they are. Have you tried Careprost from AllDayChemist? There has to be a way to make your sparse lashes stand out more so the difference isn't so noticeable. I would even consider having a few "falsies" put on that one side to even them out.

free skin care · Wed Apr 18, 2012 11:53 am

bren21 wrote:

There is a definite difference in your eyelashes and I honestly think the lash discrepancy is making your eyes appear more asymmetrical than they are. Have you tried Careprost from AllDayChemist? There has to be a way to make your sparse lashes stand out more so the difference isn't so noticeable. I would even consider having a few "falsies" put on that one side to even them out.

Bren, my eyelashes are similar count on both eyes... At least that's what I think. I took this photo a couple of days ago, with the rest of my no-make-up photos posted earlier (I can take another one if this isn't focused enough):

I don't think I have sparse eye lashes on my left eye. They just won't stay curled at all, they straighten out and lose the lift shortly after applying mascara/using eye lash curler (so what's the point of having long eye lashes if they are limp and point downwards? can this be an eye lid issue?)... I think my left eye lashes may be responding differently to Revitalash, or maybe it's genetic... Maybe I naturally have curly eye lashes on my right eye, but straight on my left? I've tried curling mascaras, Maybelline and Bare Minerals, none worked. I heard the curling tubing mascara from Trish McEvoy might be a good one to try.
I don't want to give up long eye lashes... Sad

As for CareProst, I haven't tried it, but I will read up on it. I am worried about side effects (eye color change, redness around the eyes, darker under eye circles, etc). Thanks for the tip.

free skin care · Wed Apr 18, 2012 11:55 am

For sure they look even in that photo. But like you said, because they won't stay curled, I think it makes them look uneven when your eyes are open. Interesting. This must be quite frustrating for you...I wish I had better advice to give!! Have you tried a heated lash curler?

free skin care · Wed Apr 18, 2012 12:03 pm

I also think your lashes look very even on both eyes, I find using a good primer before my mascara helps them hold the curl from my lash curler. One I love is Blink Primer....I know others adore the tube style mascara they make but I can't stand it! Their Primer is great IMHO. Smile

free skin care · Wed Apr 18, 2012 1:45 pm

bren21 wrote:

For sure they look even in that photo. But like you said, because they won't stay curled, I think it makes them look uneven when your eyes are open. Interesting. This must be quite frustrating for you...I wish I had better advice to give!! Have you tried a heated lash curler?

Yes, it has been frustrating Sad

I haven't tried a heated eyelash curler, I read on EDS about Blinc and Panasonic. Does anyone recommend either of those? Meanwhile I will try to heat my current eye lash curler with a blow drier.

DarkMoon wrote:

I also think your lashes look very even on both eyes, I find using a good primer before my mascara helps them hold the curl from my lash curler. One I love is Blink Primer....I know others adore the tube style mascara they make but I can't stand it! Their Primer is great IMHO.

Thank you for the tip, I agree that a primer should help.

I think it may be a combination of things, still. Given that my eye lashes are noticeably long, and that from the pictures above (no make up) you can see that my left eye lid crease is higher than my right (so my left eye either naturally closes more, or the fold is such so that the part from the eye lash line to the crease is wider than on the right eye), I would still have to curl the left eye lashes extra hard, because these crease lines are not even, so it may look like my left eye lashes do not reach high enough... Not sure how to best explain it, but in short I think it's a problem with left eye lashes not curling and uneven eye lid folds (and muscle issue, still). Is there something I can do to even out the eye lid folds? Facial exercises maybe? An eye lifting topical on one eye? But which eye needs it?...

Each one of these 3 things is minor by itself, but I feel when combined they result in a striking difference between my left and right eye.

(Since I am still new and am restricted to 5 posts per day, I have to reply to as many posts as I can in one post. Sorry for lumping quotes together)

free skin care · Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:31 pm

Fitgineer, the reason I asked about Revitalash is because it made my eyes feel so tired and sensitive I wondered if that could be part of the reason.

Curled eyelashes really do open up the eyes more so that could be a possibility if your left eyelashes don't curl the same.

Microcurrent does help to give some lift to the eyes.

BTW I would be interested to know how you find the Nutraluxe if you decide to try it.

Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:52 pm

fitgineer wrote:

I really do appreciate everyone's support and compliments, but this is not why I started this topic. I really do worry and there are days when I look in the mirror and am about to cry because the difference is so obvious to me. I know I probably notice it more than anyone else, but I would like to at least stop further damage, which I assume happens with aging. If only I knew what caused it to get worse in the first place...

Thoughts? Thanks again...

I'm actually really glad you did start this topic and I don't blame you for doing so. Being that I seem to have the same issue as you do (my left eye suddenly appearing smaller than my right eye) and knowing how much it affects me on a daily basis I can totally understand where you are coming from. When I look in the mirror I too often feel like crying when I see the difference in size between my eyes. Yes, it bothers me "that" much. I will find myself frequently gawking in the mirror just to check out my eyes, often intentionally moving my facial muscles around in hopes that I might come up with an "aha" moment (ie: a solution). So far, I have come up with absolutely zip so I am still in search of an answer. As much as I think your eyes look stunning I also don't think your concern about their size difference is exaggerated in any way, shape or form. After all, eyes are a huge part of who you are and also one of the first things others likely notice about you so of course you want to feel good about them.

Anyway, I am going to keep looking for answers and if I find any I'll be sure to report back here. Admittedly, I am at the point where I now edit some of my photographs because I can't stand seeing my eyes looking so different from one to another. Others may not really notice the difference but as for me, myself, I most certainly do and I hate it.

PS: Have you ever considered the possibility that this may have to do with your eyeBROWS? I'm not saying it does, I obviously don't know, I just mention this because I have noticed in some of my own photo's that my left eyebrow tends to look [very slightly] higher than the right one at times and, coincidentally, these photo's just happen to be the same ones where my left eye appears the smallest. Related or not, I can't say, but I think I will look into this further...just in case.

free skin care · Wed Apr 18, 2012 7:17 pm

brierrose wrote:

Fitgineer, the reason I asked about Revitalash is because it made my eyes feel so tired and sensitive I wondered if that could be part of the reason.

Curled eyelashes really do open up the eyes more so that could be a possibility if your left eyelashes don't curl the same.

Microcurrent does help to give some lift to the eyes.

BTW I would be interested to know how you find the Nutraluxe if you decide to try it.

Yes, I do think RevitaLash is making my eyes tired. When I was using it daily, the skin around my eyes was really red, darker near the eye lashes, as if I was always crying... I felt I looked like a drug addict... Even my brother asked what's wrong with my eyes, and he never notices anything like that. And, if I touched the red skin portion, it would burn Sad

So I will research NutraLuxe some more and definitely keep you in mind for an update. I have decided to take before and after pictures whenever I start a new product/routine, to be able to measure progress.

KrazyKanuck wrote:

fitgineer wrote:

I really do appreciate everyone's support and compliments, but this is not why I started this topic. I really do worry and there are days when I look in the mirror and am about to cry because the difference is so obvious to me. I know I probably notice it more than anyone else, but I would like to at least stop further damage, which I assume happens with aging. If only I knew what caused it to get worse in the first place...

Thoughts? Thanks again...

I'm actually really glad you did start this topic and I don't blame you for doing so. Being that I seem to have the same issue as you do (my left eye suddenly appearing smaller than my right eye) and knowing how much it affects me on a daily basis I can totally understand where you are coming from. When I look in the mirror I too often feel like crying when I see the difference in size between my eyes. Yes, it bothers me "that" much. I will find myself frequently gawking in the mirror just to check out my eyes, often intentionally moving my facial muscles around in hopes that I might come up with an "aha" moment (ie: a solution). So far, I have come up with absolutely zip so I am still in search of an answer. As much as I think your eyes look stunning I also don't think your concern about their size difference is exaggerated in any way, shape or form. After all, eyes are a huge part of who you are and also one of the first things others likely notice about you so of course you want to feel good about them.

Anyway, I am going to keep looking for answers and if I find any I'll be sure to report back here. Admittedly, I am at the point where I now edit some of my photographs because I can't stand seeing my eyes looking so different from one to another. Others may not really notice the difference but as for me, myself, I most certainly do and I hate it.

PS: Have you ever considered the possibility that this may have to do with your eyeBROWS? I'm not saying it does, I obviously don't know, I just mention this because I have noticed in some of my own photo's that my left eyebrow tends to look [very slightly] higher than the right one at times and, coincidentally, these photo's just happen to be the same ones where my left eye appears the smallest. Related or not, I can't say, but I think I will look into this further...just in case.

Me too! Sometimes I am in the ladies' room at work, and I notice the difference and I try to straighten/push down my right eye lashes in hopes to even out the discrepancy...

I didn't think about brows being an issue... mine seem to stay pretty even when I smile. I know the photo below is a little crooked, but the area under the eye brows doesn't seem to point to me raising one brow more than the other. I think my lower left lid is going up higher when I smile actually... even though my lip corners are even in this smiling photo... and then my upper left lid is going down more than the right, just slightly. Cumulatively, the left eye looks a little more closed than the right. Add to that my eye lash discrepancy (which you can notice in this photo even without make-up... my right eye lashes go up more), and it's enough to give me a bad day Sad

I used to love smiling for photos... now I never want my photo taken, and I try not to smile or not look straight at the camera, or find an angle that minimizes my problem. I haven't tried photoshopping photos yet, but I can see myself doing so soon! Honestly, I am dreading my wedding photos (no fixed plans yet, but I like to dream).

Thu Apr 19, 2012 12:25 am

Is the problem worse when your eye is tired? I am no expert but maybe you would like to check out a condition called ptosis.

Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:30 am

fitgineer wrote:

Me too! Sometimes I am in the ladies' room at work, and I notice the difference and I try to straighten/push down my right eye lashes in hopes to even out the discrepancy...

I didn't think about brows being an issue... mine seem to stay pretty even when I smile. I know the photo below is a little crooked, but the area under the eye brows doesn't seem to point to me raising one brow more than the other. I think my lower left lid is going up higher when I smile actually... even though my lip corners are even in this smiling photo... and then my upper left lid is going down more than the right, just slightly. Cumulatively, the left eye looks a little more closed than the right. Add to that my eye lash discrepancy (which you can notice in this photo even without make-up... my right eye lashes go up more), and it's enough to give me a bad day Sad

I used to love smiling for photos... now I never want my photo taken, and I try not to smile or not look straight at the camera, or find an angle that minimizes my problem. I haven't tried photoshopping photos yet, but I can see myself doing so soon! Honestly, I am dreading my wedding photos (no fixed plans yet, but I like to dream).

The more I read about your own eye issue the more identical it sounds to mine. The part of your comment that I highlighted in red in the above quote is EXACTLY what I believe is going on with my eye, too! I really do think my lower left lid goes up while my upper left lid goes down (albeit only slightly) when I smile. However, even though these "ups and downs" do seem slight they also seem very much NOT-so-slight when they go hand-in-hand with each other (ie: happen at the same time). When this takes place (the lower lid going up while the upper lid goes down --> in unison) it makes the slightness of it all seem that much more apparent. I have tried to intentionally keep my eye open using mind-over-matter (amongst other things) but, forget it, regardless of how hard I concentrate on keeping it open, bloop, it still manages to...shrink. Ugh, I dread dealing with it already, it's actually a lot of work trying to get my eyes to match up with one another.

I don't have a camera handy at the moment but I am going to see if I can find some pics of my eyes to upload here. It may take me a little bit to find some that show the discrepancies between my eyes though because, sure enough, my self-consciousness about them has gotten the best of me so I have edited "that" problem out of most of them already.

Okay, off to go look but will be back asap.

free skin care · Thu Apr 19, 2012 9:25 am

fitgineer wrote:

The difference is much more obvious when I'm tired, too. In the April 2012 photos I took them right before bed, but did not use a flash, which would have made my left eye close even more and look more like the August 2011 photo.

I suggest trying Bremenn's Upper Eyelid Lifter on your left lid. You can also use a nude color pencil on the lower lid to open up the eye. It could be from sun damage and as we get older, our lids do tend to droop so that could be what is going on. I've been using the Upper Eyelid Lifter and have seen an improvement. I'd also suggest using an eye cream with SPF in it. Also, another board I've read said some of eye problems have to do with thinner skin and they recommend a product to help your skin create collagen. So using it around the orbital bone of both eyes might help. The product us called Let's Make Collagen sold at SkinActives. Good luck!

free skin care · Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:35 pm

Lroche101 wrote:

Is the problem worse when your eye is tired? I am no expert but maybe you would like to check out a condition called ptosis.

Yes, it's worse when I'm tired. In this next photo, taken August 2011 when I first noticed the discrepancy, I was only sleeping 4 hours/night... so needless to say I was very tired:

I did look into ptosis, hence why I saw an ophthalmologist (because I didn't know where to start). They checked my eyes and said my eyes are straight and fine. He laughed and said that maybe I get my migraines on the left side and hold my hand over that area which caused the left/right eye discrepancy. I didn't find it too funny. He said that if I want to he can point me to an eye lid specialist, but that he didn't see the need...

Now here's some info that has been lingering on my mind. When I was 9 or 10 I was in a car accident that hit my left temple/ eye brow bone area. My migraines started immediately after (although they are hereditary) and I had to wear eye glasses because one of my left eye muscles was weakened, causing a barely noticeable strabismus or lazy eye. My eyes are straight now, but the eye glasses couldn't have corrected the eye lid muscles if those were impacted by the accident as well. Maybe with age that left eye lid muscle got weaker and weaker...

If it is ptosis, I am not ready for surgery. I found a link about eye exercises that can help:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/488949-how-to-reduce-ptosis-by-exercise/
So I will try this first.
What kind of medical specialist would I have to see to measure my eye lid muscle strength?

KrazyKanuck wrote:

The more I read about your own eye issue the more identical it sounds to mine. The part of your comment that I highlighted in red in the above quote is EXACTLY what I believe is going on with my eye, too! I really do think my lower left lid goes up while my upper left lid goes down (albeit only slightly) when I smile. However, even though these "ups and downs" do seem slight they also seem very much NOT-so-slight when they go hand-in-hand with each other (ie: happen at the same time). When this takes place (the lower lid going up while the upper lid goes down --> in unison) it makes the slightness of it all seem that much more apparent. I have tried to intentionally keep my eye open using mind-over-matter (amongst other things) but, forget it, regardless of how hard I concentrate on keeping it open, bloop, it still manages to...shrink. Ugh, I dread dealing with it already, it's actually a lot of work trying to get my eyes to match up with one another.

I don't have a camera handy at the moment but I am going to see if I can find some pics of my eyes to upload here. It may take me a little bit to find some that show the discrepancies between my eyes though because, sure enough, my self-consciousness about them has gotten the best of me so I have edited "that" problem out of most of them already.

Okay, off to go look but will be back asap.

The more I think about it, the more it looks like it might be ptosis.
Here are a couple of photos I took today, immediately after make-up application. I curled the left eye lashes extra hard, with a heated eye lash curler (I almost burned my eye lid... I need one that heats on its own, to control the temperature), and barely touched the right ones. It's 1:34pm now and my left eye lashes have stayed in place! Maybe even too high now. We'll see how they look when I get home tonight. By the way, I've only used Maybelline Full and Soft mascara in these pictures, I like that it makes my eyelashes look somewhat natural, but it's not made to hold curl. So I will still look into DarkMoon's advice.
But the difference in the eyelids closing is the same...
Relaxed:

Smiling:

I am curious to see photos of yourself, too, if you can upload some. Thanks again for the support. I have faith eventually we can figure out what both of our problem is!

Debb3485 wrote:

I suggest trying Bremenn's Upper Eyelid Lifter on your left lid. You can also use a nude color pencil on the lower lid to open up the eye. It could be from sun damage and as we get older, our lids do tend to droop so that could be what is going on. I've been using the Upper Eyelid Lifter and have seen an improvement. I'd also suggest using an eye cream with SPF in it. Also, another board I've read said some of eye problems have to do with thinner skin and they recommend a product to help your skin create collagen. So using it around the orbital bone of both eyes might help. The product us called Let's Make Collagen sold at SkinActives. Good luck!

I figured eye/facial exercises paired with a topical to firm the eye lid area would help. I have been using Let's Make Collagen for a couple of months now, but it has EGF and I found a controversial article about its safety, i.e. that it is oncogenic. Has anyone heard such claims?
Moreover, DrJ replied to my post saying I use LMC from Skin Actives in a different thread, and here's what he/she had to say:

Quote:

As to "Let's make collagen" - I would relabel it "let's dissolve dead fish skin" - hydrolyzed fish collagen is useless on the skin. You don't create effective peptides by making fragments by hydrolysis. Have just as much chance to make peptides that decrease collagen production as increase . Really bad science.

While I'm still using it, I don't know if I can notice any difference and I am not sure I will reorder. Do you use LMC? Does it work for you?

I use SPF, but it's only 15. I believe I need more (since the sun in Arizona is unforgiving) and I am not sure how to find a good product that would work well for me. I want something that is light and absorbs easily. Do you use an eye SPF you recommend?

As you can see in the above photos, I do use a highlighter under the eye (just a pale pink matte eye shadow), but I feel it emphasizes my under eye fine lines, especially when I smile... I was thinking to either try Ageless Eyes by DermaRadiant or MD Forte/TNS as I read in a different thread. Not sure if I'm too young for those products or not. I have also heard about ReVive.
I've always had fine lines under my eyes, and dark circles, and my mom says it's because I was born with almost no fat, hence that skin portion is very thin for me Sad

I don't think any products can change it. Look at the above photos, I'm only 27 and my under eye skin looks dry, crepey, with fine lines... Not sure what to do! Sad

I will look into Bremenn's Upper Eyelid Lifter.

Thanks for the suggestions, I look forward to any other ideas that come to mind.

free skin care · Thu Apr 19, 2012 2:37 pm

Hi Fitgineer,

This is not medical advice (can't do that over the internet), but ptosis is not demonstrated at all in your photos. Your eyelids are perfectly symmetrical - and no drooping.

Post a picture with an arrow on it pointing to exactly where you think your right-left differences are.

free skin care · Thu Apr 19, 2012 4:22 pm

DrJ wrote:

Hi Fitgineer,

This is not medical advice (can't do that over the internet), but ptosis is not demonstrated at all in your photos. Your eyelids are perfectly symmetrical - and no drooping.

Post a picture with an arrow on it pointing to exactly where you think your right-left differences are.

In this photo you can clearly see that the left pupil is covered more by my eye lids:

Same here:

And although in this photo it's a little less noticeable because the camera is centered better on my face, you can see that the blue line on the left pupil is shorter than the blue line on the right pupil, which to me indicates the left lower eye-lid going higher, or the right lower eye lid not going high enough. The green lines also show a tiny discrepancy, but much less noticeable. The yellow lines also point to the fact that the left eye lid is closing more, since the length of the left eye yellow line is slightly longer than the right eye yellow line.
So is it that my left lower eye lid muscles contract too much, or that my right lower eyelid muscles are too weak and don't contract enough?... Same with the upper eye lids...

All of the above photos are taken smiling, as that's when the differences are the most noticeable. When relaxed, it's only the upper eye lids that show a slight discrepancy, similar to what is pointed out through the yellow lines above.

Thanks again for your feedback.

free skin care · Thu Apr 19, 2012 4:50 pm

It's almost the end of the work day and after staring at my computer screen for 8 hours, I feel the difference is more noticeable than this morning...
(Photo taken with my phone this time)

Fri Apr 20, 2012 1:43 pm

I remember noticing the same thing when I was younger about 15 years ago. I only noticed it in pictures (my left eye looked smaller than my right when smiling) and it did concern me but not enough to really do anything about it.

Then it just went away. I had completely forgotten about it, till I read this thread.

Maybe, Fitgineer, it is one of those things that may go of its own accord, especially if the opthalmologist who examined your eyes didn't see anything wrong?

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