No matter how much I slept, I never looked fully rested, and while lines and wrinkles had yet to appear around my eyes, I always felt that I looked ‘tired’ when I‘d catch a glimpse of my reflection.‘

The skin around the eyes is the thinnest on the body and therefore the first signs of ageing – from fine lines, and wrinkles, to sagging and puffiness ­­– tend to appear in this area. Furthermore, as we age, there is a drop in the mid face exposing the eyelid-cheek junction where the tear trough lies,’ explains Oculoplastic Surgeon and Aesthetic Doctor, Maryam Zamani.

This hollowing at the junction between my eye area and cheeks was exactly what was making me look like I’d been out partying every night, when in fact I was sleeping eight hours plus, and religiously applying eye cream. ‘There is usually a genetic disposition to how the upper and lower eyelids change over time, but volume loss and the downward descent of the mid-face is inevitable with age as collagen and elastin break down and cause the skin to sag. No gender or ethnicity is exempt from this ageing process,’ adds Zamani.

Zamani suggested tear trough filler as the best option to re-plump my sunken tear trough and I jumped at the chance to reverse my tired-looking eyes.

When it comes to the tear trough, ‘temporary, dissolvable fillers are best for this delicate area as they are malleable and can be removed if need be,’ says Zamani. Which is why Zamani chooses to use soft, gel-like textured hyaluronic acid dermal fillers to inject beneath the surface of the skin to plump, lift and smooth.

The Treatment

The procedure began with a topical numbing cream left on for approximately 10 minutes, which meant I barely felt a thing as Zamani went to work with her needle. Injecting only twice under each eye to reduce bruising, she then moved the filler into place with her fingers before it fully ‘set’. ‘To achieve the best results, it’s important to only see an experienced medically trained injector and be sure to look at their before and afters, as its their understanding of the intricacies of the face and their artistry that will ultimately yield the best results,’ recommends Zamani.

During this first session Zamani used very little filler, as best practice is to ‘under correct’ to see how the filler settles. There can be swelling post-treatment that will further plump, while hyaluronic acid has the ability to hold up to a thousand times its weight in water, which will also add additional volume.

And as ‘overfilling can lead to blue discolouration and a sausage-like appearance that is anything but youthful,’ I was happy to go along with the less-is-more approach, even though I’m instinctively a more-is-more type of person.

The Results

Despite underfilling, the difference was instant, it looked as though I was wearing a corrective concealer. Not only had the hollow sunken appearance disappeared, but thanks to the plumper nature of the area, light reflected better too. Bye bye dark shadows.

However, it’s worth noting that if my dark shadows were in fact pigmentation, filler would not have been able to improve their appearance.

I experienced absolutely no bruising and no downtime was necessary, although Zamani recommended I sleep on my back for a few days, which was made easy thanks to my Nurse Jamie Beauty Bear Age Delay Pillow.

I returned two weeks later and only needed a top up under one eye, which further proved that being conservative the first-time round is super important. And while Zamani explained that the effects should last around 12 months – though she finds hyaluronic acid tends to last even longer in this area­ – I was elated that the amazing results  lasted closer to two years before I needed a top up.

Many of our Être Vous practitioners offer this procedure — visit our practitioner finder for one near you.