Can Retinol Cause Eye Bags?

monicakm · ‎03-16-2010

From Oprah.com health and wellness...

Retinol, salicylic acid, glycolic acid—all effective ingredients that can improve the look and feel of your complexion. But they can lead to irritation, and when used too close to your delicate eye area, that irritation can lead to bags.

SilleeMee · ‎05-22-2016

Anything that irritates the under-eye area can cause swelling there. If it gets bad enough I guess you can call it "bags".

kitcat51 · ‎09-15-2016

I have problems using skin care & foolishly used a high end eye cream that made my eyes swell shut so my husband had to guide me around the house until I could open an eye with my fingers. It took months for the wrinkles & bags to go away, I looked like he-ll... I can laugh about It now but what a miserable experience.

On It · ‎03-15-2021

You might try eye cream for sensitive skin. Even that should not be applied too close to the eye opening. The cream will migrate. The eye area is much more sensitive and delicate than the rest of the face. I am very sensitive. I have had swelling, itching, and eczema from the wrong eye products.

One thing that does cause redness and discoloration beneath the eye area is some of the eye pressure drops used for glaucoma. I have to wait 5 minutes after applying and then rinse the eye area by splashing water while keeping my eyes tightly closed. It helps, but I still have discoloration.

Drythe · ‎07-09-2011

I Always avoid the lower eye area with all of those, just use on the very outside corner. Don’t have bags, but do have discoloration.

Purple shadow from sinus - I think.

"Animals are not my whole world, but they have made my world whole" ~ Roger Caras

Shanus · ‎05-17-2010

@monicakm wrote:
From Oprah.com health and wellness...
Retinol, salicylic acid, glycolic acid—all effective ingredients that can improve the look and feel of your complexion. But they can lead to irritation, and when used too close to your delicate eye area, that irritation can lead to bags.

@monicakm Oprah's no expert in skincare, but in this case she's partly correct. No actives should be applied right up to bottom lash line...but NO, it will not cause bags, just redness, "dry eye" and irritation.