Back-to-school, Halloween parties, Thanksgiving, holiday travel, gift shopping - “ the entire fall and December constitute an incredibly busy time. Things at work pick up for most people, resulting in higher pressure and longer hours. The number of festive occasions and more travel often mean less sleep during a time when shorter, darker days and colder weather actually make us feel like our body needs MORE sleep. Where does that fall and holiday stress show up first? Your skin of course, ESPECIALLY your eyes! All my friends and colleagues know by now that they can get an accurate reading of my stress level and social life (i.e. parties) in my eyes: Dry, irritated skin, red eyes, puffiness, bags and dark circles... . The list of symptoms is long. For a contact lens wearer like me, prone to dry, sensitive eyes, it's a particularly tough situation. What to do when dry climate, late nights, parties and general elevated hecticness show up in your eyes?

As always, there is no magic bullet for tired-looking eyes, but with a combination of better sleep, effective skincare products and eye drops, we can get through stressful weeks looking awake or even bright-eyed!

Eye products - “ What to look out for, what to pick

First of all, the most effective eye products are useless if they irritate your eyes and worsen the look of stress and redness. Yes, believe it or not, there are eye products out there that, even though designed to alleviate eye-issues like dark circles and bags, can actually make things worse. A few things to keep in mind:

Product applied around the eye area can "travel" up towards the eye and cause tearing and irritation inside the eye. Whether an eye products "travels" depends on specific ingredients and ingredient combinations, but as a general rule of thumb, gel formulations are more prone to travel than cream formulations. Gels can be either completely clear or slightly opaque but have an overall lighter texture, while cream formulations are generally completely opaque and more emollient.

Another common tear-trigger is sunscreens agents. If you pick an eye product with an SPF, be sure to get a sample and actually try wearing it around the eye. Definitely do not use an eye product with SPF at night. The horizontal position while you sleep facilitates product "travel", making it more likely that product will find its way into the eyes, even with your eyes shut.

Eye products - “ top picks

Eye products are the number one selling category in department stores and specialty stores. Every skincare brand that takes itself seriously has at least 1 eye product. It's simply overwhelming, especially because you really should try an eye product before committing to it, first because you have to make sure it won't irritate your eyes, and plus you want to pick something that actually works!

Eye Treatments

With my sensitive eyes, I am particularly weary of gel formulations. When a Sephora sales associate recommended L'Occitane's "Olive Oil Express Eye Treatment" ($30, available at usa.loccitane.com), I was skeptical, to say the least. I have always associated L'Occitane with heavily perfumed soaps and body lotions, rather than face care products, let alone products for sensitive skin. Well, this eye gel is impressive. Said to decrease puffiness, the completely clear gel comes in a pump, and does not travel into the eyes, even when applied relatively close to the eyes. It absorbs quickly, leaving no stickiness at all. It does not really provide much hydration, but if the skin around your eyes is not particularly dry, this gel does a nice job of refreshing and waking up the eye area.

One time, I was browsing the shelves of a small apothecary in South Carolina, when a middle-aged woman stormed into the store, panting, barely able to utter the name of the products she was holding up in her hand for everyone to see: Kiehl's "Cryste Marine Firming Eye Treatment" ($35, available at www.kiehls.com). The store owner and other customers were rather concerned about this hyperventilating customer, thinking that she must have had a bad reaction to this product. Turns out, she was so blown away with how it had freed her of puffiness and under-eye bags, she bought the store's entire inventory of the product for herself and all her girlfriends. Overwhelmed by such testimonial, I tried the cream on my eyes. The cream, which comes in a blue pot, is extremely thick, so it takes quite a while to work it into the skin and make it disappear, but the above-mentioned customer swore with eyes rolling, that she had never seen an eye cream work so effectively. That's one credible testimonial!

The "Sweet Black Tea Eye Creme" by JUARA (my own skincare company) is a silky, moisturizing, wrinkle-fighting option for even the most sensitive eyes ($35, available at www.dermstore.com). Obviously I had my sensitive eyes in mind when we formulated this product. I can apply this cooling eye cream directly under the eyes truly without any irritation or tearing. In fact, I received an excited e-mail a few months ago from a former class mate of mine who now buys the Sweet Black Tea Eye Creme in bulk. My friend, a high-powered director at a pharmaceutical company who has to travel to Europe every few weeks, has extremely dry, sensitive skin with occasional bouts of eczema around her eyes. She swears that this eye crème gets rid of her eczema in 20 minutes flat and is the only thing that has ever worked for her!

Don't forget to get your sleep

Dark circles - “ is there really a cure? Experts still argue about this particular eye issues. Part of what complicate the issue is that dark circles seem to have different unrelated root causes. Thin skin around the eyes, poor circulation and darker pigmentation can all contribute to dark circles, but would have to be treated differently. While thin skin would be almost impossible to treat with a topical product, darker pigmentation can be treated with brightening ingredients. Murad's "Lighten and Brighten Eye Treatment" ($75, available at www.skinstore.com) contains Hydroquinone, a chemical bleaching agents, to lighten dark circles. The overall ingredient list of this product is impressive, designed to relieve puffiness, under-eye bags, as well as dark circles. Given the controversy surrounding Hydroquinone (high skin irritation potential), I would recommend this option only for stubborn cases of dark circles and for people who are not allergic to Hydroquinone (I am).

A few years ago, a product hit the market that promised to finally treat "serious dark circles". Bremenn Research Labs' "Hylexin" ($95, available at www.sephora.com, has been shown in clinical studies to help reduce hemoglobin degradation by-products by optimizing enzymatic activity, causing the red-blue pigmentation of dark circles to fade. Two years ago, I took a leap of faith and bought a full-size tube of Hylexin. I faithfully applied this cream daily until the tube was completely empty, however, my under eye circles have unfortunately never faded. Some people swear by this product, and in all fairness, it has maintained its top seller status since its launch a few years ago. My case of under eye circles may be rooted in a cause other than hemoglobin degradation by-products.

The biggest surprise amongst my eye product trials has been Dove's "Energy Glow Brightening Eye Cream SPF 8" ($10 at www.drugstore.com). The product, a fast absorbing, hydrating cream with an interesting, flaky texture, has an SPF 8, which is too low to qualify it as serious sun protection. Having had bad experiences with eye products containing sunscreen, I expected my eyes would start tearing. To my surprise, my eyes were perfectly fine. In fact, I can actually apply it above the eye to the crease and brow bone, which is something that I usually warn against. The cream feels pleasantly cool on the skin, hydrates lightly, brightens with reflective particles, and at $10 is an absolute steal!

Eye drops, eye drops, eye drops

Lack of sleep will leave your eyes irritated, dry and red. Combine that with over-heated office air, and you have the perfect recipe for itchy eyes, that will get even redder when you rub them. No eye cream can alleviate the actual dry eyes, which is why my absolute-cannot-live-without product is sterile, one-time dose eye drops in little mini vials. I used to carry the bigger bottles of eye drops with me, until I discovered the one-time-vials, which are a far more hygienic option. I have been using a particular Japanese brand for years, which is designed specifically for contact lens wearers, effectively fights eye dryness and can be used while wearing contact lenses: "Iris CL-I Neo" by Taisho Pharm. Co., Ltd. I either get them sent directly from Japan or buy them at larger Japanese supermarkets (Japan is the land of eye drops. Japanese people love using eye drops and have truly perfected this particular category of products). There are also a number of options available at www.drugstore.com, including Bausch & Lomb's "Advanced Eye Relief Lubricant Eye Drops, Preservative-free ($10 for 32 vials), "TheraTears Lubricant Eye Drops, Single-Use Containers" ($12.50 for 32 vials) and Allergan's "Refresh Plus Lubricant Eye Drops, Single Use" ($20 for 70 vials).

Lastly: Maximize productive sleep

No crème or eye drops can make up for lack of rest. We all would like to get more sleep, but sometimes, especially during hectic times like now, it just isn't possible to get 8 hours of sleep every night. While eventually you will have to take the time and seriously catch up on sleep a couple of nights in a row, there are little things you can do to make available sleep hours more effective: Wear ear plugs if you live in a noisy neighborhood, wear an eye mask if you are light sensitive, drink caffeinated beverages only once a day in the morning, wear noise cancelling headphones if you travel frequently and overnight, don't snooze for more than 10 minutes, etc. Remember: Sleep is your most precious beauty aid!

Check out the skincare line Yoshiko started with her Asian sisters www.juaraskincare.com