What Are Crows Feet? Causes, Treatments & Prevention Tips

We’ve all heard of them, and many of us have them. But what exactly are crows feet? They’re the fine lines that branch out from the outer corners of your eyes, often showing up most when you smile or squint.

You might hear them called smile lines or, in clinical terms, lateral canthal lines. But whatever you call them, they're a completely natural part of how your skin tells the story of your life.

What Your Smile Lines Say About You

Before we get into the science, let's take a moment to appreciate these lines. They aren't flaws. They are beautiful imprints of every laugh, every moment of pure joy, and every heartfelt smile you've ever shared. They trace the map of your unique emotional journey.

Understanding what crows feet are is the first step toward caring for this delicate area with confidence. Think about it: these lines appear in the thinnest skin on your entire face, a spot that’s constantly moving with your expressions.

Every time you squint at the sun or laugh with a loved one, the tiny muscles around your eyes contract, folding the skin. Over the years, these temporary creases can settle in and become more permanent features. It's a sign of a life well-lived.

Crows Feet At A Glance

This table provides a snapshot of the key characteristics of crows feet, helping you build a clear picture right from the start.

Characteristic	Description
Common Names	Crows Feet, Smile Lines, Laughter Lines
Clinical Term	Lateral Canthal Lines
Location	Fan out from the outer corners of the eyes
Appearance	Fine lines or deeper wrinkles
Primary Cause	Repetitive muscle contractions from your facial expressions
Key Factor	The skin around your eyes is exceptionally thin and delicate

Understanding these basics is your first practical step to exploring how to best care for the skin around your eyes.

Why The Eye Area Is So Unique

The skin around your eyes is fundamentally different from the rest of your face. This is precisely why it’s often the first place you'll notice signs of ageing. Imagine it as the finest silk compared to the more durable cotton of your cheeks or forehead.

Here’s what makes it so special:

• It’s Thinner: The skin here is significantly more delicate, with less natural cushioning. This means any loss of collagen is more visible.

• Fewer Oil Glands: With less natural oil (sebum) production, this area is prone to dryness. Practically speaking, this means keeping it hydrated is non-negotiable if you want to soften the look of lines.

• Constant Movement: Think about it—it’s one of the most expressive parts of your face. Those muscles are working overtime all day, every day.

Your smile lines are a testament to your experiences. Embracing them doesn't mean you can't also nourish and protect the delicate skin where they appear. It's about empowering yourself with knowledge, not erasing your history.

The desire to soften these lines has made their treatment a huge focus in aesthetic medicine. In the UK, the market for crows feet treatments is part of a booming sector, which is expected to grow by around 2.61% annually over the next ten years. You can discover more about the trends in the UK crow's feet treatment market and see just how many people are on this journey with you.

This isn't about chasing an impossible ideal. It’s about feeling your absolute best—refreshed, revitalised, and completely confident in your own skin.

Why Smile Lines Form Around Your Eyes

Think about a piece of paper you’ve folded over and over in the same spot. That line becomes a permanent crease, doesn't it? The delicate skin around your eyes works in a surprisingly similar way, telling the story of a life filled with expression.

Every time you smile, laugh, or squint into the bright UK sun, the tiny muscles around your eyes pull the skin into a fold. When you're young, your skin is incredibly resilient and just springs right back. But over the years, those temporary expression lines start to stick around.

It's a beautiful, natural process, really. These lines are the physical evidence of your joy and your focus, etched right where everyone can see them.

What’s Happening Under the Skin?

So, what’s the big change that makes these creases permanent? It all comes down to two superstar proteins in your skin: collagen and elastin.

Think of collagen as the scaffolding that gives your skin its firm structure and support. Elastin, on the other hand, is like a network of tiny elastic bands, giving your skin that amazing ability to snap back into place after you stretch or smile.

The catch is, as we get older, our bodies start to slow down their production of both. In fact, research shows that after you hit 20, you lose about 1% of your collagen every single year. This slow decline means your skin's supportive framework gets weaker and it loses that youthful bounce.

Practically, this means that without that strong foundation of collagen and elastin, your skin simply can't rebound from your daily facial expressions anymore. The lines that used to vanish when your face was at rest begin to linger, eventually becoming the crow's feet you know so well.

Why the Eye Area is Always First to Show Ageing

It's certainly no accident that the skin around your eyes is often the first place to betray your age. This area is uniquely fragile for a few important reasons, making it a perfect canvas for the story of your life.

• It's Incredibly Thin: The skin here is up to 40% thinner than the skin on the rest of your face. With less of a fatty cushion for support, it's just more prone to creasing.

• It's Always Moving: The muscle that circles your eye, the orbicularis oculi, is one of the busiest in your entire body. It’s working constantly as you blink, squint, and smile—actions you do thousands upon thousands of times a day.

• It's Naturally Drier: This delicate skin has fewer oil glands, which means it's naturally more susceptible to dryness and, you guessed it, fine lines. The practical takeaway? Keeping it well-hydrated is absolutely essential to help it stay plump and smooth.

Getting to grips with this delicate balance between your expressions and your skin’s biology is the first step. It’s not about waging a war against ageing, but about understanding and supporting your skin's health so it can continue to reflect your story beautifully.

Lifestyle Factors That Deepen Crow's Feet

While the natural passing of time and our beautiful expressions play the leading roles in our skin’s story, our daily habits are powerful co-authors. Understanding what crow's feet are involves looking beyond biology to the lifestyle choices you have the power to shape every single day.

These external factors can either protect your skin's delicate structure or speed up the very changes you wish to slow. By becoming mindful of them, you can take meaningful steps to nurture the skin around your eyes, keeping it as vibrant and healthy as possible.

The Impact Of Sun Exposure

If there's one single factor that has the most dramatic impact on skin ageing, it’s unprotected sun exposure. Think of the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays as tiny wrecking balls for your skin’s supportive framework.

Each moment your skin is exposed without protection, these rays penetrate deep into its layers, actively breaking down precious collagen and elastin fibres. This process, known as photoageing, is the primary reason why even people who don't smoke or who have less expressive faces still develop crow's feet.

The cumulative effect of sun exposure is profound. As a practical tip, consistent, daily protection isn't just a suggestion—it's the single most empowering action you can take to preserve your skin's firmness and resilience against premature lines.

Smoking and Its Effect On Skin

Beyond the well-known health risks, smoking quite literally suffocates your skin. It constricts the tiny blood vessels in your face, drastically cutting down the supply of oxygen and essential nutrients that your skin cells need to repair and regenerate.

This nutrient starvation weakens your skin, making it less able to bounce back from daily expressions and far more susceptible to forming deep-set wrinkles. In the UK, where around 17.7% of adults smoked in 2023, the habit is a major contributor to accelerated skin ageing. Research confirms a strong link between smoking and the earlier, more severe development of facial lines, including crow's feet. You can find out more by exploring how smoking affects your appearance on the ASH UK factsheet.

Unconscious Habits That Leave a Mark

Even seemingly harmless daily routines can etch crow's feet into our skin over the years. These are the small, repetitive actions that really add up over time.

• Sleep Position: Consistently sleeping on your side or stomach can press your face into the pillow, causing the delicate skin around your eyes to fold and crease for hours at a time. Over many years, these "sleep lines" can become permanent fixtures. A silk pillowcase can help reduce some of that friction.

• Repetitive Squinting: Whether from forgetting your sunglasses on a bright day or straining to see a screen, frequent squinting forces the orbicularis oculi muscle to contract repeatedly. This action deepens the lines at the corners of your eyes, almost like folding a piece of paper in the same place over and over again.

Making small, conscious changes—like sleeping on your back when possible or always having sunglasses handy—is a simple yet effective way to support your skin's long-term health. It’s all about building a lifestyle that works in harmony with your skin, not against it.

Your Proactive Plan For Smoother Skin

Once you understand what's behind those little lines around your eyes, you can move from just reacting to them to actively preventing them. Creating a proactive plan isn't about adding complicated, time-consuming steps to your day. It’s about building simple, powerful habits that become your skin's best defence, safeguarding its smooth, vibrant future.

This journey starts with your most essential ally: a broad-spectrum sunscreen. Think of it as your daily armour, shielding your skin from those collagen-destroying UV rays we talked about. And no, this isn't just for sunny holidays. It's an absolute must for every single day, even when the classic British clouds are out in full force.

Honestly, consistent SPF application is the single most effective thing you can do to slow down the formation of fine lines around your eyes.

Shield Your Eyes From Daily Strain

Beyond sunscreen, your choice of accessories can make a surprisingly big difference. Popping on a pair of sunglasses with 100% UV protection is an easy habit with a two-fold reward.

First, they provide a physical barrier, shielding the delicate skin around your eyes from direct sun. Second—and this is just as important—they stop you from constantly squinting. Every single time you squint, you're contracting the very muscles that etch crow's feet into your skin. Giving those muscles a break makes a world of difference.

Your daily choices really do add up. Small, consistent acts of protection, like grabbing your sunnies before heading out, compound over time to create a profound impact.

Nourish Your Skin From The Inside Out

What you put into your body is every bit as important as what you put on your skin. A diet packed with antioxidants can help your body fight off environmental damage from within.

Try weaving more of these skin-loving foods into your meals:

• Berries and Dark Leafy Greens: Loaded with vitamins that help protect your skin cells.

• Nuts and Seeds: Rich in Vitamin E, a fantastic antioxidant that supports skin health.

• Colourful Vegetables: Think bell peppers and carrots. They contain carotenoids that can help bolster your skin's defences against sun damage.

These simple dietary tweaks support your skin's natural resilience, helping it stay firm and healthy. For more advice on building a solid skincare strategy, take a look at our expert tips on how to maintain healthy skin in the UK. Your path to smoother, more radiant skin is built on these foundational, empowering habits.

Effective Treatments To Soften Eye Wrinkles

If you’re starting to notice those fine lines around your eyes and want to soften their appearance, you’re in the right place. There’s a wonderful range of solutions out there, from powerful skincare you can use at home to professional treatments that deliver more dramatic results. It's all about discovering what feels right for you and your skin.

The journey to smoother, more refreshed-looking eyes starts with understanding what we're up against.

As you can see, while your expressions are part of the story, the biggest factor is the gradual loss of collagen—your skin's natural scaffolding. This is where you can really focus your efforts.

Powerful At-Home Skincare

Think of your daily skincare routine as the foundation of everything. Consistency is everything here, and with the right approach, you can make a real, visible difference over time, rebuilding and protecting that delicate skin.

So, what should you look for on the ingredients list?

• Retinoids: These are the undisputed champions of anti-ageing. They work deep within the skin to fire up collagen production, helping to firm things up and visibly reduce the depth of lines. A great starting point for many.

• Peptides: Think of these as little messengers. They signal your skin cells to get busy making more collagen and elastin, which is essential for that firm, bouncy feel.

• Hyaluronic Acid: A true hydration hero. This incredible molecule pulls moisture into the skin, plumping it from the inside out and making fine lines look instantly smoother. It's a quick fix for surface dehydration.

Choosing a high-quality eye cream packed with these ingredients is a brilliant first step. While it won't magically erase deep-set wrinkles, it provides the essential nourishment your skin is crying out for.

Professional In-Clinic Treatments

For those who want to see more significant and faster results, professional treatments offer a direct and highly effective route. These procedures are designed to get right to the heart of the matter, targeting the underlying causes of wrinkles.

Let's start with a look at some of the most popular options to help you see what might work best for you.

Comparing Crows Feet Treatment Options

The table below breaks down some of the most effective treatments available, from at-home heroes to in-clinic powerhouses, giving you a clearer picture of what each one offers.

Treatment	How It Works	Best For	Average Cost (UK)
Topical Retinoids	Stimulates collagen production and cell turnover over time.	Mild to moderate lines; prevention and long-term maintenance.	£30 - £150 (product)
Botox® Injections	Relaxes the muscles that cause wrinkles when you squint or smile.	Dynamic wrinkles (lines that appear with movement); moderate to deep lines.	£175 - £350 (per area)
Dermal Fillers	Injects hyaluronic acid to add subtle volume and support to the skin.	Static wrinkles (lines present at rest) and associated volume loss.	£250 - £500 (per syringe)
Laser Resurfacing	Removes outer skin layers, triggering a healing response that builds new collagen.	Deeper static wrinkles, skin texture issues, and sun damage.	£400 - £2,000 (per session)

Ultimately, choosing a treatment is a personal decision based on your specific goals, lifestyle, and comfort level.

One of the most trusted and well-known options is Botox. Since it was first approved, Botox (onabotulinumtoxinA) has become the number one treatment for crow's feet, not just in the UK but around the world. It works by gently relaxing the tiny muscles that contract when you smile, allowing the skin to smooth out. The result is a dramatic softening of those lines. Countless studies back up its effectiveness and safety, with people consistently reporting how happy they are with the results.

In-clinic treatments aren’t about creating an unnatural look. A skilled practitioner works to soften lines while preserving your natural expressions, leaving you looking refreshed—never frozen.

Of course, Botox isn't the only path. Other brilliant in-clinic options include:

• Dermal Fillers: While we often think of fillers for adding volume to cheeks or lips, they can be used with incredible finesse to support the skin under the eyes, which in turn helps to smooth out the nearby crow's feet.

• Laser Resurfacing: This is a fantastic option for rejuvenating the skin's surface. It uses focused light to trigger the skin's natural healing process, kick-starting a wave of new collagen for a firmer, smoother finish.

To dive deeper into the world of professional options, take a look at our comprehensive guide on the 10 best anti-aging treatments for youthful skin in 2025.

Your Questions Answered: A Guide to Crow's Feet

Embarking on any new skincare journey is bound to bring up questions. That's a good thing! Being curious and informed is the first step towards making choices that truly empower you and celebrate your skin. We've compiled a few of the most common questions we hear about crow's feet to help guide you with clarity and confidence.

At What Age Do Crow's Feet Typically Start To Appear?

Honestly, there’s no set-in-stone age when smile lines decide to show up. For some people, those first faint lines might appear in their late 20s, especially if you have a very animated face or have spent years basking in the sun without proper protection.

For others, they might not become a concern until their late 30s or even their 40s. It’s a story that’s uniquely yours, shaped heavily by your genes and your lifestyle. The practical takeaway? You can start taking brilliant care of your skin at any age. Simple habits like daily sunscreen and wearing sunglasses are your best defence for keeping your skin looking smooth and healthy for years to come.

Can Eye Creams Really Get Rid Of Crow's Feet?

A well-formulated eye cream is a non-negotiable part of a great skincare routine, and it can absolutely make a visible difference. It’s best to see them as your skin's most loyal ally rather than a magic wand, especially when it comes to deeper, more established lines.

Think of the ingredients as your personal skin support team:

• Retinoids are like a personal trainer for your skin, encouraging it to produce more collagen over time. This helps plump up the area from within, making lines appear softer.

• Peptides are the supportive friends, sending signals to your skin to feel firmer and more resilient.

• Hyaluronic acid is like a huge drink of water, drenching the skin in hydration and temporarily smoothing out the surface.

The practical insight is this: an eye cream is your daily ritual, a commitment to your skin's long-term health. It’s a crucial tool for both prevention and maintenance, and it works in beautiful synergy with professional treatments for more significant results.

Is Botox For Crow's Feet Safe And Does It Look Natural?

When administered by a skilled and qualified medical professional, Botox is widely considered a very safe and reliable treatment for softening crow's feet. The real artistry of a great practitioner isn’t about freezing your expressions; it's about gently relaxing the specific muscles that cause the skin to crease so deeply.

A beautifully done treatment means you can still smile, laugh, and show every ounce of joy you feel—just with smoother skin around your eyes. The goal is always to look refreshed and well-rested, never frozen or "done." The most important practical step for you is to do your homework, find a medically qualified practitioner, and make sure you feel completely comfortable with their approach before moving forward.

Are There Any Natural Or DIY Remedies That Work?

While the internet is filled with tempting DIY remedies, their effects on crow's feet are usually superficial and short-lived. For instance, placing cool cucumber slices or tea bags on your eyes feels wonderful and can help with puffiness, which might make fine lines look a little less noticeable for a short while.

Likewise, natural oils like coconut or almond oil are fantastic moisturisers. They can hydrate the delicate skin wonderfully, which can temporarily plump up the finest of lines. But these remedies don't get to the root cause of wrinkles—the loss of collagen and the repeated muscle movements happening deep beneath the surface.

While they can be a lovely part of a self-care ritual, for meaningful, lasting change, you'll always get better results from evidence-based skincare and professional guidance. To learn more, dive into our complete guide to reducing wrinkles under the eyes for a deeper look at effective strategies.

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At YOUTHFUL REVIVAL, we believe in enhancing your natural beauty with subtle, expert care. If you have more questions or are ready to explore personalised treatment options in a welcoming and professional environment, we invite you to book a consultation with us today.