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Growth Factors: The Ingredient Changing How We Think About Undereye Hollows
July 2026 / Rose Beer
Growth Factors: The Ingredient Changing How We Think About Undereye Hollows
Rose Beer, Beauty & Health Director at The London Standard
Beauty and skincare writer covering ingredient innovation, skin health, and evidence-led cosmetic science.
A great concealer can disguise even the sleepiest eyes, but if yours no longer seems to be doing the trick, there is likely to be something more structural going on. While dark circles are often associated with late nights or pigmentation, the shadowy hollowing that develops beneath the eyes over time is usually driven by something else entirely: namely the gradual loss of skin density.
Why Under-Eye Hollows Happen
As we age, skin naturally becomes thinner and its underlying support network begins to decline. The undereye area - where skin is already among the finest and most delicate on the body - is often one of the first places to show these changes, creating a hollowed appearance that can make the face look tired, even when you’re well rested.
Unlike puffiness, which tends to be caused by fluid retention, or discolouration, which affects skin tone, undereye hollows are a structural change. However, increasingly, advances in skincare are helping to address the issue at a deeper level.
Meet Skin’s Natural Messengers
One of skincare’s most talked-about ingredient categories, growth factors have been studied for decades in regenerative medicine. Today, breakthroughs in biotechnology are enabling them to play an important role in skincare, too. But what exactly are they?
Naturally occurring proteins that act as microscopic chemical “messengers,” growth factors signal to skin cells when it’s time to grow, divide and repair. This communication plays an essential role in maintaining healthy skin by supporting its natural renewal processes. As we age, however, our production of growth factors declines, contributing to skin that is thinner and less resilient.
How Growth Factors Work in Skincare
In skincare, biomimetic growth factors, derived from plant and bacterial sources, are designed to mimic this natural communication. Engineered for stability, potency and skin compatibility, they help support the skin's natural repair processes.
It’s worth distinguishing growth factors from other advanced skincare ingredients too. While stem cells are associated with renewal and antioxidant protection, exosomes act as delivery vesicles, and peptides function as building blocks or targeted signalling molecules, growth factors support the communication that helps keep skin functioning best.
The Science Behind Smart Eye Density
Dermalogica Smart Eye Density applies this science to one of the face’s most delicate areas. The formula combines a Growth Factor Complex with a smart oleosomal delivery system, designed to help deliver the complex into the eye area, where it helps to visibly plump the appearance of undereye hollows, while supporting the restoration of lost volume and density over time.
And the data is compelling. In an independent clinical study of 33 subjects using Smart Eye Density twice daily for eight weeks, under-eye density increased by 129% after four weeks. In the same study, 97% of participants reported that their under-eyes felt more refined, resilient and revitalised after four weeks.
A Smart New Chapter in Skincare
No single ingredient or product can halt the aging process, nor should it claim too. But as our understanding of skin biology evolves at pace, the science is beginning to catch up with our cosmetic ambitions. Rather than simply masking visible changes, today’s most exciting innovations are focused on supporting the skin's natural ability to function at its healthiest.
Growth factors are a compelling example of this shift, offering a science-first approach to skin renewal and, in the case of Smart Eye Density, helping to promote skin density rather than simply disguising the shadows created by its gradual loss.
