How to Treat Wrinkles Around the Eyes at Home With MimiSilk Iris

The skin around your eyes is the first place aging shows—and the last place most people feel confident treating. Eye-area skin is about a third as thick as the skin on your cheeks, has fewer oil glands, and folds thousands of times a day every time you smile, squint, or blink. It's also the area where every customer asks us the same question: "Is it safe to use a laser device this close to my eyes?"

The short answer is yes—when you use the right tool the right way. MimiSilk Iris is one of the few home-use fractional lasers that is FDA-cleared specifically for treating wrinkles around the eyes, and this blog walks through exactly how to use it on crow's feet, hooded lids, and undereye lines—including the specific technique you need for the orbital bone and for lifting hooded eyelids out of the way.

Table of contents

• Why eye-area wrinkles are different
• How the Iris works on the eye area
• The exact technique: how to use Iris around the eyes safely
• What to expect after each session
• When to skip the eye area entirely
• Conclusion

Why eye-area wrinkles are different

Eye-area wrinkles show up earlier than wrinkles anywhere else on the face for a few interconnected reasons:

• The skin is thinner. Periorbital skin is approximately 0.5mm thick, compared with 1.5mm on the cheek. Thin skin has less collagen to spare and shows the earliest signs of loss.
• Movement is constant. You blink 15–20 times per minute. Add squinting, smiling, and screen-strain expressions, and you have hundreds of thousands of folds per year compressing the same lines.
• Sun damage concentrates here. Most sunscreens stop short of the lash line because users worry about stinging. Decades of unprotected UV exposure accumulate in exactly the area that can least afford it.
• Volume loss exaggerates fine lines. As the fat pads under and around the eye thin out, the overlying skin has less support, and what were once dynamic lines become static creases.

This is why creams alone—even very good ones—only go so far around the eyes. The problem isn't only on the surface; it's in the dermal scaffold underneath. To improve the look of eye-area wrinkles, you need to rebuild collagen and elastin where they've thinned. That's exactly what the Iris does.

How the Iris works on the eye area

MimiSilk Iris is a 1450nm non-ablative fractional laser, FDA-cleared for home use and specifically for periorbital wrinkles—the technical name for wrinkles around the eyes. It uses tiny beams of 1450nm light to gently warm the deeper layers of skin, which signals your body to produce new collagen and elastin over the following weeks.

Around the eyes, that translates into three measurable changes:

1. Softer crow's feet.
Crow's feet are fine lines that fan out from the outer corner of the eye. They start as dynamic lines (visible only when you smile) and gradually become static lines (visible at rest). By rebuilding the collagen and elastin scaffold in this area, Iris helps both—softening static lines and giving the skin more "snap-back" against dynamic ones.

2. Smoother, firmer upper eyelid and brow area.
The skin from the eyebrow down to the lash line loses elasticity earlier than the cheek. As collagen returns, the area looks slightly tighter, and the eyebrow position can appear gently lifted. This is the area where hooded lids show—more on the technique below.

3. Less crinkled, more refreshed-looking undereye skin.
Fine "crepey" lines under the eye respond well to collagen remodelling because the cause is structural, not pigmentary. Iris won't lighten dark circles caused by blood vessels or pigment, but it will smooth the texture of the undereye skin, which often makes circles look less prominent as a side effect.

A small note: Iris has a dedicated PERIORBITAL mode built specifically for the eye, and it has a short treatment time compared to other parts of the face—so the eye-area portion of your session is over in well under a minute.

The exact technique: how to use Iris around the eyes safely

This is the part most users ask about, and the part the user manual covers in less detail than you might want. Here's the full breakdown.

Setting and mode

• Use PERIORBITAL mode for the eye area—upper eyelid, crow's feet, and undereye. This mode is purpose-built for the delicate, thin skin around the eye and upper lip; it's calibrated so the device delivers the right pulse pattern and timing for this zone.
• Start at level 1 for your first few sessions, even if you've used home laser devices before. The eye area can produce a stronger stinging sensation than the cheek at the same energy, especially the first time. You can progress to level 2 or 3 once your skin is comfortably tolerating level 1.
• No gel. Iris is designed to work on dry, clean skin—gel can scatter the light and reduce results.

The upper eyelid and orbital bone

The single most important rule:

Do not aim the device at the eyeball itself. Always glide along the orbital bone—the bony ridge that surrounds your eye socket.

In practice, this means treating the area from your eyebrow down to where you can feel the bony rim under your skin, but stopping before the soft skin of the lid that lies directly over the eyeball. Keep your eye gently closed throughout, and move at the same slow, steady pace (about 1 cm per second) you use on the rest of your face. Keep the device flat against the skin at a 90-degree angle.

Hooded eyes: lift, then scan

If you have hooded eyelids—where the upper eyelid skin folds down over the crease and partially covers the orbital area—the bony rim of the eye socket can be hard to reach. The technique is straightforward:

Gently lift the eyelid skin upward with one finger (placed on the eyebrow or just above it) so the orbital area is exposed, then scan along the orbital bone with the other hand.

This is the same technique many users already use for applying eye cream under a hooded lid. The goal is to let the device reach the bony rim and the crow's-feet zone without you having to press into the eyeball area. Don't pull the skin tight—a gentle lift is enough.

Crow's feet

This is the easiest eye-area zone to treat:

• Avoid the eyelashes and the corner of the eye itself.
• One slow, steady pass is enough; you do not need to overlap heavily.

What to expect after each session

A few normal reactions:

• Slight redness in the eye area, similar to a mild sun-flush. This typically fades within 15–20 minutes after you apply a soothing facial mask.
• A warm or tingly feeling that lasts a few minutes after treatment.
• No downtime. You can resume your normal evening routine the same night.

A few practical aftercare tips that work especially well for the eye area:

• Use a hydrating mask (hyaluronic-acid or aloe-based) immediately after your session. This is the fastest way to bring the redness down.
• Use the Iris in the evening rather than the morning. The skin has all night to settle.
• *Apply SPF 30+ PA++++* every morning. The eye area is the most sun-vulnerable part of your face, and UV undoes the collagen work you just did.
• Skip your retinoid eye cream and any AHA/BHA exfoliant for the entirety of your 8-week Iris cycle. These are not safe to combine with the device.

When to skip the eye area entirely

Use the rest of the device on your face, but avoid the eye zone if:

• You have recent eye-area procedures (Botox, fillers, blepharoplasty, etc.)—wait the recommended interval (typically three months after Botox; six months after HA filler; longer after surgery). Talk to your provider if you're unsure.
• You have any active irritation, broken skin, or eye infection (conjunctivitis, styes, weeping eczema).
• You're recovering from a recent clinic laser, peel, or microneedling treatment in the eye area.

And skip Iris entirely if any of the universal contraindications apply: pregnancy, under 18, active retinoid/AHA/BHA/isotretinoin/antibiotic use within the past four weeks, or recent tanning or sunburn.

Conclusion

Wrinkles around the eyes respond beautifully to the MimiSilk Iris because the device is doing exactly what eye-area skin needs: rebuilding collagen and elastin in a layer that creams cannot reach. The key is technique. Use PERIORBITAL mode, start at level 1, always glide along the orbital bone (not over the eyeball), and gently lift hooded lids out of the way so the orbital area is reachable. Treat the eye area as part of your normal 8-weeks-on, 4-weeks-off cycle, follow with a hydrating mask, and protect with SPF every morning.

The eye area is the first place aging shows—and with the right tool used the right way, it can also be the first place you see real, lasting change.

Safety note: The MimiSilk Iris is intended for adults 18 and older and is not safe during pregnancy. Always read your device manual before use. Stop use and consult a professional if you experience persistent irritation, swelling, or any reaction outside what is described in the user guide.

Sources

Liu Y. et al. The 1450-nm Diode Laser Reduces Redness and Porphyrin in Acne Patients. PMC, 2023. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10342391

Sorbellini E. et al. Low-level red plus near infrared lights combination induces collagen and elastin expression in fibroblasts. Lasers Med Sci, 2021. Pubmed 33594706. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33594706