Dry skin beneath the eyes is one of the most common skin care problems.

Most of us have tried remedies for this problem, often for years, and the lack of effectiveness of products for dry skin around the eyes causes a lot of stress and anxiety -- with pretty good reason.

For one thing, the dry skin often leads to dark circles around the eyes. For another, we worry that bags and wrinkles are bound to come next. After a certain age, the bags and wrinkles usually become a fact -- and many products, including many very expensive ones, aren't much help.

So what can we do?

Of course you must follow the basic rules of good health. To look and feel youthful, you need to eat natural, healthy food, drink plenty of water and get regular exercise. Try to ignore those basic facts of taking care of your health, and any treatment for dry skin beneath the eyes has a lot of strikes to overcome.

So assuming you're treating yourself and your body with respect, here are some keys to finding an effective treatment for reversing that dry skin around your eyes.

1. It's a highly sensitive area, and any treatment must be gentle and must be applied with some care, to keep from irritating easily damaged skin, and to keep the treatment out of the eyes themselves.

2. Avoid these ingredients, some of the most common found in facial products: petrolatum or petroleum jelly (the ingredient in Vaseline), liquid paraffin, paraffin wax, or any mineral oil -- all of them clog the pores and strip the natural oils from the skin; PEG (polyethelene glycol), parabens (methyl, butyl and ethyl paraben) and acrylamide -- all suspected carcinogens.

3. Look for a product whose ingredients have been tested in clinical studies. And not just one ingredient; if all ingredients in a product for dry skin around your eyes haven't been tested for safety and effectiveness, what are they doing in a treatment for so sensitive an area of your face?

4. Satisfy yourself that the manufacturer has been keeping up with the latest science in skin care. It's not your job to track the research -- you have a busy life, after all. The manufacturer should be delighted to explain -- in simple English -- exactly what's in their product, and why each ingredient is there.