It happens. Not enough sleep, allergies, maybe a few too many glasses of wine the night before and “Hello, dark circles under the eyes!” Sometimes it’s just a matter of genetics. That certainly seems to be the case for me. I have pale skin and those lovely veins under my eyes seem to want all the attention. Once my grandfather saw me without makeup and, with great concern, innocently asked if someone hit me. I mean really.
So as you can imagine, I’m always on the lookout for ways to deal with those annoying under eye circles. First, I must have a good concealer, something that will cover those veins and lighten the under eye area without looking heavy or collecting in fine lines. Over the years, I’ve learned that that’s a tall order so I’m here to share a couple of excellent performers.
- Awake Invention Stretch Concealer is a pretty heavy-duty concealer that doesn’t look fake. It provides excellent, long-lasting coverage with a soft, matte finish. They call it a “stretch” concealer, because they’ve done something magical to make it “stretch” to keep up with your facial movements and not crease. It also contains Rosehip oil to hydrate the skin. Awesome.
- 100% Pure Peach Pigmented Brightening Concealer provides lighter coverage but also does a great job. It covers well and looks very natural. I love how it reflects light and really brightens my eyes. It’s 100% natural and vegetarian with an impressive list of ingredients, including caffeine-rich green tea and coffee (read more about caffeine below), anti-aging vitamins, antioxidants, and nourishing blackcurrant oil. It gets its color from the peaches, carrots, squash, lavender, and apricots so apparently you’re also getting a serving of fruits and vegetables when you put it on. Delightful.
Choose a color that is as close to your skin color as possible. Don’t go too light or you’ll get a gorgeous reverse-raccoon look. When choosing a concealer, try it on and step outside to see what it looks like in natural light. What looks like a good match under store lights may be totally off.
I also take some simple steps to treat and prevent under eye circles.
- Natural Eye Compresses. Got some extra time on your hands? Chill a couple teabags and place them on your eyes for about 15 minutes. Use black or green tea, something with caffeine in it – it’s the caffeine that transforms those circles. Cool cucumber slices also make excellent compresses. The acid in the cucumber decreases puffiness.
- Hydrate. Drink plenty of water. Dehydration can lead to under eye circles. You need to drink about 64 ounces of water each day. I know people typically say drink eight glasses a day and that sounds like a lot. But an average glass is actually about 12 to 16 ounces, so you really only need to drink four or five of those. You’ll need to drink more if you eat a lot of salty foods.
- Snub the Rub. Here’s a simple trick. Even if you have allergies, don’t rub your eyes! Rubbing irritates the skin and can break down the blood vessels under the skin.
With a good concealer and these tips, Grandpa no longer has to worry that I’ve taken up boxing. Got any tricks up your sleeves you’d like to share? I’d love to hear about what you do.
Image by Riot Jane
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
I put cold teaspoons in the freezer and then hold them under my eyes! It doesn’t help the colour (my undereyes are naturally dark, boo) but it does help when they’re puffy - and it feels lovely, too.
Great article! It reminds me to try the caffeine roll-on you recommended before.
i totally have puffy eyes… i see them in the reflection of the train windows, it’s really bad. i’ll have to try this.
Love sunglasses!
me too… i wish i had that pair
I always have bags under my eyes and ive heard a lot about the tea bags remedy, i think I might try it
i hear the ysl touche elcat (im sure i butchered the spelling), does miracles. but ehh..one of these days i’ll try it for myself.
until then i love sunglasses.
Give allergies some serious consideration. I know when I stopped eating dairy (I noticed I was very lactose-intolerant) my dark circles lightened up considerably.
I remember this new girl came to our high school, sophomore year, and she had the dark patches on her eyes. For a minute there, she was the most interesting girl in school.
❤ Amy, I’ll have to give the cold teaspoons on the try after a rough night. The roll-on article was actually written by Kezia. Maybe I’ll pick up one of those, too.
❤ Jennine, isn’t that the worst?!
❤ Miss Urbanita, thank goodness for sunglasses!
❤ Chic Looks, let me know if you find it helpful.
❤ Pret, I tried the YSL a long time ago. But it didn’t do much for me.
❤ Macy, thanks for the tip. But I’m not sure I have the strength to give up dairy.
❤ Cas, that’s an interesting perspective. I wonder if people think I’m more interesting, because of my circles. I think they may just think I look tired.
Great, informative post - thank you! I remember when ysl touche elcat first became popular and seeing several women in one room with that reverse racoon look you mentioned! it didn’t do much for me, but i have a similar product from chanel that i have pretty good luck with. now i really want to try the 100% Pure Peach Pigmented Brightening Concealer you mentioned - that sounds marvelous!
I use leave teabags in the fridge and pull them out if I’ve been out all night. It seems to do the trick it’s the same idea as using a frozen spoon to wake up under your eyes. YSL Touche Eclat concealer is amazing and Dior has one thats almost good enough to match.
after reading this I had extra glass of water.
Yep, I cant’ get rid of my circles so I just decided to live with them just lightly hiding should do fine. Those two suggestions sound good to me.
I´m not hip enough to wear sunglasses, i just walk totally fucked up into the bureau
❤ Gail, that’s a great visual – all those women with reverse-raccoon eyes! I think you will like the 100% Pure concealer. It works well and I love that it’s so natural.
❤ Cammielle, cold teabags are great! Thanks for sharing your experience about YSL and Dior. I’ve long been a fan of their products.
❤ Songy, I love that I inspired you to drink more water! Water works wonders in so many ways. Getting enough is so great for our health and that shows up in our skin. But yes, I don’t expect my under eye circles to ever just go away so I just accept them and always keep a trusted concealer on hand.
❤ CK, another great visual! I love that!
I inherited my raccoon eyes from my mother. Ugh. Anyway, what I found works for me is an eye cream called Extreme Eye Rescue by Isabella Pelle. I searched high and low for an eye cream that helped with dark undereye circles and puffiness - and this is it for me. It’s fairly inexpensive and does what it says it does. It’s done a great job of reducing my undereye darkness and my puffiness is completely gone. I also feel that the skin around my eyes looks younger, probably due to the retinol in it. As an added bonus, the company offers free shipping on all orders - which is great b/c every penny counts these days! Check them out online
.
All eye creams seem to come in tiny .5oz / 15ml containers - which is a waste of money…i like the Made from Earth Olive Night creme because its a large 2 ounce container and has worked WONDERS under my eyes and wrinkles on the sides of my face.
I really enjoy the Olive Night creme - I use it as an under eye cream as recommended by their website. My routine has been putting some of the cream along my lower lid and then gently rubing under my eyes before i go to bed at night. The cream stays put, and doesn’t get into my eyes. It also doesn’t have any fumes or aromas to make my eyes water since it is organic and chemical free. I’m the one whose eyes will tear if our cat wanders next to me and rubs my shoulder, so my eyes are generally rather sensitive.
I use this each morning and evening. I really can tell the difference, that my eyes look less tired, that the skin looks more healthy. And really, it makes sense. All skin needs moisture to stay healthy. That skin beneath and around your eyes is extremely thin, so if any skin on your body is going to show dehydration first, it would be your eyes. People look at your eyes all the time when they talk to you, so they notice that pretty quickly.
The downside of course is that eye cream is rather pricey - but again, for the above reasons, I don’t think it’s as bad as it might seem at first. You use tiny amounts. The cream is specially formulated to be safe for use near your eyes, and to be light enough to absorb into that delicate skin. You really DO need to take care of that skin area in a special way, since the skin is so delicate. And it’s well worth it to do that, since people who talk to you are generally looking at your face and your eyes when they do so.
I tend to be frugal, but this is one of the areas where I think taking good care of yourself is worth it in the long run. I bought from the website because I believe they only have stores in London and New York - highly recommended for healthy women looking for an under eye with proven results!
I have used lot of home made remedies for dark under eye circles like
- cool cucumbers
- cool tea bags
- face moisturising creams
- cool water splashes
After all these I still could not see any visible improvement in my dark circle eyes. After asking around my girlfriends, I tried the Revitol Eye Cream and it showed a marked improvement in my dark under eye circles.
So Try it out. Also one of my workmate tried the Isabella Pelle and she loves it.
{ 1 trackback }