One of the worst things to be told is, “You Look Tired.” We’ve all had them at one point on our lives- dark under eye circles. Most people think they are caused by a lack of sleep. There are actually many other reasons why we get these dark circles. Causes of dark under eye circles include:
- Allergies
- Heredity
- Lifestyle Factors (smoking/drinking)
- Nasal congestion
- Sun exposure
One way of ridding yourself of dark circles is going down the surgical route, but most of us would like to avoid that if possible. Here are some things that you can do at home to reduce the appearance of the circles.
Eat right: The key to great skin is a balanced diet. Avoid salty foods, as this causes your body to retain water, which contributes to bloating and puffiness under your eyes. Along with this, you need to make sure you drink a lot of water, to flush out toxins in your body.
Use a cold compress: A cold compress or even cooled, used teabags will temporarily reduce swelling and discoloration.
Sleep: A lack of sleep makes you look paler, hence displaying your circles more, so make sure you get a good amount of sleep and keep your head elevated so fluid doesn’t pool up in your lower eyelids.
Saline spray: Nasal congestion could cause you to have under eye circles. An over-the-counter nasal spray can help prevent blood vessel dilation.
Concealer: Finding the right concealer to cover up your under eye circles can be a tough task. Go to Sephora or a department store and test out different shades and types of concealers to find which best suits your face. A rule of thumb is to choose a concealer one shade lighter than your foundation. If you have very dark circles, you can even go two shades lighter. Be careful though, because a concealer that is too light will give you a “raccoon” look!
Vitamin K: Find an eye cream that contains Vitamin K. These will help strengthen capillary walls so the dark circles will be less visible.
Although getting completely rid of your under eye circles is very difficult, there are things you can be doing at home to change their dominance on your face so they are less noticeable, which is ultimately what you want! Here are two products that I personally like:
Lancome’s EFFACERNES – Waterproof Protective Undereye Concealer that covers dark circles and the appearance of fine lines & wrinkles.
Korres Evening Primrose Eye Cream – A great eye cream with Vitamin K.
Another way to distract attention from dark circles is to make your whole face brighter and more radiant overall, which reduces the “You Look Tired” comments. Try JUARA Skincare’s Sweet Black Tea and Rice Facial Moisturizer. The JUARA Turmeric Antioxidant Radiance Mask is also a good one to give you an overall glow (while it detoxes and purifies.) An extra bonus – since Turmeric is such a great antioxidant, to that theme, we’re donating 10% of sales of this mask to support Breast Cancer Awareness to Cancer & Careers through December 2010. It’s an organization that helps women in the workplace with cancer so let’s support them!
Do you have special tricks, tips, or products you love that help with dark under-eye circles? Do share!
