How to: Get Rid of Dark Eye Circles

Aw pandas. They are so cute, no? Their eyes are so soft and innocent – a look, however that does not suit humans… . I’m talking about dark eye circles. Dark eye circles and I are best friends. Or rather, she’s one of those friends that won’t go away even after several attempts to ditch her. Well, I’ve decided she and I should stop our toxic relationship, because she makes me look horrid; which lead me to this post.

OK seriously though – I have eye circles from hell. After realizing that concealer isn’t really doing anything anymore, I decided to dig deep as to what dark eye circles are and how to banish them for good. Unfortunately it’s not so good news.

What are the causes?

Even doctors agree that dark eye circles are difficult to treat. Most of the causes come from discoloration, poor blood circulation … and get this – your parents! Yup, dark eye circles is a combination of heredity and genetics.

Brownish colors are pigmentation common in dark skinned ladies, while purple and blues are a sign of bad circulation and poor sleeping patterns. Fragile and damanged blood vessels underneath the skin can also be a cause, as well as allergies.

How do we get rid of them?

Like I said – not too good news for us who suffer with dark eye circles. Fortunately, there are a few options out there:

• Sleep. It’s more effective than any cream or laser procedure. Unfortunately for us, 12 hours of sleep everynight is just not going to happen. A good 8 hours minimum should decrease some of the color in your eye circles. My post, 10 ways to get better sleep may be of interest too.

• Eye creams. Although they rarely do much work, its worth a try. I have some friends who swear by them, but me … well, I don’t think they work for me. (I’ve been using Clinique’s All About Eyes, though I think it’s great for prevention, it’s not really helping my dark eye circles). Either way, look for ingredients such as glycolic acid, which gently exfoliates. Vitamin C, Vitamin K and kojic acid are good for lightening, and green-tea is great for anti-inflammatory.

• Concealer. Yup, when all else fails, use makeup. I haven’t used many concealers but I highly recommend Benefit’s Boi-ing and Clinique’s Derma White Concealer. So far, they are the only ones that seems to banish my hideous eye circles.

• Read. As in, read this article, Skin Deep – Treating Dark Eye Circles, because it’s very informative. Also, I found a blog full of the quest to remove dark eye circles, My Dark Circles Blog. Really helpful stuff!

Sigh. This post is as dissapointing as my post about getting rid of cellulite! There are laser and plastic surgery options for dark eye circles as well, but if you are going to go down that road, I suggest you do your research very carefully and choose a doctor that has been recommended to you.

Do you suffer from dark eye circles? What products do you use? It’ll be great if my fellow dark eye circle sisters can give us all some recommendations or extra tips! Thanks in advance. :)