What the dark circles under your eyes are telling you

under-eye-brighteners

Are you sick of always looking tired and trying to conceal those under eye circles? We asked an expert for some assistance, to better understand why some people are more prone to them than others. Plus, we explain the difference between puffiness and dark circles.

Dark circles
Firstly you need to determine what colour your rings are. Look in the mirror (in natural light) with your chin tilted down slightly. This will help you see the ring more clearly.

More blue: If your circles are more of a bluish shade, then they are caused by increased levels of oxygenated blood pooling in that area. The skin under the eye is very thin, hence the dark colour coming through, causing that dark circle. This could be caused by lack of sleep or poor circulation.

More brown: If your circles are more brown, it could be a genetic cause. It could also be from over exposure to the sun, excess eye rubbing or hyperpigmentation. This is usually more prevalent in darker skin tones.

Puffiness
Sonette Donker, Strategic Communications Manager for Dermalogica, says that puffiness could have two causes. “The first one is water retention and this is very easy to treat with skincare. Normally it is just the body holding onto water due to excess salt in the diet, but some individuals are genetically just prone to retaining water in their bodies. We suggest these individuals use an eye cream that contains ingredients such as caffeine and spiraea. These ingredients act as a ‘diuretic’ draining the excess fluid.” Sonette explains.

The second cause is a bit more complicated. “It is due to adipose tissue herniating through the muscle,” says Sonette. “As we get older, and we normally see this in individuals over the age of 50, our muscles weaken. Due to the weakened muscle around the eye, we now see these ‘bags’ that are always present. These must be surgically removed. These operations are normally very simple with a high success rate.”

 

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19 Responses

  1. That GOSH concealer is cheaper than I expected. I love me some under-eye concealer. It helps to really brighten my face. I think concealer is a girls best friend, next to the traditional diamond ;)

  2. I have blue under my eyes! And it is really awful I can’t change the hours I work! But I saw this and went and bought The Body Shop one, thank you so much!

  3. I am always struggling with very dark circles under my eyes and I have been searching everywhere for the perfect concealer to cover them up. Thanks for the advice, I will definitely be trying the above and will review my findings once I have them. Thanks!

  4. I am very dark so my circles are barely noticeable. My circles are probably because of hyper-pigmentation. I need to try some of the darker shades of foundation recommended by BSA :-) Hopefully this should help

  5. This is a great article, very helpful and all the recommended products look amazing. Thanks!

  6. I struggle with dark rings and find that I need to wear concealer everyday. I’ll definitely be giving a more proactive product a go.

  7. These look amazing, I have really bad under eyes and have been struggling to conceal them

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