There are a myriad of reasons why your under eyes may appear dark and puffy, but glowy under eyes may be in your future! Let’s dive into some of the many reasons for under eye darkness and puffiness, followed by some tips, tricks, and adjustments to your routine to get your eyes looking as healthy and revitalized as possible.
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Fatigue: The most common reason for dark circles under the eyes is simply just being tired.
- Get your rest! It’s crucial to get at least 6-7 hours of sleep per night. Not only is rest important, but elevating your head to reduce blood flow to the face also assists in the fight against dark circles.
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Age: Aging is a beautiful and natural thing, but sometimes, what appear to be dark circles under your eyes may merely be shadows cast by puffy eyelids or hollows under your eyes that develop as a normal part of aging. However, we’re lucky to be alive in a time where we can slow the appearance of our aging with incredible products, treatments, and precautions.
- Vitamin E & K are going to be your best friends! Eye creams rich in vitamins E & K, like our Advanced Eye Cream, work to deeply nourish the delicate skin underneath your eyes and reduce the appearance of dark circles, puffiness, and wrinkles.
- Caffeine, niacinamide and licorice root extract in our Brightening Eye Masks work to depuff and reduce the appearance of blood vessels below the eyes, while brightening the look of skin. Hyaluronic acid seals hydration into the skin.
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Eye strain: Straining your eyes by looking at a screen for too long, or in bad lighting, can cause the blood vessels around your eyes to grow larger, resulting in darker looking skin surrounding your eyes.
- Always be sure to have enough ambient light when looking at a television or computer screen and wear those blue blockers if you have them!
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Allergies: The histamines that trigger allergic reactions can dilate your blood vessels and cause inflammation around your eye. If allergy season is about to strike and you have a history of both allergies and dark under eye circles, but you haven’t correlated the two yet, this could be your answer!
- Make sure to stay stocked with your go-to allergy medication to eradicate the issue before it begins.
- Be careful not to rub your eyes if you are experiencing some itchy symptoms, as this will further damage the blood vessels beneath the delicate under eye area. If you do get itchy, using some cold compress will feel amazing and relieve you of your itch. Our Brightening Eye Masks stored in the refrigerator is our favorite little skincare hack to share. These masks will work to hydrate the area and cool down the irritated blood vessels.
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Dehydration: Tired and thirsty is no way to live. If you’ve crossed off most things on the list, you probably just need to drink some more water and use an eye cream! The appearance of your under eyes is in direct correlation with your overall health, so if your under eyes begin looking sunken and dull, your eyes could actually be sinking closer to your skull and creating a dark shadow!
- If plain water isn’t your thing, try electrolyte tablets. They usually have fun flavors and some varieties even have added magnesium and b12 to up the health benefits even further! Be careful to not choose a tablet with lots of added sugar, as this will do more harm than good for hydration in the long run.
- Moisturizing with a rich cream will not only feel amazing, but you’ll look much more refreshed throughout your day! Our unique blend of nourishing ceramides, powerful peptides, vitamins, and botanical extracts in our Advanced Eye Cream are gentle enough, but ultra hydrating to keep that sensitive area safe and healthy.
- It’s wise to lock in all that goodness from your cream with a quick, but effective under eye mask like our Brightening Eye Masks. You can use these morning or night and they only take 10-15 minutes of wear, but you will have improved your skin’s moisture barrier much more positively by adding these heaven sent items than if you were to just moisturize with cream alone.
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Sun overexposure: We’ve all heard by now that the sun’s powerful rays can do major damage to our skin, so if you’re experiencing dark or puffy under eyes, it’s time to get serious about SPF everyday (remember to reapply!) and sun protection.
- Find an SPF you love and feel comfortable wearing daily. Our Broad Spectrum SPF 45 is perfect for everybody, as it’s lightweight, hypoallergenic, and leaves no white residue.
- Wear a hat! Find some shade when you can or wear a hat when you cannot. Let’s keep those faces bright, shiny, and out of the sun.
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Genetics & minerals: Sometimes we can’t help it that our under eyes are a bit darker than our peers. Genetics play a huge role in how we look, including eye positioning, skin tone, and the possibility for darker blood vessels than other people. Low red blood cells can also be a factor here, so it would be wise to include some iron and b12 rich foods into your diet as well.
- Eat your greens! Dark leafy greens, like kale, collards, spinach, have high iron and b12 content; as well as beans, red meat, nuts, and seeds.
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Makeup: If you’ve tried everything and your under eyes still feel a bit too dark for your liking, a nice concealer and proper removal of it will go a long way.
- Pick a concealer that’s no more that 1-2 shades lighter than your surrounding skin so your dark circles don’t turn to white circles under your eyes. Flesh-tone concealers cover brown or yellowish circles, yellow-tone concealers work well to cover bluish circles, and a red under eye circle is best hidden by a concealer that matches your skin tone or has a slight green tint.
- Remove your makeup gently, please! As we discussed earlier, rubbing your eyes with vigor can disrupt the delicate blood vessels underneath your under eye skin, causing them to enlarge and making your under eye circles darker. Use a gentle makeup remover, and with your weakest finger - your ring finger - wipe away the makeup with a cotton round.
Something important to remember is that the skin under your eyes is some of the thinnest on your body, so please practice great care when making any changes to your routine. Apply your eye cream morning and night by dabbing gently under your eyes with your ring finger. While there are many preventative measures you can take to prevent under eye puffiness and darkness, if your genetics dictate that you’re a bit darker under the eyes, try to embrace it! We all have qualities that make us unique and beautiful - and let’s face it, you’ll have a way more fierce smokey eye! Hydrate, eat and sleep well, use your eye cream and your eye masks, and you’ll be well on your way to lovely looking eyes.
References:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/dark-circles-under-eyes/basics/causes/sym-20050624
https://www.vanguarddermatology.com/blog/11-tips-for-treating-under-eye-circles