Skin care

Ditch Dark Circles and Puffiness for Good

Use these expert tips to treat and camouflage your annoying eye issues the right way

by Kristen Oldham Giordani

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Dark circles In order to treat your circles properly, you first need to know what's causing them. According to Waldorf, "Dark circles may be due to pigmentation, blood vessels or an effect of the shadow of the tear through [the muscles and ligaments near the eyes on either side of the nose]."

If you pull the skin under your eyes taught and the circles seem to go away, your issue is likely the effect of a shadow. If not, your circles are likely blood vessels. As you age, your skin gets thinner, making red and blue vessels show through. If your circles don't look red and bluish though, pigmentation could be the cause of your circles -- this is most common among Asians and African Americans.

Next: Dark circle treatments

SEE NEXT PAGE: Treat dark circles caused by pigmentation

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Older comments

Very good article. I might try some of these right away.

by nicky22 Monday, April 1, 2013 at 09:03AM Report as inappropriate

Thanks

by Monique3 Thursday, February 7, 2013 at 08:12AM Report as inappropriate

Nice information

by EricaC123 Friday, December 28, 2012 at 05:23PM Report as inappropriate

Very thorough article. Just wish there were more suggestions for my dark circles which are caused by blood collection.

by hiddenexpose Sunday, September 23, 2012 at 03:54PM Report as inappropriate

I read something the other day that talked about the importance of using that peach color for concealer to cover if you have "blueish" dark circles. It made a big difference in the naturalness of the finished product. I also heard a tip that said not to use too much moisturizer/eye cream at night since that could increase puffiness. This is an area I am working on. Thanks for the additional info.

by alictasia Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 03:35PM Report as inappropriate

I like clinique's eye serum. It feels best after it has been in the refrigerator for a while so it is nice and cool and rolls on so smoothly.

by beautybody Thursday, April 5, 2012 at 10:19AM Report as inappropriate

Unfortunately, I have both dark circles and puffiness around my eyes. Thank you for breaking down the causes, and giving multiple options for treatment!

by powerwoman033 Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at 12:25PM Report as inappropriate

Great article!! Thank you.

by agnesN Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 08:36PM Report as inappropriate

I have the genetic kind as well. I remember as a kid having them, but I have also never had the best sleeping habits, even as a kid. So it's kind of hard either way. to get rid of them.

by yestfl Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 11:19AM Report as inappropriate

Great...I have the genetic kind. The purplish ones you have even after a good night's sleep and people still think you got punched in the face.

by m.rose Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 11:21PM Report as inappropriate