As the time-old adage goes, the eyes are the window to the soul. Among the most delicate on your entire body, the skin around your eyes requires special care—and has a specific set of issues. One common occurrence is dark circles, which can be caused by a number of factors, including aging, genetics, fatigue, and lifestyle. How to get rid of the dark circles under your eyes? Well, we have a handful of tips, from quick massages to increase blood circulation to the best treatments for dark circles—keep reading to learn everything about the dark circles around the eyes.
Causes of Dark Circles Around the Eyes
Dark circles under your eyes, which can look darkened with tones of purple, brown, black, or blue, have many possible root causes. While they’re not usually a cause for concern and are perfectly normal, you may want to brighten their appearance for a more rested, healthier look. But before we brighten, let’s understand some of the most common reasons for dark circles.
Genetics
Your hair color, eye color, and many genetic traits are inherited from our parents and the same can be true about the darkness under your eye area. If your family has darkened under eyes, you are more likely to develop them too.
Health
Our skin can communicate a lot with others without saying a word, and dark circles around the eyes can say that we perhaps have a minor (or major) health issue. That can include allergies (a big factor for dark circles during high allergy times), hormone changes, poor circulation, or malnutrition. It’s also important to check with your doctor if dark circles under eyes seem to chronically remain, no matter how you care for them.
Well-being
Are you not getting enough sleep? Not drinking plenty of water? Eating more processed food instead of a well-balanced diet? None of these basic wellbeing factors are revolutionary, but they do significantly help increase the appearance of dark circles when repeated consistently. Speaking of well-being, limiting tobacco and alcohol use are also two things that have been noted to minimize the dark circles under your eyes.
Aging
While aging is a gift, it does affect the skin around the eyes. Skin thins as we age, making it more prone to sagging and wrinkles around the orbicularis oculi muscle. Also, the blood vessels around the eyes can become more visible making dark circles and puffiness more consistent and noticeable.
How To Get Rid Of the Dark Circles Under Your Eyes
Dark circle treatments include skincare products, but also include everyday easy remedies. Here are a few of our favorite tips to improve the look of dark circles under your eyes.
Sleep
A foolproof way to not only improve the darkness around the eyes, but also your mood and overall well-being is getting enough sleep. For some that means seven to eight hours, but for others that can be as much as eight to 10, depending on your specific needs. Experience puffiness around your eyes when you awake? While you're sleeping, try to elevate your head with a few pillows to curb fluid from pooling around the eyes.
Facial Massage
Some people awake with fluid and darkness around the eyes chronically, no matter what tips they incorporate into their routine. If that’s you, try awakening with a “Mezame” eye massage, which literally means “awakening” in Japanese. This helps to reinvigorate the look of tired eyes and visibly reduce puffiness.
1. Using the smaller point of a cold massager, place the tool at the outer corner of the eye. Applying almost no pressure, slide the massager inward towards the nose.
2. Move the massager to the inner corner of the eye and, applying a bit more pressure, slide outward along the browline.
Repeat five times on each side.
Lifestyle Changes
It’s always easier said than done, but try to implement everyday lifestyle changes that can only improve the appearance of dark circles, but also the rest of your face and body. This includes significantly reducing the stress in your life, adding mindfulness practices daily, and minimizing alcohol and tobacco consumption.
Optimize Your Skincare Routine
Healthy, cared-for skin looks it: radiant, naturally glowing, and plump. This lit-from-within appearance can translate to the under eye area, too, with an ideal skincare routine. Proper cleansers, treatments, and moisturizers can benefit the look, feel, and health of all skin—from aging skin to teenagers just beginning their skincare journey. First determine your skin type and then find products that help not only your skin but also your under eyes look brighter and healthier.
Wear Sunscreen Everyday
We now know that sunscreen should be worn every single day. But do you need another reason to wear your favorite sunscreen daily? Excessive sun exposure can potentially cause dark circles to form under your eyes, a post-inflammatory pigmentation reaction that occurs when the melanin in the skin increases, giving you darker circles. A great reminder to never skip sunscreen (and to apply it correctly).
Consider Allergy Medication
Do the dark circles under your eyes tend to worsen when your seasonal allergies are high? You are possibly experiencing a very common occurrence. The body releases histamines to fight allergens, which can cause the eyes to become swollen, which in turn slows blood flow to the under eye area, causing them to look darkened and puffy. Consult with your doctor if allergy medication is right for you, which might help address the chronic dark circles that are paired with your allergy symptoms.
Dark Circle Treatments
While the skin is designed to take care of itself and technically needs only a few products if you wanted to pare down your daily routine—but the delicate eye area is the exception: It lacks oil glands and thus the ability to hydrate itself, so it needs eye creams that can hydrate and plump. A few treatments and tools can tackle the appearance of dark circles around the eyes when used consistently.
While you can enjoy the benefits of an ancient Japanese facial massage with just your fingertips, you can also take the benefits one step further. Try our Akari Gold Massager, which is designed in partnership with Kyoko Getz, a Kyoto native and expert esthetician. The tool is inspired by classic Japanese acupressure tools, and with consistent usage, the massager is designed to release tension, reduce puffiness, and visibly lift the face—this is especially true for dark circles and around the eye area. The 24-karat gold-covered tool can be used either hot or cold, depending on your preference.
Tatcha’s newest innovation is a brightening eye cream that targets multiple types of dark circles, depuffs, and visibly lifts for a well-rested look instantly. Creamy, lightweight, fast-absorbing, and non-sticky, The Brightening Eye Cream was designed to reduce visible dark circles.
The clever formula includes a few revolutionary ingredients, designed to tackle the complex issues plaguing the under eye. Here are a few remarkable highlights.
- 12-hr Time-Release Vitamin C
Vitamin C is extremely beneficial for the skin, and is known for its skin-brightening benefits. This new eye cream has 12-hr time-release vitamin C to extend the potency on skin and lessen the potential for irritation. This vitamin C is “crafted through an enzymatic technology here in Japan that helps it to gradually release where your skin needs it most, brightening and targeting hyperpigmentation while still being gentle,” according to the Chief Scientist of the Tatcha Institute, Masato Tagawa.
- Encapsulated Niacinamide
Niacinamide is a powerhouse ingredient, beloved for its ability to hydrate, even skin tone, reduce redness and irritation, and improve the look of lines. The Brightening Eye Cream uses encapsulated niacinamide, alongside a pro-glutathione antioxidant booster, to target hyperpigmentation and improve the skin barrier.
- Japanese Plum
Naturally rich in vitamin C, Japanese plum is also known as nankou ume and ‘Queen of the Plums’ in Japan, where it is an essential food to the Japanese diet. Cherished for its holistic ability to noticeably brighten, this plum works alongside bioferments to help The Brightening Eye Cream visibly reduce dark circles, firm, lift, and de-puff for brighter, more even-toned skin.
Ideal for use both morning and night, The Brightening Eye Cream has a whipped, ultra-creamy texture that absorbs instantly and illuminates the eye area with a soft-focus finish while improving concealer application and wear. How to get rid of dark circles under your eyes? Turns out it’s as easy as dabbing on an eye cream twice a day. Unveil your glow—both inside and out—with The Brightening Eye Cream.
