Whether your dark circles result from one too many late nights, a few too many cocktails, or just seem to be something that follows you no matter what you do, there’s one thing we can all agree on:why won’t they just go away?
Nobody wants dark under-eye circles putting a damper on their confidence and snuffing out their glow. Let’s talk about what causes dark under-eye circles and how to take care of them.
What Causes Dark Circles Under Your Eyes?
Dark circles are super common, no matter how old you are or what your gender is. When it comes to minimizing the appearance of these undesirable parts of the complexion, it’s important to address the cause of the problem rather than just plaster over it. So, let’s get to the bottom of what can cause dark under-eye circles.
Sleep Patterns
The skin beneath your eyes is thinner, making your blood vessels more visible there than anywhere else on your face. A lack of sleep causes your blood vessels to dilate, allowing blood to flow much more easily through your blood vessels. This can in turn cause the skin beneath your eyes to appear darker, resulting in obvious under-eye bags or circles.
It’s also possible that your under-eye circles are caused by oversleeping. Your sleep schedule is a bit of a Goldilocks situation: you want to get enough sleep, but not too much. If you stray too far to either end of the spectrum, your body may struggle to figure out where to distribute nutrients and moisture.
Certain Health Issues
While dark under-eye circles rarely signal a serious health issue, if you’ve noticed them developing suddenly and stubbornly, it might be worth a quick visit to your dermatologist or doctor to ensure that there isn’t something bigger at play.
Iron deficiency and anemia, for instance, can prevent your blood from being as oxygenated as it should be. This can cause dark under-eye circles.
Liver problems can also cause dark circles, as can pretty much any medication that affects the dilation of your blood vessels. Changes in your blood circulation can affect the appearance of your skin where it’s thinnest, such as under your eyes and under your wrists.
Dark eye circles can even be caused by something as simple as allergies or nasal congestion! A bout of seasonal allergies can release histamines, which are meant to help fight allergens — but they can also inflame your blood vessels and induce swelling in the upper or lower eyelids.
And as anyone who has suffered from hayfever will attest, it’s hard not to rub your eyes when they’re under attack from pollen or other allergens. However, this rubbing motion can break blood vessels under the skin and cause the skin under your eyes to appear darker, too.
We recommend using a cold compress to help soothe your under eyes, and speaking with a medical professional to learn how to minimize your allergic reaction.
Sun Damage
We all know that going out into the sun without your sunscreen is a cardinal skincare sin. Among other things, an excess of sun exposure can increase the amount of melanin your skin produces. Because the skin around your eyes is so sensitive, this excess pigment can cause the skin around your eyes to appear darker.
Dehydration
If you’re not drinking enough water, it can show up in your complexion. Even outside of under-eye circles, dehydration can make your skin appear duller and even contribute to breakouts.
When the skin beneath your eyes loses a bit of its glow, it can cause your eyes to appear sunken or hollow. This is because when your body isn’t getting enough water, your tissue layers can become a bit less plump. Because your eyes are already so close to the underlying bone, this loss of firmness is more evident than it would be in other parts of your body.
If you think your skin needs some serious hydration therapy, you have two main options: cream moisturizer and moisturizing facial oil.
If cream moisturizer is your thing, our Chebula Extreme Cream will be the love of your life. It’s unlike any other moisturizer you’ve used before because it’s formulated with Chebula, one of the most potent cascading antioxidants that fights five signs of aging — which is perfect if your dark circles are related to getting older.
It’s also packed with plant actives like Acerola Cherry and Wild Pansy Extract to soothe and moisturize the skin.
Aging
Like so many other skincare concerns, dark circles may be simply caused by getting a bit older. Your body’s collagen production decreases as you age, reducing your skin’s elasticity. Collagen is vital for giving your skin a firm, plump appearance, so as your skin cells have less of it, your complexion can change.
These changes can result in a thinning of your skin in general,but this becomes especially prevalent beneath your eyes, where the skin is already thinner than anywhere else. This makes your blood vessels more visible, and you can either have persistent dark circles or just become more prone to them due to any of the above causes.
Your facial structure also shifts as you age. Your orbital bones expand, which hollows out the area around your eyes and can cause shadows. It’s frustrating, but we simply become more prone to dark circles as we age.
Genetics
Dark under-eye circles can also bean inherited trait. Your dark circles have likely been a part of your life since childhood if they’re genetic, or perhaps they’ve become more prominent with age… just like they did in your parents.
If you’ve noticed dark circles becoming more frequent lately, it’s worth talking to close relatives if you’re comfortable finding out if they have the same problem — and what they do to solve it.
How Do You Prevent Dark Circles?
While some causes of dark circles aren’t altogether preventable, such as aging or genetics, the best way to improve the appearance of your under-eye circles is toaddress whatever’s causing it.
Before you turn to topical solutions, make sure your sleep schedule is on point, you’re drinking plenty of water, and there aren’t any mitigating conditions (like thyroid issues) or medications that might make getting rid of the discoloration impossiblewithout intervention from a healthcare professional.
Once you’ve made sure there are no underlying medical causes for your dark circles, it’s time to look at your skincare routine.
While you can minimize the appearance of dark circles with makeup and concealer, addressing your dark circles with an appropriate skincare regimen can help to make your job a lot easier.
Keep Your Skin Moisturized
Making sure your skin is properly hydrated will go a long way toward reducing visible signs of aging, some of which can contribute to dark circles. Hydrated skin often appears more full and more even-toned due to blood flow and healthy collagen.
Even if you apply a thick moisturizer in the morning, by the end of the day, your skin can feel parched because of the amount of water you lose naturally throughout the day. But with Chebula Extreme Cream, you can lock moisture in by working with your skin’s natural barrier — not against it.
If a moisturizing face oil is more your speed, our Renew Pure Radiance Oil is a luxurious, cult-favorite option that addresses signs of aging skin while offering an off-the-charts, youthful-looking glow. In this formulation, Chia Seed Oil and Kiwi Seed Oil help nourish skin with Omega-3s while Papaya Seed Oil dissolves impurities and Algae Extract supports your skin barrier.
Our moisturizing face oils are nutrient-dense and full of fatty acids, which help keep your skin looking moisturized, plump, and young.
And if you’re worried about moisturizing with oil, don’t be. Renew Pure Radiance Oil is safe for any skin type, and despite being an oil, it doesn’t clog pores. This is because it’s absent of any pore-clogging ingredients like mineral oil and petrolatum, which are often found in other moisturizers.
Take Advantage of Brightening Ingredients
If you’re trying to reduce the appearance of undereye circles, our Vitamin C Booster might be the perfect product for you.
Vitamin C is ideal for reducing the appearance of dark spots and for brightening your skin overall. Our Vitamin C Booster combines Vitamin C and Ferulic Acid to support surface skin cell turnover and protect overall skin integrity to reveal even-toned, smoother, and brighter looking skin.
We recommend mixing this booster in with your favorite moisturizing cream or moisturizing face oil to add a little boost of Vitamin C (like the Chebula Extreme Cream or Renew Pure Radiance Oil above!).
Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant, and our Vitamin C Booster is especially powerful because it comes in powdered form. Vitamin C can oxidize and lose potency when exposed to liquid, so we’ve taken guesswork out of the equation and formulated a booster that still has everything to offer when you’re ready to use it.
Plus, our Vitamin C Booster is a good natural alternative to Hydroquinone, which has recently come under scrutiny for its serious side effects.
If you have another serum you like to use during the day, you can mix it with Vitamin C as long as you apply your serums from lightest to heaviest to ensure everything absorbs properly.
You’re Never Too Young For an Eye Cream
Since the thinning of the skin around your eyes is a major contributor to dark circles under your eyes, keeping that area of your face properly hydrated and smooth can help improve the appearance of your dark circles.
Our Resurrection Radiance Eye Creamis a high-performance eye cream that is clinically proven to deliver instant and long-term results. Unlike other eye creams, which use silicones, waxes, shimmers, fillers, and toxins to provide false, temporary brightening for your dark or puffy under-eyes, our eye cream actually works.
That’s because it’s packed with natural, biocompatible ingredients such as Black Willow Tree Bark to help reduce the appearance of dark circles, as well as Turmeric, Coffee, and Licorice Extracts to help reduce the appearance of puffy eyes and brighten your entire eye area.
It’s also backed up by a unique moisture retention complex from nature’s most resilient plant, theResurrection Plant, to keep the skin tone under your eyes hydrated and bright.
You can also use our Bright Eyes Trio to give your eyes the full spa experience. This trio is the ultimate set for brighter, smoother-looking eyes.
This set includes our Deep Repair Eye Serum, which contains a blend of natural-biocompatible Carrot Seed Oil, Blackberry Seed Oil, and some of nature’s richest sources of Vitamin A & E to impart a glow that makes the eye area appear firmer and brighter. Rich nutrients like Tuberose stem cells also moisturize and help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles to reveal youthful-looking eyes.
Meanwhile, you’ll also get to smooth your under-eyes with our De-Puff Under Eye Roller.This gentle yet effective under-eye roller tool helps to reduce puffiness from fluid buildup so that your under-eyes naturallylook brighter and fresher. Our eye roller tool helps visibly firm skin and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles while helping to smooth puffiness around the under-eye area.
And of course, this trio is complete with our Resurrection Radiance Eye Cream.
In Conclusion
If you’re struggling with dark circles under your eyes, it can seriously impact how confidently you go into your day. And while you can try to cover up dark circles with makeup and concealer, it’s only hiding the problem rather than helping it.
By understanding the factors that can cause dark circles and ensuring that your skincare routine is working to keep the sensitive skin around your eyes hydrated, plump, and bright, you may minimize the appearance of dark circles and wake up with the glow you know you deserve!
Looking for a little more help with dark spots and circles? Explore our Natural Skincare for Brightening Collection here!
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