Whether you are particularly tired, elderly or suffer from allergies, or with no apparent cause, you may be confronted with the dark circles reflected in your mirror.
However, although it does presents no danger to health, this problem has a psychological effect and influences the image you have of yourself and what others think when they see you. You can make certain changes that will reduce the appearance of dark circles under your eyes. Some are simple, others a little less. However, the result will be that you won’t look so tired when you get up in the morning.
Dark circles, above all a skin story
There are many causes of dark circles, but they all have in common the difference in the thickness of the skin around the eyes, which is called the periorbital area. On most parts of the body, the skin is between 2 and 3 mm thick. However, under the eyes, the skin is normally 0.5 mm thick.
Thinner skin means that the blood vessels under the skin are more visible to the naked eye, which which gives your skin a different color. What you see on the surface is a direct reflection of what lies below. Your skin and the tissue directly beneath the outer layer of skin, called subcutaneous tissue, only allow blue or violet wavelengths to pass. This is why your veins appear blue, because only blue light is reflected.
But this is only one of the reasons why dark circles appear under your eyes. There are more chances to distinguish the blue shade of the veins under the eyes, than on other parts of the body where the skin is thicker. As you age, your skin also loses collagen and elasticity, which thins it out and makes dark circles more visible.
A different kind of dark circles
Dark circles are not all due to the visibility of veins through the skin. Although it’s a common cause, and a high probability if you’re genetically inclined to have thin skin under your eyes, it’s not the only one. The second type of dark circle is caused by hyperpigmentation of the skin under the eyes and is more commonly brown in color. This hyperpigmentation, or increased amount of pigment in the skin, is the result of more melanin production in the skin below the eyes. This particular condition is more noticeable in people whose skin is naturally darker. or more pigmented.
Factors that worsen dark circles
Some of the causes thought to contribute to hyperpigmentation in the area periorbital are temporary and disappear once the irritant is removed. Here are some possible temporary and permanent triggers of periorbital hyperpigmentation:
- Sun exposure
- Allergic dermatoses
- hormones
Genetic pigmentation
Dermal melanocytosis
Dermatoses of contact
Oedemas
drugs
Aging
Dark circles under the eyes can also be caused by oxidation of blood leaking from blood vessels around the eyes. The release of blood and oxidation cause not only dark circles but also edema and puffiness under the eyes.
This is what happens when the body tries to evacuate leaking blood from an area where the skin is thin and easily affected by gravity. This condition is relatively harmless to health but can be a problem to manage. There are surgical and drug treatments to stop this blood leakage, but it is best to start with lifestyle and diet changes to treat the problem and avoid other more invasive methods.
In addition to dark circles, puffiness appears
Oedemas under the eyes, which are commonly called puffiness, can accentuate your dark circles even more When you are young, these edemas can be caused by an allergic reaction, an illness or the accumulation of fluids in the body.
As you get older, other factors can cause edemas and puffiness under the eyes. The effect of gravity on tissues that slowly lose collagen and elasticity can cause them to sag. This includes the fat that lies under the tissues of the eye. The fatty deposits around your eyes help protect them. As you age, fat can escape from the membrane that normally contains it and fall below the eye, causing puffiness.
Although you may be tempted to blame a lack sleep or rest from the increase in the size of your bags under the eyes, there is no scientific evidence associating this cause with this effect. However, it is true that lack of sleep amplifies the swelling under the eyes, especially in the morning when you wake up.
How to lighten your dark circles
Although they are generally quite harmless, you may want to reduce their effects as much as possible. You have several choices every day to reduce both puffiness and abnormal coloring under your eyes. Each of these options works, but not necessarily for everyone.
– Avoid rubbing your eyes: The skin under your eyes is thin and loses its elasticity and collagen as you age , and it may be prone to blood leakage. All of these factors contribute to the appearance of dark circles and are made worse when you rub your skin.
– Take care of your allergies: Allergies can make your eyes itchy and runny. This can contribute to rubbing a sensitive area and increasing swelling around the eyes.
– Change your sleeping position: Do you sleep on your stomach? Gravity causes fluids to build up under your eyes, and constant pressure on your facial skin can deepen wrinkles. Try sleeping on your back. Avoid using more than one pillow as this significantly alters the alignment of the neck and back.
– Remove makeup gently: Leaving your makeup on overnight may increase the irritation of sensitive eye tissue. But rubbing your eyes every night to remove make-up can cause hair damage and inflammation in the eye area, making your dark circles even worse. Instead, use a gentle makeup remover that you can wipe over your eyes, leave on for a minute, then rinse. You can also choose a good moisturizer or virgin coconut oil.
Some natural tips to reduce dark circles and puffiness naturally
Certain simple actions can help you reduce dark circles and puffiness, for example:
Sweet almond oil: Dab it under your eyes before going to bed and leave it on all night. Rinse with water in the morning.
Black Tea Bags: Once your tea has steeped, place the bags in the fridge and recycle them later in the day. Once cooled, they help depuff the eyes at the end of the day. Apply one sachet to each eye for 10 minutes then discard.
Potatoes or tomatoes: If your dark circles are due to excess pigment, you can try lightening your skin with the juice of a potato (grate it to extract the juice) or a tomato (fresh). Soak two cotton balls in the juice , wring them out and put them on your dark circles for 10 minutes, then rinse your face.
3 natural tips to erase wrinkles
After bags under the eyes which combine signs of fatigue and old age, the second enemy of women is wrinkles on the skin that reminds you that time is passing. There are natural methods slightly similar to those that correct puffiness. You can also try this equally effective wrinkle reducer.
Protect your skin
There is no secret to more beautiful skin, it takes maintenance. So remember to remove make-up before going to bed, a make-up removal session that you can follow with a tonic to eliminate the last residues of the day. Moisturize it as much as possible morning and evening to find skin that is supple and soft to the touch! Finally, protect it from the sun whose UVA and UVB rays cause premature aging of the skin.
Adopt a balanced diet
As beneficial for your skin as for your summer body, healthy food will make your wrinkles disappear while delighting your body. We then opt for five fruits and vegetables a day, for products rich in antioxidants such as certain fruits, green tea and artichokes, avocados and beets as well as in omega 3 present in certain fish and in olive oil. . Also drink regularly because your body needs a liter of water a day!
Massage your skin
Finally, nothing likea facial massage to relax the skin of the face and end the day well. You smooth your features and fine lines in no time. Adopt a cream to apply to boost its effectiveness.
Do you like our content?
Receive our latest publications every day for free and directly in your mailbox