Ah, dark circles. Your mouth may be able to lie to the boss and tell her you’re well-rested, but the undereye area always tells all about your late nights. That is, until you discover a few well-researched secrets from the mouths of dermatologists… Dark circles are not entirely understood, but are most likely either caused by excessive melanin production or blood pooling under the eyes as a result of inflammation or vasodilation, according to Dr. Leslie Baumann‘s Cosmetic Dermatology. To find out what the cause of yours is, do the following test, from Dr. Heidi Waldorf in this month’s Oprah magazine: If you apply pressure to the circle or shadow and it disappears, your problem is due to blood pooling under the eyes. If the color doesn’t disappear, the darkness is caused by excess pigment. And if the shadow forms at the inside corner of your eye, where a tear would flow, it’s probably due to a deep tear trough.
The Best Over-The-Counter Treatment
A Baumann-cited study by Elson has demonstrated that use of vitamin K (phytonadione) combined with 0.15% retinol (quite strong) resulted in improving under-eye circles in 93 percent of the patients studied. Both vitamin K and retinol are available in Quintessence Under Eye Capsules ($53.10, Amazon.com); however, although Quintessence Under Eye Capsules have been reported to be effective, it is unlikely that the capsules contain 0.15% retinol. As suggested by Dr. Audrey Kunin in The DermaDoctor SkinStruction Manual, you may want to apply a stronger retinol cream to the undereye area, such as the 0.9% retinol favorite Green Cream Level 9 ($49.95, Amazon.com) followed by a vitamin K-rich eye cream, like my personal favorite, Peter Thomas Roth Power K Eye Rescue ($100.00, Amazon.com). Dr. Audrey Kunin suggests applying the retinol cream every other night to the delicate eye area, and using vitamin K every night (including nights you are using retinol too). If you are looking for at-home remedies, if your dark circles are caused by blood pooling under the eyes, enzymes in cucumber slices reduce tissue inflammation, which may reduce the blood somewhat, according to Dr. Kunin. In addition, Drs. Baumann, Waldorf, and Kaminsky all agree that adequate rest is essential for treating dark circles. Kaminsky recommends aiming for seven to eight hours of sleep each night.
The Best Concealer
Concealing dark circles is as easy as using the color wheel: yellow is across from purple, so use a yellow-based concealer to hide your purplish dark circles most effectively. One dark circle concealer and treatment I highly recommend is DERMADoctor Eye Spy Dark Circle Disguise and Neutralizing Agent ($41.00, Dermadoctor.com). The product is a yellow-based concealer with caffeine to reduce inflammation, retinol to fight the dark circles, reduce fine lines and increase collagen production, palmitoyl tetrapeptide to increase collagen production, and hesperidin methyl chalcone (an alternative to vitamin K) to fight dark circles. Just be sure to use sunscreen or a sunscreen-containing moisturizer under it. 🙂 Blending this product well makes it suitable for men as well.
Why a Derm Can Help
Of course, sometimes at-home treatments are not enough. According to Dr. Heidi Waldorf, stubborn dark circles may lead you to desire 2-3 treatments with a Vbeam laser, at $100-600 per treatment. In addition, Waldorf adds that dark circles created from a tear trough (see test above) is treated best by injections with a hyaluronic acid filler such as Restylane or Juvederm. Dermatologists are also able to give prescription-strength retinoid treatments to use in conjunction with vitamin K. In addition, sometimes your dark circles may be the result of allergies, according to Dr. Kaminsky. Talk to your doctor about an antihistamine that does not leave you drowsy. There are numerous treatments for your dark circles, and the truth is, dermatology has advanced to the point where you don’t have to live with them. 🙂 The power is yours! 🙂