Under Eye 101

Alright ladies and gents, you asked and I answered! There were only a few questions asked last week so I thought I'd get around to answering them all in two separate blog posts! With that said, "What would you say is the best way to get rid of dark circles? Products, routines, etc?" Well my friend, I love to talk about how to treat and hide those pesky pesks we all hate with all of our being! There is the ever popular saying that goes a little like this; you'll have dark circles under your eyes if you don't get plenty of sleep. Yes and no. For some this problem does contribute to having dark bags but in other cases there are other reasons such as:

• Allergies
• Hereditary Factors
• Lifestyle Factors (Smoking, stress, etc.)
• Excessive eye irritation
• Sun Exposure
• Thinning skin (Commonly due to aging)
• Facial Features/Structure
• Eczema
• Sickness (Usually brought on by sinus congestion)

While I agree that living a healthy lifestyle helps the skin tremendously in all aspects I know of a few tips that can help treat this condition as well as conceal it. Here's a quick list of what you can do to help alleviate any darkness:

1. As silly as it sounds, change your sleep position. It's best to sleep on your back to keep pressure off of your face and especially the thin skin around your eyes.
2. Look for caffeinated eye products. Caffeine helps to get circulation going which helps to move around any fluid that may be sitting behind your skin. In some cases, blood pools behind the skin giving that dark appearance and with the help of caffeine it could help flush away your troubles. 
3. Break bad habits like going to bed without washing makeup off which can irritate your skin. Another habit could be excessive alcohol consumption which causes dehydration, etc.
4. If your darkness is due to hyper pigmentation, retinol based products are for you! Retinol helps to chemically exfoliate the skin by helping to sluff off dark pigmentation which allows your skin to regenerate new, brighter and fresher skin. Also, retinol is great for managing the appearance of fine lines and crows feet! You could also search for products containing Lactic Acid which helps to exfoliate and brighten the skin.
5. In some other cases darkness can be caused by irritated and puffy skin which then shadows your under eye area creating that dark appearance. NOTE TO SELF: Avoid harsh chemicals and artificial fragrances and colors around the eyes. Instead, look for calming products that contain:

• Chamomille (I know what your thinking and yes, steeped chamomille tea bags can help!) 
• Red and brown algae
• Oat Extract
• Vitamin E
• Cucumber 

         My personal favorite product that helps to calm the under eye area is the Ultrasmoothing Eye Serum              by Dermalogica. It's a light-weight gel that is applied. I'ts perfect for layering due to it's gel-like                      substance meaning you can give your little eye treatment a boost with another cream based product              over top! It's like a double whammy! 

Ready for another list? No? Okay, fine. Instead I'll share how to cover and hide darkness from a previous post, Bye Bye Under Eye. Literally, this trick is a lifesaver and all you have to know is what colors conceal what. You're going to want to look for an eye concealer that contains PINK or PEACH tones to cancel out purple, blue, black or gray colored skin. A pink toned concealer is also great for any apparent bruising skin may suffer from. Some of my all time favorite concealers come from Jane Iredale such as her Active Light no. 4. It's pink, light-weight and pairs perfect with dark under eyes. Oh, it also helps to soothe and calm the eye! Talk about a win-win! Needing more coverage? Go for Jane's Circle/Delete #2. It's meant to hydrate the eye area giving it a little more weight and coverage! I also enjoy having the second color (beige) in Circle/Delete #2 for all over concealing when needed.

Pictured below is a wonderous BEFORE and AFTER when it comes to concealing my own dark circles. Please note that I have zero makeup on except for the AFTER picture where I am wearing Circle/Delete #2 because I really wanted you to see the power and effect one product can have on the skin. Also note that both photos are completely untouched. Enjoy!

And that my dears is how you can treat and disguise those dark under eyes! Did I miss anything in particular? Feel free to shout out questions or comments! I'd love to make sure all of your skin related questions are taken care of.