It is said that 9/10 people suffer from dark circles beneath their eye, but I honestly think everyone struggles to keep them at bay. To win the fight, or at least reduce them to something you can manageably cover up, you need to understand why they are there.
The skin under the eyes is the thinest in your entire body. Thus, when blood is passing under that area it will produce a blueish tint to the veins under your skin. Therefore this section of your the skin will make the discolouration very visible. So you must remember that before you start stressing over this issue, it is something that everyone deal with, but it may vary in the strength of discolouration for different reasons.
Reasons:
Not Enough Sleep
Yes I know everyone has been told this is the soul reason for dark circles but I can not lie that more sleep will help reduce dark circles. However, not everyone has the luxury to sleep 12 hours a day, so this may not be something you can fix. Thus, if you find that the other reasons for dark circles are applicable to you, then trying to change those elements of your life may be more attainable. Although if your anything like me then you just want some kind of fast solution, then keep reading and I will give you some tips that I have recently discovered.
Diet
Your body will always be a reflection of your diet, even break outs on your face can be linked to what parts of your diet need improving. For dark circles to be reduced, more iron in your diet can have a major impact. This is because if you do not have enough iron then there is a lack of oxygen to the body tissue. Hence, this causes discolouration.
Allergies
When you have allergies, you can find yourself often rubbing and scratching the skin around your eyes. As I have mentioned above, the skin is very thin so it is more vulnerable and will become damaged far more easily than the rest of your body. Although this is something you might not be able to help but I thought it is handy to be aware of.
Removing Makeup
Everyone is guilty of it! your too sleepy and do not have the motivation to stay awake and remove your makeup. However, it will clog up the pores under your eyes (and the rest of your face) and cause them to swell and puff up. Thus you wake up to a scare! It is so important to have a good night time routine, make sure your skin is clean and well looked after in general.
Reducing Dark Circles:
By understanding some of the reasons for why dark circles appear, it means you can change aspects of your routine. However, I have only included the most common reasons above and there are far more. My personal outlook is that I will always have dark circles and even changing certain thing will never totally get rid of the problem (but it can be reduced). Thus I wanted to share some of the methods I use to try and cover them up as best as possible.
The Cucumber Effect
We have all seen it in the films, or had a pamper day where you place slices of cucumber on your eyes. You may wonder what this actually does, well it simply reduces puffiness and brightens the skin. It is great if you want to have a relaxing evening at home but for an every day routine it may not be ideal.
Makeup Solutions
This is my everyday makeup routine I have been loving recently to reduce dark circles. Firstly, I make sure that the eyes are moisturised and primed for concealer. I then take my concealer, I use the ELF Under Eye Concealer and Highlighter because it has worked incredibly well at reducing any discolouration under my eyes. However, any cream concealer is best for under the eyes because it is easy to blend into the skin. This is important because by doting the concealer under the eyes, then patting the cream into the skin with the ring finger, it is gentlest method. Therefore, it does not cause any irritation for the eyes. Then using a highlighter I brighten the inner corners where it is especially dark. This will make the eyes look brighter and more awake because it reflects the light in the inner corner.
I hope you enjoyed my first post for the Huffington Post and if you would like to read more posts from myself then check out my blog (link)