I have dark circles!! I’ve had them all my life since I was young.  If you struggle with dark circles or eye bags, then this post is just for you.

We’ll talk about what causes them and how to treat them…. if we can treat them.

Allergies

Let’s start with dark circles since it’s something I struggle with too.  So I have environmental allergies and when they flare up I get conjunctivitis in my eyes (red, itchy, swollen, watery eyes).  I try not to scratch my eyes but when they’re extremely itchy, it’s difficult not to.  Sometimes you just wake up with red, swollen eyes and you don’t even scratch them.  So I’ve been scratching & wiping my eyes (when they tear up) all my life.  Once the flare-up has passed, I’m left with dark circles and puffiness

The friction caused by the constant wiping and rubbing results in the skin becoming irritated.  Irritation leads to inflammation and inflammation leads to the skin going darker in the area once the irritation has healed.

The skin around the eyes is very thin, the thinnest in your body.  inflammation in that area causes the blood vessels to dilate and because the skin is so thin, the dilated blood vessels look dark from the outside, causing the whole area to look darker.

So my dark circles are caused by my allergies but for some people, it can be genetic.  I’ve got a cousin who’s had dark circles since she was a little girl.  She’s got no allergies so that is genetic for her.  If it’s genetic, you’ll probably find that you’re not the only person in the family who has them.

Lack Of Sleep

For some people, it could be a lack of good quality sleep or they could be iron deficient.  Lack of sleep makes your skin dull and pale causing the blood vessels under the skin to be more prominent, causing dark circles.  Lack of sleep also causes fluid build up in the eyelids making them puffy so the dark circles could be shadows cast by puffy eyelids.

Iron deficiency causes your skin to look pale making dark circles to be more prominent.

So how do we resolve this?

I have dark circles and puffiness because of allergies.  The only way to resolve this is to make sure I take my antihistamines and limit my exposure to my allergens (dust is a major one).

Inflammation is the major cause of my dark circles so I use cold compresses to help with swelling and to help constrict the blood vessels so that the dark circles don’t look so prominent, cucumber slices and damp tea bags will also do the trick.  I also do lymph drainage massage around my eyes to remove any water retention.  You can do this manually or use a Jade roller, I prefer the jade roller as the stone is cold, helping with inflammation.

Once my allergies are under control, I use a retinol eye cream at night to help with ageing cause I know the dark circles will get worse with ageing as my skin thins.  Retinol will help my skin make more collagen and increase cell turnover helping reduce any pigmentation caused by inflammation.

I’m very conscious about my eye area so an eye cream is important to me.  If dark circles are genetic for you, eye creams won’t help…. a good concealer will though!

Make sure you get good quality sleep every night and increase your iron intake if you’re iron deficient.  A healthy balanced diet which includes lean beef, chicken, Beans, lentils, green leafy vegetables and potatoes will help increase iron levels.  If you struggle to eat healthy, you can supplement your iron intake

Eye bags

Bags under your eyes can be genetic.  My husband has eye bags, he’s always had them, it runs in the family and they look even worse if he didn’t get a good night’s sleep!!

They can also be caused by the natural process of ageing.  As we age, we lose collagen and elastin, the things that make our skin firm and elastic.  The skin and muscles around the eyes begin to sag and become less elastic.  This allows the fat that is around the area to seep under the eyes and form pockets there.

The sagging also allows for fluids to pool in the area giving it that puffy look

If you’re like my husband and they’re genetic for you, eye creams won’t help.  Making sure you live a healthy lifestyle, reduce stress and get enough sleep will prevent them from looking worse.

If you have pockets full of fat under your eyes, then you would have to consult with a doctor for a procedure to remove them,

So eye creams are not always the answer to dark circles & eye bags.  Treating them will depend on what the cause is but because they do become worse with age, a good anti-ageing eye cream with retinol, cucumber or hyaluronic acid will go a long way in improving their appearance.

I hope you learnt something new today.  Leave a comment below and let me know what causes your eye bags and dark circles.  How do you manage your eye bags and dark circles? Can’t wait to hear from you.

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