Who doesn’t want to achieve beautiful and healthy skin? A skin without any flaws like dark spots, wrinkles, fine lines, and especially dark circles.
However, with long screen hours and the worst cases of stress, the tenacious dark circles are only getting worse with almost little to no sleep schedules.
The skin around our eyes is extremely sensitive, delicate, and quite thin compared to other parts of the body. So all the changes that happen within the deeper layers of the skin will start showing like a mirror on the outer surface.
What Causes Dark Circles?
Dark circles are caused by many reasons. You can’t exactly blame one of them.
Usually, the most common one is the lack of sleep. Our schedules nowadays have made it difficult to take proper rest and give our eyes a break. An eight-hour sleep feels like a dream these days.
Another factor is aging. As we age, we start to lose the collagen and fat underneath our eyes. As a result, the skin gets thinner and our skin starts showing dark circles.
Dark circles can be genetic too if you see them as a common occurrence in your family. Thin skin prompts and increases the visibility of blue and purple tints from the veins that lie below your skin. Additionally, melanin-rich skin which is quite sensitive to hyperpigmentation can cause dark circles.
For the days you feel your nose is congested or when you get in contact with something you’re allergic to, the blood circulation to the area under your eyes may reduce which may lead to your veins dilating and becoming darker.
Screen time – the biggest and major factor to have to get circles. Spending more time online without seeing a speck of sunlight, can make our eyes more prone to dark circles. Long hours of spending time on our phones or laptops cause our eyes to strain and the momentary relief we get from rubbing our eyes doesn’t help either.
Allergens in products that we use, sun exposure, unfulfilled sleep needs of our body, piling stress, underlying health problems like iron deficiency, and lifestyle habits like smoking exacerbates dark circles.
Top Treatments For Dark Circles
Home Remedies
- Cold Compress
The well-known and well-used technique to reduce dark circles is cold compression. Wrap an ice cube in a clean towel or use ice pads over your eyes for 10 minutes and get rid of dark circles.
- Cucumbers
You’ve seen people on TV series or movies with their faces laden with face masks and eyes covered with cucumbers. Well! Those people weren’t deceitful. Cucumbers, with their mild astringent and skin-lightening properties, can diminish the appearance of dark circles. Slice up the vegetable, refrigerate for half an hour and use it daily for best results.
- Tea Bags
For the times you don’t have a cold compress, green tea bags are an awesome and advantageous alternative for the same.
Green tea is an antioxidant that has anti-inflammatory properties which help in soothing the strained capillaries under the eye area. Soak the bags in water, refrigerate and keep them on for 10 minutes twice a day and say goodbye to dark circles.
- Aloe Vera
The benefits of aloe vera are known to everyone. It’s an effective moisturizer and has anti-inflammatory properties that will reduce dark circles and under-eye bags.
Clean the under-eye area with moist cotton and apply massage aloe vera pulp under the eyes for 10 minutes. You don’t need to wash it out unless you find it adherent.
- Mint Leaves
Mint leaves will leave you feeling refreshed. They comprise menthol that enhances blood circulation and calms and rejuvenates the skin. Being astringent it contracts the blood vessels around the eyes, diminishing the blue hue. Plus, vitamin C in mint only causes the skin around the eyes to appear brighter. Blend mint leaves and use and leave them for 10 minutes in the affected area.
6. Milk
Even if you don’t like milk, it’s super beneficial for treating dark circles. The vitamins A and B6 in milk help build new skin cells while vitamin B12 naturally lightens dark skin and selenium protects the skin from harmful free radicals and sun damage.
Soak two cotton pads in cold milk and squeeze out excess. Place the cotton pads on the eyes covering the dark circles. Leave it for 20-30 minutes and wash it with cold water. Repeat thrice a week.
7. Coconut Oil
Being ubiquitous, coconut oil serves many benefits. One of them is reducing dark circles. As an extremely moisturizing ingredient, it is infused with vitamin E and has antioxidants that help repair damaged skin cells and dryness. It also is rich in lactic acid that helps in tightening the skin under your eyes.
Before going to bed, apply extra virgin oil on clean under-eye skin. Massage lightly in a clockwise and anticlockwise stroke for a few minutes. Leave it for the night.
- Argan Oil
Argan oil is rich in vitamin E and tocopherols which replenish moisture in skin cells and reduce wrinkles by repairing the skin’s hydro-lipid layer. It also decreases fine lines and reduces the damage caused by the sun.
Lightly massage a few drops under the eyes for a few minutes before sleeping. Leave it overnight and rinse it in the morning.
Under Eye Creams
If you want a more meticulous way to deal with your dark circles, under-eye creams and serums after washing your face with a face cleanser will suit you the best.
These creams and serums consist of the above-mentioned elements as their main ingredients along with being infused with some great chemical components to get results faster with more good effects.
An eye cream will provide you with the following benefits.
Moisturization
Ingredients like glycerine and panthenol are good for soothing skin and sealing moisture. You can also pump and lift the area around your eyes with the help of creams that have ceramides and hyaluronic acid.
Brightening
You can lighten the area under your eyes and depuff the skin with the help of yeast extracts. Golden root, sugar beet, and yeast mixture can also alleviate and depuffs the skin. Other ingredients like Vitamin C and kojic acid can also brighten the skin and aid in under-eye pigmentation.
Prevent thinning
Retinol boosts cell turnover and collagen plumps and lifts the skin which helps in making it appear much healthier and nourishes the under-eye area.
Apply under-eye cream or serums after rinsing your face with face cleanser to get effective results.
Conclusion
Whether you use home remedies or eye creams and serums, you’re up for getting good results and reduction in dark circles. If any remedy or cream causes redness, itchiness, or irritation, consult a medical professional at the earliest.