Beauty Advice to Rid Dark Under Eye Circles

This Wednesday Ask the Pro Stylist addresses those unsightly dark under eye circles, and offers a little advice to lighten and brighten the rings that age us.

Yep: Whoop Whoop! Happy Hump Day beauty lovers, hair aficionados, style mavens and gorgeous friends, and welcome to Ask the Pro Stylist’s beauty, hair and nail questions answered. This week we tackle the pesky dark under eye circles sent in from a reader who, is a friend, but would like to remain anonymous.

Deirdre, I didn’t want to make this a public viewing, so I didn’t post it to your Facebook page. What can I do about serious dark circles under my eyes? I know I haven’t been getting the amount of sleep that I need, so I am taking that into consideration. Any advice or secret tricks & remedies I could possibly try?

Dark under eye circles, also known as periorbital dark circles, occur for various reasons.

Dark under eye circles can be hereditary, as in my case with my Italian heritage where I have thin skin, caused by fatigue, or medical conditions such as allergies, anemia, eczema, asthma, liver problems and they of course get worse with age. Ruling out medical conditions, the following beauty advice can help to minimize the appearance of dark under eye circles.

Inflammation can exacerbate dark under eye circles, so avoid salty foods and wine (those sulfates are a killer for under eye inflammation), and drink plenty of water. Begin your day with eight ounces and drink eight more glasses per day. Green tea is also an anti-inflammatory, so drink one cup daily. To reduce inflammation, use cooled teabags, a cool gel mask, cucumbers or my favorite for instant puffy eye reduction, Preparation H.

For dark under eye circles, yes, plenty of sleep is the best remedy. But lemons or lemon juice lightens the skin under the eyes as does Hydroquinone serum or cream (make sure it is formulated for the eye area). Also use a yellow or orange-based under eye concealer as those colors counteract the purple/blue tinge under the skin. I really like Salma Hayak’s Nuance Front and Center Concealer and Brightener.

As always, I hope this has helped. If you have a question similar to my friend’s dark under eye circles dilemma, then email me at DeirdreAHaggerty@gmail.com.

Happy Styling!