My Dark Circles Blog Forum

[rainydaze]

1) Leaving cotton pads that have been soaked in green tea on your eyes for 10-15mins will be ideal (if u have the time) before you go on to apply make up. If not, moisturize your eyes atleast....infact, always moisturize your eyes with a light eye cream before any make up.

2) When applying foundation, apply on your whole face, and around your eyes, eyelids too. Use a make-up sponge instead of your fingers, as it helps to blend the foundation better for a more even coverage.

3) Make sure your concealer is as close to your skin shade as possible (and preferably yellow-toned to neutralize the darkness). Your concealer should not be more than 1 shade lighter than your skin tone! This will make you look like a clown! Finding the perfect under-eye concealer can be difficult, but never give up and keep looking for the one that's the perfect shade for u, it's definately worth it!

4) Apply your concealer AFTER foundation if you want to lighten any discoloration (dark circles, pigmentation, etc). Use a small brush instead of your fingers for better coverage. Cream concealers that are yellow-toned work best. If you use a stick concealer, dab some on the back of your hand, and mix with a bit of moisturizer (stick concealers are too drying to apply straight to the eyes), then use a small brush and apply. Apply your concealer and carefully blend on the outer and inner corners of the eyes (must!), and on your eye bags. Don't apply concealer on the upper lids, this will look too obvious and overdone, foundation alone is enough for the upper half of your eyes.

5) Always set your eyes (and your whole face) with loose/compact powder to prevent creases or streaking.

6) Invest in a white eye-pencil! this works miracles to brighten up your eyes! Line the inside of your lower eye-lids with it...reapply during the day for an instant refreshed look. You can also use it on your brow bone to 'open' up your eyes.

7) Don't apply too much concealer no matter how bad your circles are, it's always best to prep and tone your eyes before make up (see tip 1).

8) Avoid dark eye shadow, and opt for lighter, or neutral tones.

9) Neatly groomed eyebrows take attention away from dark circles while messy or over-plucked ones draw attention to them. So keep those hairs in control, pluck out the stray hairs underneath, and if you're not a pro at eyebrow tweezing, don't pluck the tops of your brows!

10) Contrary to popular belief, dark eyeliner will not make your eyes look smaller or accentuate dark circles, if applied correctly. Always use a pencil liner, liquid liner is too harsh. Use only on your upper lids close to lash line, and on the outer corner of the eyes. This will define the eyes and make them look larger, you an opt for charcoal or dark brown colored eyepencils if black is too harsh for you.

[admindc]

Hi  rainydaze..great tips you have here.....  

for the tip #7.. I've puffy eyes though... so I tend to use dark eye shadow..  

[rainydaze]

your welcome lol yea...i have puffy upper eyes too...i use eyeliner instead (can't live without it...lol), or i use a lighter shade on the lids and a darker one blended in the crease

[Kim]

Hi Rainydaze, I like your tips and would like to add a few of my own. Someone on another thread mentioned estrogen cream as working wonders. It's true. When I was heavier (more estrogen) my dark circles were considerably diminished. Now, I'm not going to "plump up" just to get rid of those circles, but I do know that a little bit of extra estrogen goes a long way, so I make sure that I am hormonally balanced.
There are several over-the-counter estrogen creams, specifically containing estriol, that you can apply in lieu of going to your doctor and paying for a compounded bio-identical. (And you won't get that anyway unless you are perimenopausal.)
The over the counters are bioidentical too--just weaker. Even though they are weaker, however,you need to apply sparingly. Otherwise, you could adversely affect your estrogen/progesterone ratio. (Just use the tip of your baby finger and apply every other night directly on your circles.)
I like benefit eyeBright, too, mentioned by Rainydaze. I use it only at the outer corners of my eye, though, and under the outer 1/3 of the eyebrows. It helps to give the illusion of wider set eyes. Lining on my inner lower lid looks weird and irritates my eye so I don't bother with that. And applied directlly to the circles is a waste of time and product.
I have never found a concealer that works--from low end to high end. I layer and mix different products, but none are great. What helps to keep the area not looking cakey, though, is DHC velvet skin coat underneath. Apply it around your eyes before foundation and concealer.
The best tip of all, besides the estrogen: Blush under your eyes.
Origins Pinch your cheeks works like a charm. Apply a tiny dot between your two index fingers, rub, and then blend the blush right under your eyes (Careful to blend quickly: it dries fast!) A little goes a long way, but it neutralizes the dark circles big time. Then I play up my cheeks with darker blush and blend that as well to the undereye area. Good luck, everyone. I've dealt with the circles since my early 20s and mine, too, is hereditary.
The good news is that I'm 47 and still get carded. So I know how to deal with them.

[Kim]

One last thing: Talk to your doctor about getting a small tube of .025 percent Retin-A, the lowest dose. Apply a pinprick of Retin A every other night directly to the circles. (More than that will be irritating and ineffective.) Retin A (and its generic counterpart) is the only skin care product that has been proven to reduce wrinkles--and more importantly--vis a vis dark circles: It increases collagen and thickens skin. This is the most critical component in staving off furthering darkening of undereye skin.