It’s the number one beauty complaint in dermatologist offices everywhere – dark under eye circles. Here, experts in both dermatology and makeup artistry share their tips and tricks for treating and concealing those stubborn dark circles. Let’s start with the cause. Blue circles are usually a result of blood pooling under the eyes or lack of sleep. Yellow or brown circles are normally from the sun. To treat blue circles, apply an eye cream with retinol or vitamin K which can help thicken the skin and increase circulation. For yellowish or brown tinted circles, use cream with hydroquinone or soy to help reduce visible sun damage. Also important in the treatment of all under eye circles is SPF. Apply a sunscreen designed specifically for use around the eyes every morning after cleansing your face.     

After sunscreen, turn to a concealer that has Haloxyl if you have bluish circles. Haloxyl helps reduce blood pooling. Choose a shade with a yellow cast to counter blue, and a peachy shade to counter yellow or brown. Cream concealers tend to offer more coverage and won’t cake like liquid concealers so the darker your circles the creamier your concealer should be. To maximize coverage, place three tiny dots of concealer under each eye and blend with a concealer brush. If you do experience caking, use a cotton swab and your eye cream to smooth away clumps and creases. Set your concealer with translucent powder applied with a fat powder brush. If your suffering from lack of sleep, use a liquid brightener under your concealer to wake up your skin and brighten your eyes.

Next make your color work for you. Use a makeup brush with synthetic bristles, says makeup artist Diane Kendal. Natural bristles tend to pick up more color and color overload can cause makeup to fall around the lower crease of your eye making your dark circles look even darker. To neutralize bluish circles, choose a brown eye shadow with a subtle gold shimmer. To reduce the effect of yellow or brown circles, choose a taupe eye shadow that is iridescent with being glittery. The shimmer from the eye shadow draws attention to the upper lids and away from dark circles. A trade secret for models who have dark circles is to apply black eyeliner and glossy mascara to the top lids and lashes only. Leave the bottom lashes dusted with eye shadow and powder.

At night, cleanse your skin and reapply eye creams with the retinol or vitamin K for blue circles, or topical cream with hydroquinone or soy for yellow of brown circles.

You’ve just learned what the experts know and now you too can show your face off circle-free and looking like you’ve just had the best rest of your life.

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