Dark under eye circles

As we age, we start noticing our face more.  Now, we start seeing dark under eye circles and it’s unsettling.  When we were younger, few of us had to worry about our skin.  Aside from acne issues, we were carefree.

Aging

When I was growing up, I did have to deal with acne in my teenage years.  Who among us hasn’t?  Then, when it continued into my 20’s, I still obsessed over my skin, but the focus was on clearing up my face, chest, neck and back from the acne.  I wasn’t thinking about my skin necessarily – just the acne lesions and how to get rid of them.  That’s how I developed my Nutt So Ruff exfoliator.

As time went on and I got older, I really started to look at my skin.  I knew wrinkles and fine lines were part of it but until you start seeing them on your own face, you don’t really do much to prevent them.  I’m sure this is the case with a lot of people.

Raccoon eyes

Part of what you start seeing is the dark under eye circles.  These ‘raccoon eyes’ can be caused my many factors, including:

• Lack of sleep
• Too much alcohol
• Not drinking enough water
• Genetics
• Too much sun exposure
• Rubbing your eyes
• Diet
• Aging – AARP has some tips here.
• Stress

What to do

The good news is that you have control over most of the list (with the exception of genetics and getting older).  There are many at-home treatments you can do and some of the treatments are obvious:

1. Get more sleep – we all could use more of it!  You will tend to want to rub your eyes less if you aren’t so tired!
2. Limit your alcohol intake.  You’re not helping your skin when you drink too much alcohol.  Shoot for no more than 3 drinks per week.
3. Stay hydrated.  The general rule is to drink 7-8 (8 ounce) glasses of water per day.
4. Stay out of the sun and make sure you wear sunscreen or cover up if you are going to be out in the sun.
5. Look at your diet – are you eating a lot of processed foods?  Start cooking at home and use less packaged foods.  The sodium content will hurt your skin if you continue to eat the processed foods.  You need fruits, veggies, fiber.
6. Find a stress reliever that helps you.  Is it exercise?  Maybe it’s meditation.  The more we’re stressed and anxious, the more it will show on our face.

More help

Sometimes we need a little more help.  If you find that you still have dark circles, make sure you use an eye cream twice a day, in the AM and PM – after you remove your make-up and wash your face.  Peptides are an especially important ingredient, as is Vitamin E oil.  Caffeinated tea used topically is a great solution as well because the tannins help the dark areas.  I’ve also had success with cucumber or potato slices.

For the tea, you can do one of two things:

1. Use cold, damp tea bags – use black tea or green and place on your eyes for about 15 minutes.
2. Make strong tea (again black or green tea is great), allow to cool.  Then, place in a small spray bottle.  Refrigerate and spray on your face / eye area (with eyes closed) every morning.

You may not be able to get rid of those dark circles completely, but you can improve it.  Doing this will help you look younger and who doesn’t want that!!!