The Science Behind Bags and Circles – And How to Beat Them
No matter how youthful the rest of your skin looks, dark circles and bags under your eyes can make you appear older. As with many ailments, prevention is often better than cure.
What does this mean? It’s time to get smart with your skincare and find out exactly what causes dark circles and under-eye bags – and how to minimise them.
What causes dark circles and bags under your eyes?
Under-eye bags and dark circles – or “periorbital hyperpigmentation”, if you want to get fancy – are triggered by a range of issues, including stress, lack of sleep, unhealthy diet, excessive sun exposure, allergies, pregnancy… the list goes on.
The biggest concern? Ageing. Swelling and under eye darkness is almost inevitable as we age as loss of subcutaneous fat is experienced, causing skin to sag and dark circles to become more prominent.
Ways to prevent dark circles and under-eye bags
How do we solve this beauty dilemma?
It’s great to experiment with varying types of under-eye creams and treatments but often, beauty really does come from within. Implementing a healthy lifestyle by cutting out alcohol, smoking and salty foods can help relieve dark circles and under-eye bags. Drinking lots of water to flush out toxins also helps – plus, it leaves a glowing effect on the rest of your skin.
Stress is a hard one to beat but people often rave about the effects of mindfulness and exercise on your well-being (and under-eye skin in the process). If you have allergies, try not to rub your eyes as this can cause those dark circles and bags to appear. Wear sunscreen and invest in some heavy-duty UV protection sunglasses too.
Beauty hacks for helping to minimise dark circles and under-eye bags
Sometimes, the best things in life are free – a couple of cucumber slices or frozen tea bags placed under your eyes can prove that. The cooling nature of these items tighten blood vessels. Invest in an eye cream that treats puffiness and under-eye circles – look out for ingredients like caffeine – and slather it on after your soothing cucumber slices or tea bags. Also, incorporate a facial oil with soothing essential oils into your nightly facial regime, like rose geranium or chamomile. These are said to have toning and calming properties to help smooth the skin, reducing bags and targeting dark circles.
