Eyebags, raccoon eyes, shiners, blue luggage. Many think these are just due to stress and lack of sleep but dark under-eye circles can be caused by several other factors. Allergies, eczema, and nasal congestion are some ailments that cause dark under-eye circles. Pigment irregularities and sun exposure may also prompt your body to produce more melanin. Rubbing your eyes and some lifestyle factors such as stress, smoking, or alcoholism also contribute to your raccoon eyes. Heredity can also be a factor as dark under-eye circles can run in families. Age is another reason as thinning skin and loss of fat and collagen is very common as we age.

There are probably a hundred home remedies for dark circles as this is a very common complaint that transcends gender, race and age. Here are among the many remedies you can try at home:

  • Cold compresses temporarily reduce dilated and discolored blood vessels in the under-eye. Among those that you can try are:
    • Cold cucumber slices – soothes and cools the eyes and lightens the skin
    • Cold Tea Bags – aside from soothing and cooling the eyes, the caffeine in tea bags diminishes puffiness; tea also contains antioxidants that are beneficial to the skin
  • Use extra pillows to elevate your head to avoid fluid from pooling in your lower eyelids. This will prevent puffiness.
  • Relieve nasal congestion by using saline washes or sprays to rinse your sinuses. There are plenty of over-the-counter saline sprays that you can choose from such as salinase, muconase and sterimar.
  • Get some extra sleep as lack of it makes you paler and more hollow-eyed causing shadows and circles to be more obvious.
  • Wear dark glasses and sunscreen to thwart pigmentation which would make dark under-eye circles worse.
  • Some cosmetics especially those that contain plant-based compounds can significantly improve the appearance of dark circles.

Mild to moderate dark circles may respond well to these home remedies. But for extreme cases, other procedures can be used such as radio frequency, intense pulsed light, chemical peels, or laser skin rejuvenation. Some may resort to facial plastic surgery including eyelid surgery and fat grafting. These procedures are done by licenses dermatologists and plastic surgeons.

Whichever case you have, it is a comfort to know that there are many possible solutions to your under-eye problems. And even if, none of these work perfectly, you can always opt to camouflage it with a concealer.