Also try: anti-aging, dark circles
Jul 11, 2006
I got one of those dreaded comments today: "you look tired". That comes after several nights of solid 8 hour of sleep, copious intakes of water, and religious use of my under eye cream.
Yes, there are worse things in the world. So, it does seem perhaps a bit vain for me to fret about dark eye circles. But I just feel my body is in defiance of my best intentions. It's saying "you're not in control, I am". This more than bothers me. It scares me.
The best counter-attack I can muster today is to arm myself with more knowledge on getting rid of eye circles. My research efforts led to some new insights courtesy of Dr. Julie K. Salmon, a board-certified cosmetic dermatologist in Scottsdale, Arizona.
If you're like most people (including me), the dark eye circles are the result of thinning under eye skin and small broken blood vessels. This can be treated (according to the doctor) by using products that grow healthier skin below your eyes, more durable blood vessels, and better removal of the "waste product" left behind by broken vessels.
Dr. Salmon recommended:
"Look for the following ingredients in products to diminish the most common under-eye circles:
* To stimulate collagen production in the skin: palmitoyl pentapeptide-3 (pal-KTTKS), palmitoyl oligopeptide, palmitoyl tetrapeptide-3, matrikines.
* To strengthen blood vessels: hesperidin.
* To help remove blood byproducts in the skin: chrysin, hydroxysuccinimide.
These products have one or more of the recommended ingredients:
- Philosophy Dark Shadows illuminating eye and upper-lip cream, $30 at Nordstrom and Sephora.
- Dr. Wexler Under-Eye Brightening Cream, $29.50 at Bath & Body Works and bathandbodyworks.com.
- Avon Anew Clinical Eye Lift Under Eye Cream, $28 at avon.com.
- Olay Regenerist Eye Lifting Serum, $18.99 at Walgreens and most mass retailers.
- TNS Illuminating Eye Cream, $130 at physicians' offices or at skinmedica.com.
Technorati Tags: health and wellness, skin care, Philosophy
Source: Arizona Republic: Q: What causes the dark circles under the eyes, and is there a way to get rid of them?
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Have you looked in to Chitosan skin care products? From the makers of EMK Placental
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Have you tried Restylane to treat dark under-eye circles? True, its more "invasive" than using a topical cream (despite the fact that Restylane doesn't involve any downtime), but the results are real. I haven't found a good topical that actually treats dark circles, which are oftentimes caused by sunken lower eyelids. Restylane adds volume, and hence "lightens" eyes by eradicating the sunken features.
8/13/07
More information about Restylane, and the experiences of RealSelf members with Restylane are listed on our Restylane reviews section. Thank you for the comment!
6/5/08
I wish there was a laser surgery that can rid me of eye circles.
I have had dark circles since I was a little girl and used to be asked if someone punched me and gave me two black eyes.
The only product that has ever helped me was "Dermablend Quick Fix" concealer. I have yet to find any eye cream-expensive or cheap to fix this problem. I think Restylane is a band aid procedure.
I would like to know if someone has heard of a surgery that can repair the thin skin or broken blood vessels. My father had the same circles under his eyes, so I believe it's hereditary.
For people with lighter circles-I found that vitamin k cream/gel will lighten them. (Not get rid of them)
If anyone has heard of anything better-I would be interested and appreciate you sharing the information.
6/7/08
Dear Seattle Beauty,
Your post is so sad! But I fully sympathize with your frustration with your undereye circles because I have gone through a similar frustration myself, and I am only in my 20's! My under eye circles look(ed) very much like the picture posted by your comments. I know how you feel about "My body's in control, not me, and that scares me." But THERE's HOPE!!
Recently, I finally found a solution THAT WORKS and I am happily watching my skin improve AND my long-term undereye circles (which I had come to think I was doomed to have through heredity) diminish after, goodness knows, decades of frustration with them! Do you also experience frustration with "saggy" tired looking skin elsewhere on your face? I did. Hopefully my solution will help!
Let's cut to the chase, so you can see if my solution works for you too. After years of experimenting with everything under the sun and experiencing no improvement, here's the solution that I found that works for me, which has produced a remarkable improvement in my skin and undereye circles, and has improved the collagen content of my skin:
1. I eat one whole grapefruit per day. Sometimes even eat 1 and a half. (This is important because it is a rich source of vitamin C, which is CRUCIAL for collagen production. Dr. Murad has written a scientific journal article about the importance of ascorbate in collagen production and I found it on PubMed.)
2. I eat whole grain bread.
3. I eat a spoonful of nutritional yeast each day (important source of B Vitamins and amino acids) for good measure. I mix mine with yogurt or oatmeal to mask the yucky taste.
4. NOW HERE'S THE MOST IMPORTANT PART: I go to bed at 9:30 with the lights out. Make sure your room is completely dark. It is important not to just get "8 hours of sleep," but to get several hours of sleep before MIDNIGHT. A lot of scientific research is devoted to studying circadian rhythms--which have to do with animals (and humans) body clocks in response to light/dark cycles in their environment. My point: this stuff is important to pay attention to.
If you go to bed at midnight and get 8 hours of sleep--it won't work. You MUST go to bed as many hours before midnight as possible--9:30 is good but even 11pm is better than midnight.
5. NOW HERE'S THE SECOND IMPORTANT PART: Keep the window blinds to your room open so the natural light (or dark) from the outdoors is present in your room. When the morning sun rises at dawn, make sure it comes into your room and wakes you up naturally. Your body will get used to the rhythm of bedtime at 9:30 and waking up at sunrise. It's pretty impressive cuz I've never been an early riser myself.
6. And for good measure, eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies per day. You can even count your grapefruit as 2 of those servings :)
There you have it. It may sound pedestrian, or simplistic, but I can't tell you what a *MIRACULOUS* difference these simple steps have made for me and my undereye circles. I hope you find this helpful--Good luck to you!
Solidarity,
Osea