Culprit: Dark Circles
Have you ever woken up and your parents called you a zombie? Well that happens to me quite a lot, and no I don’t have the stereotypical green skin or want to eat brains. Sometimes when I wake up, my under eyes are dark. And when I mean dark, I mean extremely dark. In this post, I’m going to tell you about the 4 most common causes behind them and some ways you can get rid of them!
Fatigue and eye strain
Basically, your under eyes are one of the most prominent parts of your body that gets affected because the skin is very thin and sensitive. The blood vessels dilate which makes the skin have a pale look and an increased visibility of “dark circles”. The lack of sleep reduces the blood circulation in your face, which can lead to certain fluids storing up that create the “puffiness” that your eyes usually have in the morning. This puffiness creates a shadow, which also helps emphasize the dark circles. This is why it is super important to get a good night’s sleep. Teenagers need at least 8 hours while adults can go off 7. As you’ve probably heard 100s of times before, the blue light emitted from screens drastically affects not only your eye and psychological health, but even your appearance. When you stare at a screen for prolonged periods of time, your eyes become stressed which affects the blood vessels in your under eye.
Dehydration:
The human body is made up of 70% water, meaning that water is super important for your body to function properly. When your body is dehydrated your skin doesn’t appear as plump as it usually is. This makes the skin under your eye appear to have “shrunken” , which emphasizes the darkness under your eye.
Genetics:
Sometimes, having dark circles under your eye isn’t even your fault. You can reduce your screen time and sleep 10 hours a day, yet if they are still on your face, you may not be able to get rid of them. Take a look at your family members, and if they all have pretty apparent dark circles, chances are it’s genetic and there’s not too much you can do to fix it. However, there are always some ways to reduce these dark circles so you don’t look too much like a “zombie”.
In terms of natural treatments, you can use:
- Ice cubes or a cold compress: Apply cold spoons to your eyes to help shrink dilated blood vessels. This can reduce puffy eyelids and the appearance of dark circles.
- Cucumbers: Just like in movies, you can lay cucumber slices on your eyes. This can help with puffiness because cucumbers are full of water and vitamin C.
- Teabags: Place cold tea bags under your eyes. This can increase circulation because tea contains caffeine and antioxidants
- Facials. Facials that include massage around the eye area can help improve circulation
In addition to these natural remedies, you can always use makeup to cover it up for the day! You can buy pretty affordable concealers from your closest drugstore and they can do the trick.
Sources:
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/23128-dark-circles-under-eyes
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need