*Sigh. Between the man-sized handbag I cart around on a daily basis (…yes, I mean that I could fit an entire man in it) and my inner-child’s incessant tantrums, I’m rife with baggage on a daily basis. You would think that this might mean that that dark, puffy baggage under my eyes would give me a G*D* break—but no… it’s still there.

Much like those pesky age-spots that we addressed in our earlier post, dark under-eye circles are another sign of aging that we simply don’t have to live with (…yes, under-eye circles, that is a threat.) Between bringing home the bacon, frying it up in a pan and all those other modern-gal responsibilities, we’ve got bigger fish to fry than to deal daily with camouflaging our faces. Am I right? (Yes.)

Here’s the skinny on the fat. It seems that as we age, Mother Nature torments us with the loss of fat where we do want it… and the gaining of fat where we’d rather pass. Starting as early as our 30’s, the skin under our precious peepers starts to thin (*sob), making our blood vessels increasingly more visible and bringing out the blue… not of your eye, but under your eye. Those are just the facts. But let’s add a few other crap-factors into the equation.


Allergies can also contribute to excessive baggage and darkness due to unhappy lymph nodes. And if, like me, you insist on rubbing your unhappy allergy-itchy eyes, traumatizing red blood cells and triggering melanin production which results in post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, then that’s going to make the situation worse. Oh, and don’t let me forget about the parental-blaming factor (Hi Mom and Dad!) If your circles are browner than bluer you can lovingly blame your family—it seems excess under-eye pigment is a genetic gift. You know, one that keeps on giving.

Okay, now that I’ve done my best (worst) at sullying the reputation of a coordinating set of under-eye baggage—here’s what we can do about it.

We’ll start with the arsenal that you can pick up without a visit to your dermal-do-gooder doctor, shall we? And while we here at Project Beauty can’t verify for the results of the following topicals, the good folks at Ladies’ Home Journal say it’s so (in the aforementioned article about avenging the loss of our youthful visage entitled “Getting Even.”)

I’ve not kept it a secret (at least not a good one) that I’m a sucker for cosmetics, they generally feel good when you smooth them on and often times smell good too. That’s two sensory-pleasing pluses… and that’s enough for me. But LHJ says that a daily dose of an eye cream with vitamin K or caffeine in it can temporarily plump your under-eye skin, obscuring and constricting vessels. Is that an additional plus? I think so. They also say that a fading under-eye cream with kojic acid or something called Eyeseryl can have a favorable effect on pesky excessive under-eye melanin… um, really. ‘Cause that’s a camo I can get behind.

But what about those of us who want something a touch more… shall we say… aggressive? Get the to the doctory… or something like that. Injectables, it seems, can play a big, and longer lasting part in diminishing under-eye circles and darkness. Restylane, which causes less swelling than other fillers can help fill in those circles producing instant results. This is not to say that it’s without its cons. Any injectable, especially those around your delicate eye area can cause temporary bruising and swelling, but stearing clear of alcohol (Oh… sheesh, just do it!), aspirin and herbal remedies for five days beforehand might help. And make sure that you request a photobook (before and after) of your doctors other patients – this is not a procedure you want to leave to the amateurs.

Next Up: Melasma!