Dark circles and bags: four causes, and the one that concerns you

The skin around the eye is the thinnest on the body — less than a millimetre. Everything that happens underneath shows through. That is why a dark circle almost always plays out below the skin, where a surface cream has little purchase.

Four different dark circles

• The bluish or purplish circle.These are the vessels showing through. It gets worse with tiredness, with alcohol, with not drinking enough water.
• The brown circle.This is pigment, in the skin itself. Common on Mediterranean and darker skins, often familial, made worse by the sun and by friction — rubbing your eyes keeps the patch going.
• The hollow circle.A depression under the eye that casts a shadow. It is a shadow, and a shadow is corrected with volume.
• The bag.Either water retention, which varies from one morning to the next, or a permanent fat herniation, stable from one day to the next.

What works, case by case

On thebluishand on theretention, there is a great deal to be done: improving drainage, decongesting, driving vascular actives in. This is the case where an eye treatment visibly changes things, and often from the first session.

On thebrown, we work as we would on a patch: slowly, in a series, with sun protection. It is possible, and it takes time.

On thehollowand on theherniation, let us be clear: the first is a matter for filling, the second for surgery. Two procedures carried out elsewhere, and you will be told so at the diagnosis rather than offered six sessions.

Two habits that count for more than a product

Keep your hands away from your eyes: friction is the leading cause of a brown circle getting worse. And sleep with your head slightly raised when the bags are a morning thing: overnight retention drains on its own.