Tired (pun intended) of piling on make-up to cover under-eye dark circles? Or fed up of trying product after product in an attempt to shrink under-eye bags? There’s an easier, cheaper, more natural way of improving the look of your under-eye area. It works for every skin type and involves solving one of the major root causes of the problems. That method? Getting enough sleep for you.
Below, we’ll cover what causes dark circles and eye bags and how getting enough sleep is the underrated beauty hack you need in your routine. Plus, we’ll share how the can help you get that sleep each night.
What Causes Dark Circles Under Eyes?
Dark under-eye circles, or in science-speak periorbital dark circles or periorbital hyperpigmentation, are exactly what they sound like: dark shadowy patches of skin under the eye.
They can be caused by blood pooling under your eyes and showing through the skin as discoloration and darkness, or simply your veins or blood vessels showing through the thin skin in this area.
The main :
- Sleep deprivation: Your skin looks duller and paler when sleep deprived, allowing blood underneath the skin to show through even more. Sleep deprivation also reduces your blood flow, meaning more blood may pool in the area, darkening circles further. Blood vessels can also dilate when you’re sleep deprived causing more discoloration.
- Genetics: Your genes determine the color and thickness of your skin. The lighter and thinner your skin, the more dark circles will show. But those with darker skin tones are more prone to skin discoloration. If your veins are closer to the surface of your skin, this will also make the area look darker, and dark circles are also hereditary.
- Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation: This is when your skin creates more melanin, which gives your skin its color, and becomes darker and discolored after irritation or injury. This might happen under the eyes if you have allergies, eczema, dermatitis, or scratch or rub the area.
- Swelling or puffiness: Periorbital edema — or as the rest of us call it, puffy eyes — can make the appearance of dark circles look worse. Sometimes dark circles aren’t there at all, and what you’re seeing are instead shadows caused by puffy eyelids. Puffiness can be caused by things like sleep loss, salty meals, alcohol, smoking, or allergies.
- Lifestyle factors: Alcohol consumption, smoking, stress, dehydration, and excess sun exposure may also lead to dark circles.
- Age: Your skin gets thinner with age, so may show the blood under your eyes more, and the under-eye area sinks in more with age, making it look darker.
- Medical conditions: For example, iron-deficiency anemia can cause you to look pale, making dark circles more prominent.
What Causes Bags Under Eyes?
Under-eye bags range from a small amount of puffiness to full-on under-eye swelling — and they’re often much harder to cover up than dark circles.
They can be due to fluid building up in the under-eye area, making it look swollen, or fat deposits moving into the area.
Common causes of under-eye bags include:
- Sleep deprivation: Sleep deprivation can cause blood and fluid to pool around the eyes, making them look puffy and swollen.
- Age: Muscles and tissues around your eyes weaken with age, allowing fat deposits to fall into your under-eye area. Aging can cause the fat around your eyes to shrink and fall, causing a swollen look. Skin also loses collagen and elasticity with age, adding to the sagging look (and sleep loss damages collagen production, too). Plus, thinning skin shows darkness more, which makes eye bags look more prominent.
- Genetics: Eye bags are also hereditary.
- Lifestyle factors: Smoking, salty meals, alcohol, dehydration, and too much sun can all contribute to eye bags, puffiness, and fluid retention.
- Medical conditions: Thyroid problems or dermatitis, for example, can cause under-eye swelling. Even simple irritation from your make-up or aller
