Cover Dark Circles

Dark circles tend to be worse in the morning, but you don't need to cross your fingers and hope they clear up on their own. A careful choice of concealer should hide the circles from view and blend them in with your natural skin tone or with a full face of makeup. This method also works on melasma, also known as pregnancy mask when it occurs in pregnant women.

Steps

Covering Dark Circles

1. Wash your face using a gentle cleanser, giving a final rinse using cold water. This decreases blood flow in your face, and helps reduce puffiness.
2. Apply a moisturizer. Apply this over your whole face, but especially around the eyes. This will help the makeup apply more evenly. If your skin is easily irritated, use a special eye moisturizer rather than a face moisturizer.
   • Don't worry — it's a myth that rubbing your eyes will cause wrinkles, unless it becomes a constant habit.
3. Apply-Foundation. As always, choose a foundation that matches your skin tone and skin type. Don't go overboard; this is a base for the concealer, not a product that will cover the circles on its own. Applying foundation first allows you to use less concealer, making a natural look easier to achieve.
   • Powder foundations tend to be easier to control, allowing you to target the dark areas more accurately.
4. Choose an orange or yellow shade. Orange, salmon, or peach concealer counteract the blue tones prevalent in most under eye circles. Go with a darker orange if the circles are especially dark, or bright blue. A lighter, more yellow-y orange conceals purple tones more effectively, while a redder tone can conceal green circles.
   • If your eyes are puffy, go a little darker. Darker colors create the illusion that the area is recessed, reducing the puffy appearance.
5. Find this color in a stick concealer (recommended). Stick concealers use a thicker, creamier formula that covers dark areas more effectively. A matte finish tends to last longer and conceals creases more effectively.
   • Stick concealer may trigger an acne breakout on oily skin. If this is a concern, use a liquid concealer. For liquid concealer around the eyes, satin or shimmer finishes sometimes work better than matte, especially if there are dry or flaky areas of skin.
6. Cover the under-eye area with concealer. Now that you've tackled the complex task of choosing the right concealer, apply it in small dabs to the undereye area. Pat it in using your finger for more effective crease concealment, or a brush for fine control. It's best to start with as little as possible, putting a thin layer over the darkest or most discolored areas.
7. Set your under eye concealer with powder. Load your puff up with powder and gently press it under your eyes. This will add a little more coverage and help your concealer to last throughout the day.
8. Blend thoroughly. Blend in the edges of the concealer until they are no longer visible. If the concealer is still obvious, apply any other desired makeup to the rest of your face and blend again. It may help to use a different shade of concealer on your cheeks and forehead, in between your skin tone and the tone of the eye concealer.
9. Apply shimmering beige or white eye shadow to your tear duct area (optional). This will immediately brighten up your eyes and make you look more awake. The brightness also draws attention away from under eye circles. For more staying power, use white eyeliner underneath the shadow.
10. Define-Cheekbones. Highlighter along the top of your cheekbone can reflect light to nearby shadows, brightening any remaining hint of darkness.

Preventing Dark Circles

1. Protect your eyes from sun. Yes, your eyelids can get a tan, and the brown cast can make dark morning eyes harder to conceal. Use a moisturizer with SPF 25 or greater, or ordinary sunscreen. Sunscreen which uses only zinc oxide or titanium dioxide as the active ingredient is less likely to irritate the skin around your eyes.
2. Make small lifestyle changes. Getting enough sleep can help you avoid pale skin that makes dark circles stand out. Drinking plenty of water and minimizing salt can prevent water retention, which is one factor in puffy morning eyes.
3. Treat-Allergies. If you have a congested nose or sinuses, your eyes probably appear darker due to swollen blood vessels. Take antihistamines or visit the doctor for other allergy treatments.
   • These "allergy shiners" are more common in children and teens.
4. Fix puffy eyes. While this won't make your eyes lighter, it can make dark circles less noticeable. Here are a couple treatments:
   • Chill a pair of spoons in the freezer. Lie down with the bowls of the spoons over your eyes and let the cold reduce the swelling.
   • Give-Yourself-a-Facial-Massage to encourage lymph drainage. If this helps reduce swelling, you may have poor lymph drainage, which you can Cleanse-the-Lymph-System.
5. Visit the doctor if this problem appeared suddenly. While eyelids do change in appearance as you age, this is a very gradual process. If your eyelids have become much darker or more swollen in the past few months, ask your doctor to examine them. There are many conditions that can cause a change in eyelid appearance.

Tips

• Wearing a bright or dark lipstick will draw attention to your lips and away from your eyes.
• Vitamin D is supposed to reduce dark spots and puffy skin, but your liver needs to process the vitamin before it can send it to the skin. In other words, a moisturizer with vitamin D is likely no more effective than getting vitamin D from food or supplements.

Warnings

• Be careful not to get moisturizer or concealer in your eyes.
• Only use moisturizers that are especially for your eyes around your eyes, other types can irritate the delicate skin.

Things You'll Need

• A mirror
• Concealer
• A nylon concealer brush

Related Articles

• Get Rid of Black Circles Under Your Eyes
• Apply Concealer
• Find the Perfect Concealer or Foundation Shade
• Conceal Bags Under Your Eyes
• Use Color Correcting Concealers

Sources and Citations

• Videos provided by Jennifer Chiu

See also

• Cure Puffy Eyes
• Get Rid of Black Circles Under Your Eyes
• Get Rid of Puffy Eyelids
• Conceal Dark Circles Under the Eyes
• Cure Baggy Eyes
• Conceal Bags Under Your Eyes

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• Get Rid of Black Circles Under Your Eyes