How To Cover Dark Circles

Let's talk about those pesky dark circles... Around an average of 3000 of you Google search "how to cover dark circles" every month alone!

Complaints about dark circles, undereye bags, and tired eyes are something that we hear a lot. “How do I get rid of the dark circles under my eyes, instantly?” Unfortunately, being realistic and managing expectations, dark circles can be hard to treat and there is no miracle product to make them vanish away completely. They are even harder to treat if they are heredity (take a look at your parents... do they have them too?) then you are very unlikely to rid of them entirely.

Why Do I Have Dark Circles?!

The best way to understand how to tackle something is to understand why you have it in the first place. Dark circles can be heredity but they can also be caused for a number of other reasons as well. It can be caused due to change in bone structure and loss of volume (a natural process that happens as the eyes begins to age and would need to be addressed with cosmetic procedures), your lifestyle factors such as sun exposure, sleep deprivation, a poor diet, stress, or even feeling run down. If somethings up, your eye area is usually the first place to show it.

Attempting to get additional quality sleep, increasing your water intake, and getting more nutrition into your diet should be the first steps to consider.

Next Step, Eye Cream

Absolutely everyone needs an eye cream. The skin around your eyes is such delicate skin with minimal oil glands so, it requires some human intervention early on. Starting early with a basic eye cream (we are talking late teens, early twenties) will not only set up great habits for later on in your skincare journey but also be a great preventative method by keeping the area hydrated and moisturised. Prevention is always better than the cure!

Eye creams with Vitamin K as a key ingredient are proven to be very effective. You can find it in Eminence Organic Wild Plum Eye Cream or if you prefer a lighter texture, SESDERMA K-VIT.

Investing in a facial Vitamin C would be beneficial too. You can use it all over the complexion and take it up to the eye area as well. Vitamin C has numerous long term benefits; boosting collagen production, brightening the complexion, reducing pigmentation, protecting from environmental damage while also softening fine lines.

Now, Let's Brighten Instantly With Some Makeup Tricks

The good news is that we can definitely get rid of dark eye circles temporarily, regardless of why you have them, with some help from some makeup products and some extra pro tips from our makeup experts.

You Will Probably Need To Colour Correct

To begin with, we need to correct the area. Do you find that you apply a concealer under your eyes but the darkness still shines through or the under eye circles looks worse? They may look grey or like nothing ever seems to completely cover them. It sounds like you need a corrector slipped underneath your concealer too. This can be achieved easily with a little concealer pressed into the inner corner of the eye with your ring finger or with a flat concealer brush.

The peach undertone of the corrector will help to cancel out and neutralise the pigment instantly. It will do exactly as it says – correct. Make sure that you use your flat brush to press it onto the skin rather than buffing and blending; we want the product to sit directly on the skin. You can always use the warmth of your fingers to soften and blend the edges in.  

If you find that you have dark pigment on your eyelids as well then you should take the colour correcter onto the eyelid too.

Choose The Right Concealer For You

Next, now that we have a perfectly uniform base we can perfect the area with concealer in a shade and finish which is right for you. Concealer typically helps to balance out the under eyes and the unnatural skin tone of the corrector you have just applied for a smooth, flawless finish. If you want a super bright under eye then choose a shade that is around (but no more than) one shade lighter than you would typically need. Otherwise, go for an exact match to your natural skin tone.

Want To Keep Things Natural?

For a softer finish yet still making you look and feel like you achieved a full 9 hours of beauty sleep opt for Coloresceince 3 in1 eye , it's neutral peach tone immediately brightens and corrects dark circles. Also the cooling applicator aids in the reduction of puffiness.

What Is The Best Way To Apply Concealer?

When it comes to application, rather than just applying a little in the inner corners or directly where the dark circle is; copy the placement of a pro-make-up artist from delilah (pictured above) and buff in a slight V shape right up to the temples to brighten and lift the whole area.

This will brighten the complete under-eye area rather than just putting a spotlight on the dark circles that you want to draw attention away from! Avoid applying too much product directly under the lower lash line as this will only crease and wear away over the course of the day.