Whether from the sleepless nights that come with a newborn, stress, or merely from genetics, many of us have dark circles under our eyes. These small but noticeable annoyances are generally the result of blood vessels close to the surface under the thin skin of the eyes.

No matter how fresh-faced the rest of our complexion, dark blue bags under the eyes make look everyone more tired. And I should know — I can sleep 10 or even 12 hours a night and I still wake up with the dark circles under my eyes. Since the skin only becomes thinner as we age, I have to look forward to my undereye bags only becoming more pronounced with time.

Luckily, covering undereye circles is pretty easy with the right tools. The most important part is to choose an undereye concealer that best matches the skin around your eyes; whatever shade you choose should have yellow undertones to counteract the dark purples/blues of your bags. Test out undereye concealers under your eyes — not on your wrist or your hand, where the skin will obviously be much lighter — to find the one that suits you best.

Once you have your concealer chosen, here is an easy step-by-step guide to instantly looking more awake.

  1. Wash and dry your face, gently patting the delicate skin around your eyes. Apply your moisturizer as usual.
  2. Take your undereye concealer, such as Exuviance CoverBlend MultiFunction Concealer ($22), and squeeze a small amount on either the pad of your finger or a concealer brush. Despite being called undereye “circles,” many bags underneath the eyes appear more triangular in shape, so keep that in mind as you gently pat the concealer on. Emphasis on the word gently — you don’t want to tug the delicate skin around your eyes)
  3. In addition to directly under the eyes, apply your concealer anywhere else around your eyes where skin looks blue-ish, such as in the corners of your eyes and right underneath/above the lashlines.
  4. Blend your undereye concealer evenly so that it matches your skintone and you don’t get “yellow raccoon eyes.” Also make sure to blend your foundation/powder/other skin makeup in a natural-looking way around your eyes.
  5. Bonus: A daily eye cream that targets undereye circles will help reduce their appearance over time. For example, Exuviance Brightening Bionic Eye Cream ($60) uses vitamin K to target the blood vessels that give the blueish appearance, as well as their patented Lactobionic Acid that builds up the skin on the undereyes. The eye cream can be appiled twice daily. After four weeks, 83% of users in a clinical trial saw an improvement with their undereye circles.
You can learn more about how to specifically target your dark undereye circles here. Above all, don’t despair — bags under the eyes are one of the most common beauty problems and one of the easiest to fix.
 
This post is sponsored by Exuviance.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR