Dark circles under the eyes

September 13, 2009 4:36 PM

What is the best treatment for dark circles under the eyes specifically for southasian skin type?
posted by page123 to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (10 answers total)

Unfortunately, there's no real treatment for dark circles- they're mostly hereditary. I hear that the best options are to stay out of the sun, drink water, and get enough sleep- but most of those seem aimed at reducing puffiness, not the dark pigmentation itself.

The best treatment is probably to find a fantastic concealer. The one that works best for me is by YSL.
posted by rachaelfaith at 4:53 PM on September 13, 2009

If you're talking about long-term treatment, then what rachaelfaith said should do the trick.

In the short-term, Lifehacker has a couple of articles on how to get rid of dark circles. It usually involves putting something cold on your eyes like a wet washcloth or, in one case, spoons that's been in a freezer for a few minutes.
posted by curagea at 5:04 PM on September 13, 2009

I use concealer by Physician's Formula in light yellow that I found at Target. Basically you rub in a yellow coat and then pat on a light pink coat, although you could pat on another concealer that matches your skin tone better. Especially when I use it along with Benefit Eye Bright, I completely get rid of my undereye circles.
posted by emilyd22222 at 5:50 PM on September 13, 2009

Depends. Do you have allergies? This may be the problem. This link addresses many causes of dark circles.
posted by 6:1 at 6:07 PM on September 13, 2009

Like others have said, concealer. But you'll probably have to try a bunch before you find the right one for you. The best I've found for myself is TheBalm's TimeBalm. If you have a Sephora near you, ask for samples of a few different kinds.
posted by legendarygirlfriend at 6:21 PM on September 13, 2009

Best answer: Ok, I'm half Latino and half white, but I get mistaken for Filipino all the time. There's a picture in my profile if you want to see if we have relatively similar skin colors.

Finding a concealer for me was very difficult. As you've probably picked up, most Western make-up brands have four thousand shades of white, and then maybe six darker shades that are supposed to cover a brown rainbow of women from many different backgrounds. Many make-up brands will simply not have a shade that fits you.

Making it even more difficult than finding a foundation, concealer is meant to be fairly opaque. Powders and foundations are semi-translucent and blend with your own skin. If concealer is doing it's job well (covering imperfections and discoloration), it's not going to let much of your skin color shine through, and it has to fit your skin color very well.

In addition to where you are on the "white to light brown to dark brown" scale, pay attention to how much yellow tones and red tones your skin has. For example, Asians often have a lot of yellow tones, Native Americans have a lot of red, as a Latina I have a lot of both. This will help you rule out colors that won't work for you just by looking at them a lot more easily.

Two specific recommendations that helped me a lot:

NARS concealer in Praline (medium and dark complexions/ ideal for correcting redness). You can apply it lightly to cover small things like a little unwanted flushing or more heavily to leach the darkness from under your eyes or the color from a pimple. I apply it, and then apply liquid foundation with a sponge wedge; the sponge helps it blend in and look more natural, not like I have this pancaked spot I'm trying to hide.

The Beauty of Color by Iman is a lovely book on make-up inspiration and tips for women of color. It has features models of very diverse skin colors and features tips for women of different ages and skin colors. For example, I'm looking at a real life "Chinese, German, Dutch, Irish" woman they did a make-up look on; the instructions read:

"Combat undereye bags by dotting on a yellow based concealer in a half-moon shape-from tear udct to just above the top of the cheekbone to the outer corner of the eye. Next blend on a sheer liquid foundation, and set with loose powder."
posted by Juliet Banana at 7:11 PM on September 13, 2009

I've heard that tumeric works very well for this and other skin problems. Specifically, mixing about 1 tbsp of tumeric with some honey or yogurt to make a paste and applying it directly to the problem area or to your entire face if you'd like to even out your skin tone. Add a bit of sugar if you'd like to exfoliate.

Be careful, as it will stain clothing (and your fingernails). Wear gloves, put in on just before you shower, and wash it off after 15 minutes or so.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 8:16 PM on September 13, 2009

Oh, btw, it doesn't work instantly. After two to four weeks you should see improvement.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 8:18 PM on September 13, 2009

Sorry for the multiple posts; apparently I'm spelling challenged today. I meant turmeric, the spice, not the capsules.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 8:22 PM on September 13, 2009

Just saw an article on skin lightening creams spiking in popularity in India. The gist of the article is about whether it's racist, but it still points out that lots of south Asians are using the stuff (for overall lightening - no mention of dark circles). It might be risky to attempt spot treatment on your face and to get that stuff near your eyes. But you could google around to see if anyone has used it successfully for circles.

Otherwise, this appears to be a very common beauty concern and there are products targeted at it specifically. Don't know if they work, are dangerous, etc.. I googled "Indians dark circles" and "south asians dark circles" and got results such as this one, for a particular product: darkcircles.net.
posted by Askr at 8:02 AM on September 14, 2009