Raccoon eyes are the bane of women everywhere. They can unsuspectingly happen to anyone at any time. There are many reasons why you may wake up with raccoon eyes due to the fact that the skin surrounding your eyes is the thinnest on your entire body. Over time, blood circulation to this area decreases causing blood to pool under your eyes. When the blood pools in this location, it can burst your capillaries forcing the skin to glow a deep purple or red color, creating those unfavorable dark circles under your eyes. This blood pooling can also be due to lack of restful sleep. Many women unfortunately find themselves waking up with dark circles that they have trouble hiding.
To cover up raccoon eyes, the best solution is to use concealer. Concealer is similar to a foundation, but is usually thicker and can be found in a tube similar to that of lip stick. When shopping for your perfect concealer, a good rule of thumb is to choose one that is a shade lighter than the foundation you use. If the circles under your eyes are extremely dark, you might need to go up to two shades lighter. This will cause the light to reflect differently on those unappealing dark circles and make them virtually disappear from sight.
However, some caution is advised when choosing a concealer. If you choose a shade that is to light, it can cause you to get highlights that can actually show off the imperfections under your eyes. Before you purchase a concealer, you should try out the various shades to make sure you are getting the right color for your skin tone, so that it can work to effectively conceal those dark circles.
There are also concealers available with corrective colors. These are simply color formulas that are designed to cancel out the raccoon eye while providing you with a neutral and well blended appearance. If you find that you have a slightly brown tint to the circles under your eyes, you will want to choose a light blue or purple hue for your under eye concealer. If you find that you have blue or grey circles under your eyes, a yellow shade corrective concealer will help even out the skin color and diminish your raccoon eyes. Corrective color concealers are not for everyone, and may not work for your raccoon eyes. Most women find that just using a concealer that is one shade lighter than their foundation will work just fine.
Another good option for eliminating those under eye circles is to make sure you are using a light weight make up such as mineral cosmetics. Mineral cosmetics can correct the colors and tones in your face, including covering the dark circles under your eyes. Mineral cosmetics allows for blending where some cream concealers do not. Cream concealer can look thick and caked on if not applied correctly. Mineral cosmetics are much easier to blend in to the rest of the foundation while creating an overall flawless finish.
Mineral cosmetics are defined as being light and airy, allowing your skin to breathe. This is very good for raccoon eyes as it allows the thin skin under your eyes to breathe instead of getting clogged with make up product, often creating more problems. Clogging the skin and not allowing it to breathe will create darker, deeper circles under your eyes. Choosing a light based concealer is always the best idea as it will cover the circles you already have without creating more weight to the thin skin.
If you suffer from raccoon eyes, there is nothing to be worried about. They are an impermanent imperfection that will eventually go away. However, you should consider using some under eye cream, as well, to hydrate the area. By hydrating the very thin skin under your eyes, you can increase blood circulation and elasticity of the skin. This helps to diminish the look of dark circles under your eyes and can eventually rid you of the problem altogether.
If you have recurrent circles under your eyes that continue to get darker, you try putting a cold compress on your eyes to reduce swelling. Warm compresses will increase the blood flow to the area, which will initially darken the circles, but will help the blood to dissipate from the area. Many women use cold cucumbers on their eyes to reduce swelling and puffiness and use warm eye masks at night to increase the circulation under their eyes for that flawless look when they wake up.
Using the right concealer, and trying to prevent dark under eye circles, is the best way to ensure a great look for all women. Talk to a beautician today to help you find the right shade of concealer for your dark under eye circles