What is causing your dark under eye circles?
26 December 2022
By Dr Sophie Shotter

Causes and treatments for dark circles, Marylebone, London
Dark circles are one of the most common skin concerns, and Google searches for how to tackle them even surpass pigmentation and wrinkles. At around 0.33mm thick, the skin around your eyes is three to five times thinner than the rest of the face, and with age, the skin in this area only gets thinner. This means the darker structures lurking underneath, like blood vessels and muscle, become more visible, leaving you looking tired and drawn. While it can be tricky to tackle dark circles, there are various ways to improve them. But the best solution for you all depends on what exactly it is that’s causing them in the first place. Read on to understand how to decode your dark circles and establish the best treatments to try.
What do your dark circles mean?
Dark purple or blue discolouration
If your skin is pale, your dark circles are likely to result from dark subdermal tissues showing through the delicate skin around the eye. These become more prominent with age as the skin becomes even thinner and the fat pads descend from under the eyes, making the underlying reddish-blue blood vessels more visible.
Brownness around the eyes
Brownness under the eyes is usually the result of pigmentation, which is due to sun damage. Those of Asian and African skin types are predisposed to having hyperpigmentation under the eyes due to higher levels of melanin.
Shadows and a sunken appearance
As we go through life, we experience a loss of volume under the eyes, which can magnify the appearance of dark circles. Volume loss and descent of the structures around the eyelid will cause the appearance of sunken tear troughs and worsen the appearance of dark circles. Over the years, the bone of the orbit atrophies, and this causes the eyes to sit further back in the socket and appear sunken, exacerbating the appearance of dark circles.
How to get rid of dark circles for good
Camouflaging blue or purple discolouration
For blue or purple dark circles, you need to work on the skin quality around the eyes. Good quality eye cream used morning and night will thicken the skin and decrease the visibility of the blood vessels. A cream that contains retinol is a good option as it will thicken the under-eye skin so that dark blood vessels can’t show through as much but be sure it’s in an eye formulation. Vitamin K is an ingredient often used to help skin recover from surgery, and it’s been shown to make cuts and bruises heal faster than usual. In an eye cream, it can help decrease the capillary leakage that causes the blueness.
Another option to consider is a specialised mesotherapy known as LightEyes Ultra. This is an injectable treatment that contains a unique cocktail of hexapeptide, ascorbic acid, cucumber, chamomile, holly, rosemary, and blueberry extracts that helps to improve microcirculation, skin elasticity, puffiness, and dark circles and is occasionally used in conjunction with tear trough fillers to help amplify results.
For sunken hollows and shadows
Lightweight under-eye filler can be placed in the tear trough if you have dark circles due to having hollow eyes. This reduces them by smoothing out the junction between the edge of the cheekbone and the hollow under-eye area, making the whole area look brighter. The aim is to plump up, hydrate and thicken the delicate skin under the eyes, which will help the eyes appear less hollow.
For brightening pigmentation
Ingredients we’d typically use on pigmentation around the face are often too aggressive to use around the eyes. Instead, try a low-concentration of vitamin C to lighten a little bit and invest in in-clinic treatments such as chemical peels or mesotherapy, which will target the production of pigment in the skin to minimise darkness and brighten the eyes.
If you’d like to discuss the best options for your dark circles, click here to enquire or book a consultation.
