Dark circles: why doesn't brightening fix them?

If brightening never seems to help, your dark circles may be vascular or structural rather than pigmented. Before adding a stronger brightener, check which type of dark circle you have. Dark circles come in pigmented (melanin), vascular (vessels showing through thin skin), and structural (a shadow from hollowing) types, and each asks for a different approach. Under-eye skin is thought to be the thinnest on the face, so before reaching for strong brighteners or acids (vitamin C, AHA, BHA), it helps to know which type you have.

Which type of dark circle do you have?

The color depends on the cause. Pigmented circles come from extra melanin in the under-eye skin, reading brown or dusky. Vascular circles appear where thin skin lets the vessels and pooled blood beneath show through, reading bluish or purple. Structural circles come from hollowing or a tear trough, so the darkness is a shadow (Roh & Chung, 2009; Freitag & Cestari, 2007). Two or three types often overlap.

Gently stretch the skin under your eye and check whether the color fades. If it fades, it's vascular. If it stays, it's pigmented. If the darkness shifts a lot when you move the light from above to below, or fades when you lie down, it's the shadow of a structural circle. A dermatologist makes the final call, but this points you the right way.

Why doesn't brightening alone fix them?

If it's pigmented, sun protection and a gentle brightener help. But brighten a vascular circle and the reason the vessels show stays the same, so the color barely shifts. Structural circles are a shadow from lost volume, so topicals only go so far — it's dermatologist-procedure territory (Roh & Chung, 2009). How many days the redness lasts after one is in redness after a laser. For vascular and structural circles, stop repeating brighteners and choose care that fits the type.

Why go gentler on the eye area?

Under-eye skin is thought to be thin and quick to react. Push strong brighteners or acids (vitamin C, AHA, BHA) hard, and irritation and pigmentation can arrive before any fading. Around the eyes, keep up sun protection and use brighteners or acids only as much as your skin tolerates. The soothing, barrier ingredients that assist thin skin are in panthenol and niacinamide.

In short: read the type before the color

Before adding more brighteners, stretch the skin under your eye and change the light to find your type first. Dark circles can be pigmented (melanin build-up), vascular (vessels showing through thin skin), or structural (a shadow from hollowing), and two or three often overlap (Roh & Chung, 2009). Brighteners can help the pigmented type. Vascular and structural circles barely fade with brightening alone. Pushing strong ingredients on thin under-eye skin can bring irritation before any fading, so take care.

One step today

• If yours is pigmented, start with daytime sun protection. Sun protection and gentle brighteners are thought to help the pigmented type, but whether sun protection alone lightens under-eye color hasn't been tested in a trial. Take an under-eye photo in the same window light and compare it in the same spot a few weeks later. If one side suddenly darkens, or swelling and itching come with it, see a dermatologist.
• If yours is vascular or structural, protect the area with a gentle moisturizer rather than repeating brighteners. Structural circles have limits with topicals and are dermatologist-procedure territory (Roh & Chung, 2009). If the darkness shifts a lot as you move the light up and down, it's structural. If the under-eye swells, reddens, or keeps itching, see a dermatologist.
• Whatever the type, start vitamin C, glycolic, lactic, or salicylic acid around the eyes at low strength and infrequently. How often to use them around the eyes hasn't been tested in a trial. Check that evening for stinging or redness. If redness or flaking lasts several days, stop and see a dermatologist.