Dark Circles. They’re one of the #1 giveaways that we haven’t had a good nights sleep OR drank too many glasses of wine on a girls night the evening before. Orrrr maybe they’re just darn hereditary, which happens to the best of us. No, it’s not fair, but that’s life right?
Either way, dark circles suck, and I want them covered and hidden so that I look like a well rested teenager that just got to sleep in until 10am on a Saturday. Because teens don’t have dark circles to worry about…yet.
Of course as I get older, the dark circles progressively get worse. #AGING I feel like this is a subject ALL of my 30 to 40+ friends and clients frequently ask me how to tackle and what my fave products are for disguising tired eyes.
So today’s post is dedicated to those of you with similar concerns on best products and practices for camouflaging those pesky circles!!
Let’s start off with preventative skincare. It’s hard to cover circles that are dry, wrinkly, puffy and/or dehydrated!
These COLLAGEN EYE MASKS from Amazon are my holy grail preventative care measure. I treat my eye beds to these things about 3 times a week, typically at night time once the kids are in bed and I can lay on the bed, rest my face, and relax and let them do their thing.
These refresh tired eyes, hydrate dry skin around the eyes while plumping them, and also aid with depuffing. Tip : put them in the fridge for 30 minutes before applying for quicker shrinkage of puffy eyes due to the cooling effect.
Not pictured, my EYE CREAM. Yes you NEED to use an eye cream everyday to help hydrate and protect that delicate skin from drying out too quickly. Dehydration is what leads to wrinkles and thinner skin that veins can show through.
I currently use Ole Henrikson Banana Bright eye cream which does brighten with it’s yellow tint and Vitamin C. A good drugstore (cheaper) option is this Neutrogena Hydro Boost gel one.
Now onto actual makeup products + the techniques for covering up!
Thankfully there are lots of products out there to lend a hand in the battle of the sunken eye beds. But almost to a fault because there are TOO MANY options!
All of these options can then be confusing as to which ones work best and how to use them to work together in harmony on the face, but no worries, I got you and will simplify this for ya!
First step, concealer. Put on your foundation FIRST, THEN the concealer because it’s your heavy hitter and will bring home the coverage without getting diluted by your foundation. I definitely prefer to use a concealer brush for application because you’ll apply less force and tugging.
Brush Recommendations :
- This dual ended one is my go-to because the fluffy end buffs in the product like it’s being airbrushed onto your skin.
- Or if you want a less expensive option, try this one from Target (equally as awesome).
!!!ATTENTION on actual application of your concealer my 40+ friends!!! Only apply concealer to the actual dark area you can see and do NOT go below it.
You see it all over Instagram and YouTube, the YOUNGER girls doing this that really have no issue with dark circles so it works for them to extend their concealer basically all over their faces and past their under eye beds. They’re more highlighting by doing this because there’s no dark circles to truly cover up!!
But when you get older, the dark area truly shows up under the eye and has a stopping point, so you only should be lightening the dark area with concealer. Because if you extend that concealer below it, you’re just un-doing what you were trying to accomplish by lightening up an area that doesn’t need lightening thus creating the contrast again. Hopefully this makes sense.
Lately I’ve been really into the Tarte Double Duty Shape Tape for my concealer needs. It’s got a cult status for sure and can’t believe it’s taken this long for me to jump on board!! It comes in a ton of color options (unike most concealers where you get maybe 4 options!) and I use shade “light beige.”
Now it is pricier at $27 but there’s a ton of product in the big tube and you don’t have to use a whole lot at a time because it’s very opaque.
If you want a drugstore option, try Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer – it’s also realllly great and is one of this years Allure magazine best of beauty winners. I like the shade “brightener” which has a bit of pink in it.
Second step, setting that concealer. Not only are we setting it, but we are brightening it with the Becca Under Eye Brightening powder . It’s colorless so you don’t have to worry about finding your exact shade which is nice and easy. I apply it with a fluffy shadoq brush and pat it into my concealer OR I’ll use a tiny sponge and also press it into the concealer – no swiping motion!
You want to SET the concealer and pressing the powder in is the best way to do that. I love this stuff because it does actually give the illusion of brightening that dark under eye area ever so subtly. Check out my before and after concealer + brightener powder below!!
Use a Q-tip to roll out or smooth out any products settling into creases.
Going a step further with the art of DISTRACTING from the dark circle area!!
I say this all the time, but makeup is about the art of distraction. So even if you don’t feel like you can cover up your circles completely, then you can distract the eye from focusing on them so much.
I do this in two ways : 1. adding a peach colored liner inside my inner waterline on the lower lash line and 2. adding a brow highlighter pencil along the underneath of my brows.
The peach liner will brighten the whites of your eye appearance by getting rid of the natural darkness in the waterline area. I like the Pixi Beauty Eye Bright Liner in “nude” because it is soft and doesn’t tug in the sensitive area.
The brow pencil, mine is this $4 Wet n Wild one, will give the illusion of a brighter brow bone that is more pronounced and in turn makes your eye beds look more lifted.
All of these steps and products together will give you confidence as you look into that mirror and see big bright eyes staring back at you!!
Though this might seem like a few too many steps/process, it honestly should only add maybe two minutes to your makeup routine once you’ve practiced a bit. And really, what is spending just two minutes more in order to achieve a day of looking like you actually got eight full hours of sleep?!
Just a reminder, if you haven’t checked out my post on some of my favorite and affordable makeup brushes on Amazon by aDesign Beauty that I’m currently collaborating with, make sure to go check it out. I show you my very faves from the collection and how I use them. Because flawless eye and face makeup begins AND ends with excellent brushes and tools!!
Each product I feature I’ve used myself and trust. If you make a purchase using the links included, I may earn a small commission on some of the products mentioned due to my affiliate program. Thanks for supporting JennySue Makeup with any of your purchases!
