Do you look like you are drained and tired because of those pesky shadows under your eyes? Do they bother you so much that you want and must change them? Well lets look at a few tips to help you on your way to brighter, more beautiful skin, that you can feel really great about!
Why dark circles?
There could be an array of reasons behind those gloomy shades you got there. The experts agree that lack of sleep, dehydration, not enough vitamins/minerals, too much alcohol, genes and just getting older, all play important rolls in whether you will have dark circles or not. Being aware of your body and its needs is something to hone in on on a daily basis. By doing this you can direct your focus into the area that you think might be
causing your “dark-circle dilema”.
So Lets get started by addressing some of those issues as to why you could have them in the first place.
1. Lack of Sleep/Stress
Sleep is a huge factor in overall well being. Emotion.Physical. Spiritual. Your body cannot and will not function properly without proper restful sleep. I put stress in here, because if you are lacking sleep, you are automatically stressed. You body cannot fully recover when it is in a constant state of stress.
So if you are not getting enough sleep, try to change that ASAP if possible. If you think you cannot get it at night, try taking a nap during the day on your days off, or have someone watch your kids for a few hours so you can recharge. If you sleep well, but have other stress issues, try being very disciplined to have a destress time. Maybe its on your way home from work. Try turning off all noises in your car. Just being silent and enjoy the ride. Traffic or no traffic. Just enjoy and refocus before you get home to the family. Maybe you try going to bed earlier. Turn off your phone and pick up a real book. Yes a real book! Schedule time to do the things you know are going to help you destress. You know what they are! It might take you a moment to think of them, but set priority to do them once you find out what they might be. Tell your family your goals and what you need in order to destress. Make it a family effort. Be real with them. And work through these things together.
2. Dehydration
Dehydration could really be causing you some issues, not just with your dark circles, but with many other systems in your body. The human body is made up of an average of 60% water according to www.usgs.gov. You can read up more on the topic if you wish. It is amazingly interesting. Your brain, for example, is 73% water and the lungs about 83% water. I hope you see, water is very important for all the processes in your body to function properly.
If you are not getting enough, try to incorporate more. Be creative. Find ways you can fit it into your daily schedule. Put the water in a place you will see it. Add peppermint leaves, or essential oils to spice it up a bit. This will add healthy antioxidants for a good immune boost at the same time! You can also add a pinch of salt to help with absorption into your cells, so you don’t feel like you are just gaining water weight.
3. Getting Your Greens
Getting enough vitamins and minerals is a huge factor in influencing dark circles as well as overall health. Many times we are vitamin or mineral deficient and don’t even know it. Another reason why being aware of your body is a very important key to addressing issues that will come up. So make sure you are filling your plate with more greens and beans rather than too much meat or simple carbs like potatoes, rice or pasta. It takes meat a lot longer to travel through your intestine, and especially pork and beef can be very harsh on your gut. We need to keep a clean gut, to keep the rest of the body working supurbly! So keep the meat to a minimum, if you are a meat eater. (you can stick more to chicken, turkey or fish if you just HAVE to have more meat. I love Dr. Joel Fuhrmans explanation of healthful food. Sometimes you just need to take some small steps in the right direction to get you to begin to change the things you want to. You will get there. Be patient with yourself. Sugar, sweet fruit juices, other sweet drinks or anything that turns to sugar (bread, pasta) in your body is another factor that could be negatively effecting you. (whole fruit is fine, I am not talking about that;) So try to lower your processed sugar intake.
4. Too much alcohol
Lets face it alcohol can do a number on your body, specifically your liver. Your liver is the place where everything in your body gets “clean”. Your liver makes sure your body stays clean and healthy, getting rid of toxins and “yucky stuff” that makes its way in to our body on a daily basis.
For someone else, they might be able to have more and it doesn’t affect their eyes (maybe other parts of their body though;) So lower the alcohol intake and see how you feel and look. A glass here and there is no problem, but overdoing it can be detrimental to your undereye area as well as other parts of your body.
5. Genes
Although genes do play a role in your dark circles, they are not usually the first and main cause of dark circles. Maybe to your amazement, lifestyle can have a huge impact on your body. So whether you were given a “bad hand” in the under eye department, it doesn’t have to mean that you are hopeless. You can still remedy under eye circles to a certain extent with your lifestyle activities and habits. So don’t give up! Try and change some of the habits listed in this post and see how you feel after a couple months!
6. Aging
Aging alone could be your cause of dark circles. The skin begins to thin, and sag due to loss of collagen, loss of natural skin fats, lack of general nutrients, loss of moisture, excess sun exposure and many other reasons. As the thinning occurs the blood vessels under our eyes become more visible, creating redness or blueness under our eyes. Here a great remedy again is proper nutrition. Feed your body from the inside and it will begin to show on the outside. See Nr. 3 again 😉 To combat the aging process from the outside, high quality skin care cosmetics are
of utter importance. I love to use facial cleansers, creams, and antioxidant serums from Mary Kay and the make-up cover-up remedies like the SOS Undereye corrector. Specific issues call for specific products. You can see a list of my favorites beauty products for dark circles here (insert link to a PDF maybe).
Take time to reflect and then invest in these things and eventually you will find yourself changing your lifestyle and making better choices you are happy and proud of. It might seem trivial, but you would be surprised what a few small changes in your daily routine can make! Take care of you, so you will be able to care for others.
Look forward to hearing from you in the comment section below, or by any of my other contact outlets.
Until next time,
Keep growing strong!
Beth
