Does the caffeine eye cream do anything?

For the vascular kind, briefly and genuinely -- caffeine constricts, the area reads lighter, and it wears off within hours. For pigment or shadow it does nothing at all, which is why the same product gets glowing and furious reviews from people with the same complaint.

Do I need a separate eye cream at all?

Not necessarily. The skin there is thinner and the products are gentler, but a fragrance-free moisturiser you already tolerate is a reasonable substitute for most people. What you should not substitute is sunscreen. Around the eye a stick at SPF 30 or above is the easier form -- a lotion migrates as you blink and stings, which is the commonest reason people stop applying it there at all.

How long before pigment fades?

Eight to twelve weeks to judge, the same as any pigment anywhere, because that is how long skin needs to turn over several times. And that clock only runs while the sun is off it -- the commonest reason people conclude nothing works is that the afternoon undid the morning.

When is this worth seeing someone about?

When it arrived suddenly rather than gradually, when it sits on one side only, or when it comes with swelling, itching or a rash -- none of those are the ordinary version of this and none of them answer to a cream. Persistent tiredness with new circles is worth mentioning to a doctor too, because anaemia and thyroid problems both show up here and neither is a skincare question.

Why does concealer make it look worse by lunchtime?

Usually too much product on skin that is too dry, so it settles into the fine lines and prints. Less product, on hydrated skin, on the shadow rather than the whole socket. If the darkness is vascular a peach or orange corrector under a thin layer of concealer beats a thicker layer of concealer alone, because it cancels blue rather than covering it.

The answer

How do I get rid of the dark circles under my eyes?

Dark circles are three separate problems wearing the same face. Some are pigment: brown, often inherited, common in deeper skin tones, and made worse by sun and by rubbing. Some are vascular: the skin under the eye is the thinnest on the body, and the blood vessels beneath it read blue or purple straight through. And some are not colour at all -- the tear trough is a hollow, a hollow casts a shadow, and a shadow is anatomy. There is a ten-second test that points at which one you have, and pointing is all it does. Stretch the skin under your eye gently sideways: if the darkness stays put that suggests pigment, if it lightens it suggests vascular, and if the whole thing changes when you tilt your face towards a window it was mostly shadow. Most people have two of the three at once, so read it as a steer rather than a diagnosis. This matters because the three do not answer to the same thing. Pigment fades slowly with sunscreen and patience. Thin skin can be plumped and protected but never thickened much. And no cream on earth fills a shadow, which is why the most honest product on this page is a concealer.

What answers it

CeraVeEye Repair CreamFor the vascular and crepey half, which is where a cream genuinely earns its place. Skin that is hydrated and intact scatters light better than skin that is dry and thin, so the vessels beneath read less sharply -- a real effect and a modest one. It is the sensible daily option rather than the exciting one.Buy on Amazon
Kiehl'sAvocado Eye TreatmentHeavier, and the choice when the under-eye is dry enough to look crepe-textured by the afternoon. Thickness is the point: an occlusive sits and holds water rather than absorbing in a minute. If your circles look worse in winter and worse on aeroplanes, dryness is doing part of the work and this is the pick.Buy on Amazon
La Roche-PosayAnthelios Melt-In Milk SPF 60The one that treats the pigment kind, and the one nobody wants to hear. UV is what switches pigment production back on, so a brightening routine without daily sunscreen is a routine undone every afternoon. That is also why circles that are genuinely pigment get worse each summer and appear not to respond to anything.Buy on Amazon
NARSRadiant Creamy concealerIncluded deliberately, because for the shadow kind it is not a cover-up for a failed treatment -- it is the treatment. A hollow is filled by light, not by cream, and a radiant-finish concealer is doing optics rather than hiding anything. Apply it to the shadow itself rather than the whole socket, and less than feels right.Buy on Amazon

Prices live on Amazon, where they change hourly — so we never quote one. Every product here is a brand we would name out loud.

The stretch test, and why it decides everything

Pull the skin at the outer corner gently towards your ear and watch what happens. Pigment stays -- it is in the skin you just moved. Vascular darkness fades, because you have flattened the vessels underneath. Shadow does not respond to the stretch at all but changes as you tilt towards a light. Most people have two of the three and one dominant, and knowing which is dominant is the difference between a product that works and eighteen months of trying serums.

Sleep and salt move the puffiness, not the colour

A bad night makes the whole area look worse, which is why sleep gets the blame. What sleep actually changes is fluid: puffiness casts more shadow, and less puffiness casts less. The pigment underneath is exactly where it was. So eight hours will improve how you look on the day and will not fade anything -- worth knowing before you conclude that a cream stopped working on a Tuesday.

Caffeine, cold, and how long either lasts

Cold and caffeine constrict vessels, so both genuinely reduce the vascular kind for a while. The while is short -- this is a before-the-photographs measure, not a course of treatment. A metal applicator or a cold spoon does the same job as an expensive eye roller, and the fact that it works within a minute is the clue: nothing that changes skin works that fast.

The one that is not a skincare problem

If the stretch test says shadow, the honest answer is that the shelf cannot fix it. A tear trough is bone and fat and the way they sit, it tends to deepen with age, and the interventions that change it are clinical rather than cosmetic. Saying so is more useful than selling a cream for it. Makeup handles it well and handles it today.

Questions

Does the caffeine eye cream do anything?: For the vascular kind, briefly and genuinely -- caffeine constricts, the area reads lighter, and it wears off within hours. For pigment or shadow it does nothing at all, which is why the same product gets glowing and furious reviews from people with the same complaint.
Do I need a separate eye cream at all?: Not necessarily. The skin there is thinner and the products are gentler, but a fragrance-free moisturiser you already tolerate is a reasonable substitute for most people. What you should not substitute is sunscreen. Around the eye a stick at SPF 30 or above is the easier form -- a lotion migrates as you blink and stings, which is the commonest reason people stop applying it there at all.
How long before pigment fades?: Eight to twelve weeks to judge, the same as any pigment anywhere, because that is how long skin needs to turn over several times. And that clock only runs while the sun is off it -- the commonest reason people conclude nothing works is that the afternoon undid the morning.
When is this worth seeing someone about?: When it arrived suddenly rather than gradually, when it sits on one side only, or when it comes with swelling, itching or a rash -- none of those are the ordinary version of this and none of them answer to a cream. Persistent tiredness with new circles is worth mentioning to a doctor too, because anaemia and thyroid problems both show up here and neither is a skincare question.
Why does concealer make it look worse by lunchtime?: Usually too much product on skin that is too dry, so it settles into the fine lines and prints. Less product, on hydrated skin, on the shadow rather than the whole socket. If the darkness is vascular a peach or orange corrector under a thin layer of concealer beats a thicker layer of concealer alone, because it cancels blue rather than covering it.

Your turn

What should we dress next?

An occasion you cannot find anything for, or a product you want us to look at properly.