Thursday, April 23, 2009

Can you get rid of Dark Circles under the Eyes?

Dark circles under the eyes can effectively play down the beauty of even the most spectacular set of eyes. They also give the entire face a tired and haggard look.

Those annoying dark circles under your eyes are visible to everyone. As your eyelids and the skin directly under your eyes are particularly tender and sensitive areas of the epidermis, it is the most vulnerable area of your face. Therefore you need to have a better understanding of it to keep those dark circles at bay. Read on to know more.

What Causes Dark Circles
Your lifestyle, diet and hereditary disposition have a direct link with your skin. The appearance of dark circles is a sure sign of someone who is not in good health, either due to stress or poor habits.

The culprit is generally a combination of sun damage, heredity, allergies, aging and lack of sleep. Lack of sleep tends to cause the skin to become paler and reduces circulation.

But, sometimes you get them even if you get enough sleep and are stress free. In that case, there is a possibility that your age is the culprit.

Years of sun damage causes microscopic blood vessels to loose their stability below your eyes, therefore adding to the problem. The layer of fat underneath your eyes actually thickens with time and gives the illusion of dark circles.

In some cases, dark circles under the eye may also be light carbon deposits that result from incomplete protein digestion. Allergies are another common cause of skin discoloration under the eyes.

How to minify dark circles?
Start with a blood test with your doctor, to find the real cause of the dark circles under your eyes. Find out whether or not this condition runs in your family as heredity is believed to be the most common cause behind dark circles.

Allergies may cause skin discoloration under the eyes. If this is so, identify the allergens and undergo the required treatment.

Inadequate sleep results in dark circles under the eyes, so never go short on sleep. Reduce your stress and develop healthy habits to ensure that you get a good night sleep.

How to Check the Problem
Applying cool tea bags or cucumber slices to your eyes daily and leaving them on your eyes for about 10-15 minutes, preferably in the morning works wonders. Both tea bags and cucumbers are known to reduce inflammation and decrease swelling.

Buy a good under eye cream, containing vitamin K and retinol as deficiency of vitamin K does causes dark circles. These under eye creams reduce puffiness and discoloration significantly. Use them for a long time for best results.

Eat a healthy, balanced diet, take vitamins, and drink plenty of water. A host of cosmetic problems can be attributed to vitamin deficiencies. Dark circles and puffiness are often attributed to lack of vitamin K or inadequate antioxidantsdefine.

Reduce salt intake as excess salt causes the body to retain water in unusual places and this can result in puffiness under the eyes. Also quit smoking as smoking causes vasculardefine problems and make your blood vessels appear more prominent and bluer beneath the skin.

Some quick fixes for dark circles
Try using a concealer. For example, using yellow tones will neutralize the blues, purples and husky hues on the skin. This of course is not a permanent solution but can build your confidence for the day, by hiding those dark circles and giving you a healthy look.

Can’t get rid of them still?
If the above guidelines and tips are not working, then most probably your problem is hereditary and tougher to treat. The best way out is to supplement your treatment regimen with simple cover-up techniques. Search for a liquid or powder concealer that matches your skin tone and gently dab a little under your eyes in the morning.

Corrective laser surgery is another option for people determined to get rid of their dark circles. Lots of people have had success using this technique. If you're concerned that the dark circles under your eyes are a serious health issue, then consult a doctor about the possibility of liver or kidney problems.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Dark Circle, Puffiness and Black Spot Under Eyes

This is due to excess strain on your eyes. Staring continuously at the computer screen is two of the problems. Lack of sleep also causes this problem. Such kind of strain to your eyes gives the tired look. You start developing dark circles as well as eye bags which can be a put off lots of people by having a glance at you.

Home Remedies for your eyes

- Get sleep
- Eat a vitamin A rich diet such as fruits, apricots, green leafy vegetables, carrots, egg yolks and butter
- Drink lots of water
- Avoid alcohol, smoking and direct sun
- Try to wear sunglasses whenever you are outside
- Avoid much television
- Can do yoga exercises to help your eyes

- Easiest of all the solution is to wash your face with cold water. This helps in making your face neat and clears your face from any inflammation and also moisturizers it to avoid any eye problems.

- Take some boiled tea in a cup of water. two time the water cools, dip two gauges in it, place each of the gauges on your eyelid for 15 minutes. two time the gauges are dried, dip it again to gain the most from this remedy.

- Lavender oil is another soothing agent which helps to keep your eyes fresh and radiant. Add a drop of this oil in two and half cup of water. Shake it well before using. You can use two cotton pads as eye pads which are dipped in this solution.

- Use two chilled and soaked chamomile tea bags to be placed on your eyelids

- The first thing in the morning you see in the mirror is the puffed eyes. You can use ice, chilled spoons or tea bags on your eyes to remove that look.

- Place couple of slices of chilled cucumber on your eyes and try to relax in a secluded place. You can use the same procedure by using boiled potato

- You can dip cotton in a mixture of rosewater or milk or almond oil to keep your eyes refreshing

- Soak couple of cotton pads in Witch Hazel to be placed on your eyelids. Due to the nice starch content, potatoes work greatly to minimize puffiness and redness.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Removing Age Spots - Simple Solutions and Products That Work

Removing age spots is not necessary, as they are not damaging to your health, but most people simply don’t like the way that they look. If you consult a cosmetic surgeon or dermatologist, they will recommend cryotherapy or laser treatment for age spot removal. The effectiveness and expense of these procedures varies. Plus, there are risks involved.

Either procedure can cause scarring. They are only slightly painful, if performed correctly, but the resulting redness is just as unsightly as the spot. Wearing cover-stick or makeup to hide the area causes more pain and doesn’t look that great. So, if you do choose these procedures for removing age spots, pick a time when you can take a week off and stay home, especially if your appearance is very important to you.

Instead of focusing on age spot removal, let’s look for a moment at why you are starting to look older. Unless the spots have formed due to pregnancy or for other hormonal reasons, you are probably seeing fine lines at the corners of your eyes, possibly wrinkles on your forehead and lines that run from your nose to the corners of your mouth. If you have ever been a smoker, you are likely seeing lots of little lines around your mouth.

If you go to a cosmetic surgeon for age spot removal, there is no doubt that he or she will tell you about Botox and collagen injections for “correcting” those wrinkles. If you have some sagging around your neckline or on other areas of the body, a heat procedure called “thermage” will likely be recommended. Since each of these procedures costs several hundred dollars, by the time you get out of the office, you could easily end up with a bill of $5000 or more.

Luckily, there are effective treatments for removing age spots, reducing wrinkles and increasing firmness that do not require a visit to the dermatologist or even a doctor’s prescription. Antioxidants are one of the keys. Antioxidants are our only real defense against free radical damage, which is one of the causes of cellular aging inside and out.

Will antioxidants help with age spot removal? There are three steps to naturally fade these heavily pigmented areas; reduce sun exposure, stimulate the production of new cells and inhibit melanin production. Inhibiting melanin production may not even be that important. But, the other two steps are essential.

Melanin is a pigment that is produced by specialized cells in the skin’s dermis layer, where new cells are also produced. If melanin has been secreted, the new cells will be darker. If not, they will be lighter in color. It takes four to six weeks for the new cells to make it to the skin’s outer layers; the epidermis.

Reducing sun exposure is essential for removing age spots, because melanin production is stimulated by UV rays from the sun. Increasing the production of new cells is essential for age spot removal, if you want to see them fade quickly. The most important ingredient for stimulating the production of new cells is Functional Keratin. If you want to learn more about removing age spots and reversing the other signs of aging, you need to learn more about Functional Keratin.