No matter how pretty your eye makeup looks, if you haven’t properly concealed under eye circles, you run the risk of looking like a lost raccoon.

The skin under the eyes is extremely delicate. Dark circles are often caused by broken blood vessels under the eyes and since this area tends to be very thin, the darkness will show. Your genes play a big part in whether or not you have or will have dark under eye circles. And as you age, the skin tends to get thinner which makes undereye circles appear more prominent. There are a number of products you can use to help diminish the appearance of dark under eye circles (eye creams that contain vitamins K & C or laser surgery), but for the most part, you will still need a good concealer to cover them.

1. Rx for Brown Skin Bright and Even Eye Cream for Dark Circles $36 at Sephora 2. Olay Definity Highly Defined Anti-Aging Illuminating Eye Treatment $25.99 at drugstore.com 3. (for puffiness) Patricia Wexler M.D. Dermatology Fastscription™ Instant De-Puff Eye Gel $9.50 at Bath and Body Works

Eve Pearl, Emmy Award winning makeup artist and author of Plastic Surgery Without the Surgery: The Miracle of Makeup Techniques, breaks down what color concealer to use according to your undereye issue:

Problem: Undereye bluish veins
Color Solution for Light/Med Skin: Light peach/salmon
Color Solution for Med/Dark Skin: Honey yellow/salmon/orange

Problem: Undereye red/bluish (looks purplish)
Color Solution for Light/Med Skin: Yellow/light peach/salmon
Color Solution for Med/Dark Skin: Honey yellow/salmon

Problem: Undereye dark brown/reddish
Color Solution for Light/Med Skin: Yellow/light peach
Color Solution for Med/Dark Skin: Honey yellow/salmon

Even better, you can get these concealers via her website:

1. SALMON CONCEALER™ & TREATMENT With CosmeNutrients™ (Light) 2. SALMON CONCEALER™ & TREATMENT With CosmeNutrients™ (Medium) 3. SALMON CONCEALER™ & TREATMENT With CosmeNutrients™ (Tan) 4. SALMON CONCEALER™ & TREATMENT With CosmeNutrients™ (Dark)

I’ve also had great results with my clients of all shades using the following concealers:

1. Stila Perfecting Concealer $23 at Sephora 2. MAC Full Coverage Foundation in Orange (this stuff takes dark spots out of darker skin tones (think NC and NW 40 or darker. use it only in the spots where you need it before you apply foundation) visit MAC Pro for retail locations or call 1-800-866-6464 to order over the phone 3. Becca Compact Concealer $38 at Becca

My Concealer Application Tips:
1. Apply foundation first and then concealer. Sometimes you can conceal the area with just foundation and won’t even need concealer. If you’re using a color correcting concealer, you’ll want to do concealer first and then foundation.
2. Apply concealer with your fingers or put a bit on the back of your hand and then use a concealer brush or makeup wedge. This helps to warm up the concealer so it will go on the skin smoothly.
3. Never use an undereye concealer more than a shade lighter than your skin tone. You will only make the undereye area appear more obvious.
4. Set concealer with a light dusting of loose powder.

Extra Reading:
NY Times Article Skin Deep Putting ‘You Look Tired’ to Rest

P.S. Don’t forget to enter in the Rx for Brown Skin Giveaway! Entries must be in by 11:59 P.M. EST on Thursday, April 16th!