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@IndianGuy1 I would always use an eye cream, just because it's good for your skin. I have lots of men ask me for skin care advice, and I always tell them (and anyone else) that moisture is the first defense against aging and wrinkles. Adding moisture to the skin makes it supple and boosts elasticity. That way, when we make facial expressions, and then relax, instead of our skin staying in that position that we wrinkled it into to smile or frown, it's elastic enough to bounce back to it's original smoothness. Everyone. Needs. Moisture. Even if you have the oiliest skin of life, the sebum (oil) that your skin is putting out is
not enough to keep your face moisturized. Plus, when our face produces it's natural oils, it usually mixes with sweat, or bacteria from anything we eat, drink or medication we take that comes out of our pores right along with it. So, obviously we don't want that sitting on our skin. We wash it off and replace it with an oil-free moisturizer, balancing our skin's PH.
Concealers aren't as bad as you think. They are only going to be worn for 8-12 hrs a day usually, on top of eye cream, and are removed each night, followed by more eye cream. I know 8-12 hours might sound like a lot, but that's usually not taking into consideration that there will be days you won't wear it, like when you're not leaving the house. Even with how much you're wearing it though, as long as you're not rubbing it on really hard -which will damage the skin around your eyes- then it's not going to have any long term side effects.
Now, with that being said, there are definitely some concealers that have some extra ingredients that are
good for your under eyes! One of my personal favorites is
TheBalm's Time Balm Concealerm which has some anti-aging ingredients, and is very thin, but full coverage as hell lol. And it comes in a full shade range:
There are a lot of other concealers that have anti-aging benefits to them, like
It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Anti-Aging Concealer which has amazing reviews and is also full coverage (meaning it will give you the best coverage of your dark circles possible, as opposed to a sheer or medium coverage). The only problem with that one is that it only comes in 4 shades I believe. I'm not aware of any concealers that will brighten your under eye over time. I'd leave that one to your eye cream.
So, for your eye cream, you need something with ingredients like caffeine, retinol, green tea polyphenol, arnica and vitamin K. Those are the ingredients that will have the strongest and best long term effects for you. Since yours is a genetic issue, along with a possible iron deficiency (which you may also have with your weight loss. Congrats btw!!!) I would probably suggest something of a pharmaceutical grade. Topix Pharmaceuticals makes an eye cream called
Replenix Intensive Eye Lightening Serum. It's a bit on the pricey side, but dermatologists recommend this to their patients with hyper pigmentation like yours. I have a friend that is a master esthetician, and she recommends this a lot too. It's a bit on the pricey side at $65 roughly, but any eye treatment worth it's salt is going to probably run you about that. It's also not a cream, but a serum, which is more concentrated and will have more long term effects. You apply it the same way you would an eye cream, by patting it on very gently with your ring finger, morning and night. Wait until it completely dries before applying concealer. You can buy it on Amazon btw!
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You can definitely do your own research using the ingredients I listed above, and try to find something less expensive. I also like to use a caffiene based organic eye cream every morning, and it wakes me right up and de-puffs my eyes almost instantly! It's called
100% Pure Coffee Bean Caffeinated Eye Cream ($21). That one won't be strong enough to erase your dark circles on it's own, but it's main ingredient is caffeine, which will help, and it's awakening powers are legendary haha. Usually, people use a serum, which is targeted toward a specific problem that they want to take care of long term, like dark circles or chronic dehydration, and then use a cream on top for moisture. That's totally optional for you, of course.
You are very welcome!! Don't hesitate to ask me any question ever, and feel free to message me any time as well! I am a beauty consultant, so this is what I do and I absolutely love it!!
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