Stop Buying Eye Cream Until You Do This Test | Dr. Danny Guo

Before you spend another dollar on eye

creams, I need you to do one quick

experiment with me. Grab a mirror. Oh,

wait. Because the most common mistake

that people make with dark [music]

circles is treating like they're all the

same. If you've ever Googled how to get

rid of them, you've probably seen the

same generic advice. Sleep more, drink

more water, use vitamin [music] C. And

while that's not necessarily wrong, it's

completely misses the point. Dark

circles can come from at least four

different [music] causes: shadows,

pigmentation, visible veins, and dull

and textured [music] skin. Each one

needs a completely different fix and

using the wrong treatment can be a total

waste of time and money. So, in this

video, we're going to do a simple

experiment together, figure out [music]

exactly which type you have, and talk

about what you can actually do about it.

By the way, if you're new here, my name

is Dr. Danny Guo. I'm a cosmetic and

surgical dermatologist. And on this

channel, I talk about skincare, skin

health, and dermatic treatments without

the hype. So, for this experiment,

you're going to need two things: a

mirror and a light source above you.

Your regular room light is totally fine.

Step one, hold the mirror at eye level

and look straight into your own eyes.

Remember what your dark circles look

like and the color and depth and shape.

Step two, tilt your head up and then

move the mirror with you so you can see

your own eyes. Now look at your eyes

again. Are they the same? Are they

better? Or are they gone completely? If

they're completely gone or basically

disappeared, then you're dealing with a

shadow. Your dark circles are literally

just shadows being cast under your eyes.

If they're not better at all and the

color looks brown, then that's

pigmentation. We're dealing with melanin

in the skin. And if you see blue or red

discoloration on the inner corner of

your lower eyelid, like right here,

that's veins shining through thin skin.

And if your answer was kind of all of

the above, then you might have a

combination of things. Don't worry,

we're going to talk about how to manage

each one of these. The shadow is

probably the most common type of dark

circle, and it's not actually a

pigmentation issue at all. It's purely

structural. There are two ways that this

can happen. First, your lower eyelid is

protruding, kind of pushing forward

beyond the level of your cheek. And when

light hits it from above, it casts a

shadow downwards. That shadow is your

dark circle. The second possibility is

the other way around. Your lower eyelid

is more sunken in compared to the

position of your cheek. This also

creates a shadow on your lower eyelid

instead of on your cheek, but the result

looks very similar. So, what do you do

about it? Well, it depends on which

shadow issue you actually have. If it's

your eyelid that is protruding, meaning

your eyelid is a little lax and hanging

forward in early stages, resurfacing

lasers, can actually help tighten the

skin. More significant cases may need

surgery. Specifically, it is a procedure

called blleroplasty. That's when a skin

surgeon removes or repositions the

tissue of the lower eyelid. It sounds

intense, but it's one of the most

effective long-term fixes out there. And

if surgery doesn't sound like [music]

something you want to do, a skilled

injector can also place some filler in

the cheek below the bulge to camouflage

the difference between your lower eyelid

and your cheek. Now, if it's the hollow,

sunken lower eyelid, then this is a

volume loss issue. One option here is

[music] filler, specifically something

called teertro filler, where a small

amount of hyaluronic acid filler is

placed in the hollow to restore the

volume. When done well, the result

[music] is genuinely remarkable. the

shadow disappears almost immediately.

The downside though is that this is

actually a [music] very technically

challenging procedure and patient

selection is extremely important. But

unfortunately, while most injectors

[music] do not do this very well, many

claim that they do. Quick note, if you

want to look into the tear trough

filler, go to a board-certified

dermatologist, not just anyone with an

Instagram page. [music] The under eye

area is extremely delicate, so choose

your injector wisely. Now, let's talk

about pigmentation. If your experiment

showed that your dark circles are brown

and that they didn't get better when you

looked up at the light, then you've got

pigmentation. This means there's extra

melanin sitting in the skin under your

eyes. The good news, this is one of the

more treatable types and you can start

right now at home with skincare. Just to

be clear, you don't actually have to use

things that are called eye creams

because there is no regulation for that

term and it's often just really

expensive moisturizer. Instead, you're

going to want to look for some products

with the following ingredients. Number

one, transexamic acid. This has become

one of my personal favorite newer

brightening ingredients. It works by

blocking the signal that tells your skin

cells to produce extra melanin.

Genuinely impressive results for

pigmentation. Number two, nioinamide.

It's great for skin brightening and has

a solid safety profile around the eye

area. Number three, vitamin C. Classic

antioxidant and melanin inhibitor. Look

for a gentle formula with eloscorbic

acid if you can. And finally, retinoid

in an eye cream. This is a slow burn,

but retinoids increase cellular

turnover, which help fade pigmentation

over time. You're going to want to start

slow, like maybe two to three nights a

week, and then slowly work your way up

because the skin around your eyes is

very thin and can easily get irritated.

As with all skincare, results are not

going to happen overnight. We're talking

like 8 to 12 weeks of consistent use

before you see significant improvement.

So, patience is part of the prescription

here. All right, now let's talk about

blue red discoloration. This happens

from veins showing through the skin

under your eyes. And I'm going to be

honest here. This is probably one of the

trickiest types to treat. What's

happening here is the skin under the

eyes is very thin. Thin enough that you

can see the blue and red blood vessels

underneath, especially on the inner

corner of the lower eyelids. It can look

like a bluish purple shadow, but it's

actually just your veins. There are two

main options here. The first [music] is

to directly target the blood vessels

themselves. And for this you can either

use a caffeine-based eye cream to

temporarily [music] cause vasal

constriction thus reducing the

appearance of the blue red discoloration

or you can use a vascular laser like a

pulsey laser. The V-beam for example is

a well-known example of a vascular

laser. These lasers specifically target

the hemoglobin in those blood vessels

and selectively destroy the blood

vessels without hurting your skin. As

with most lasers, this is done in a

dermatologist office or a laser clinic

setting. [music] The second approach is

to thicken the skin above the blood

vessels with skincare so the vessels are

less visible. The best ingredients for

this are probably retinoids which

stimulate collagen production over time

making the [music] skin thicker and less

translucent. It takes time but it's a

real genuine improvement. So for most

people if your dark circles are blue red

discoloration combining both approaches

specifically some laser work plus

consistent retinoid [music] use tends to

give the best results. So, the last one

we're going to talk about in this video

is dull skin. And this one is sneaky

because it doesn't look like a

traditional dark circle. It makes the

whole under eye area look flat and

tired. Here's the best way I can explain

this with this tin foil. When it is

smooth and flat like this, it will

reflect light beautifully, like very

glowy glass skin. But if we introduce a

bunch of texture to the tin foil, like

creases and folds, it becomes way less

glowy because all those tiny wrinkles

scatter light in every different

direction instead of reflecting it

cleanly. [music]

That's exactly what happens when fine

lines, dryness, and texture take over

the under eye. Light just doesn't

reflect off your skin cleanly anymore.

The result isn't really a dark circle.

It's just a dull, non-reflective

surface. [music] The good news though is

that this type responds very well to

straightforward skincare. The first one

you'll want to add in is a moisturizer.

And I mean like a dedicated rich eye

cream, not just whatever you're using on

your forehead. The under eye skin is

thin and loses moisture really quickly.

So keeping it hydrated is going to make

a real visible difference. After that,

you're going to want to add in an

ingredient like vitamin C and nioinamide

because both of these can help with skin

brightness. The nycinomide can also

improve skin barrier and soothes

irritated skin which improves skin

radiance or how reflected the skin is.

For fine lines specifically, you're

going to want to go back to that retinol

cream because over time they will

stimulate collagen, smooth texture, and

get that reflective quality back.

Fractional resurfacing lasers like CO2

and ultra clear can also be very

effective for fine lines of the lower

eyelids, but you should first speak with

your dermatologist to make sure that

it's appropriate for you. So, there you

have it. four of the most common causes

of dark circles under the eyes. And of

course, you can have a combination of

more than one. If there is one point

that you take away from the video today,

it's that not every dark circle is the

same. So, rushing out to buy the latest

viral eye cream, it may end up just

being a complete waste of money if it

doesn't target the specific cause of

your dark circles. I hope this video

helps you understand the actual cause of

your dark circles and what you're

actually looking at when you see [music]

darkness under your eyes so that you can

make a more informed choice as a

consumer before spending your

hard-earned money on something you saw

on Tik Tok. [music] If you found this

helpful, subscribe for more

evidence-based skincare and dermatology

content without the hype. I'll see you

in the next one.

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