Dark Circles

Sleep loss, dehydration and stress do not create a fourth type of circle so much as amplify the first three. Tiredness slows circulation, making vascular circles darker, while fluid shifts and a paler complexion deepen the contrast. This is why a single rough week can make existing circles suddenly more noticeable, then ease again with rest.

The eyelid skin is the thinnest on the body, and beneath it runs a dense web of tiny blood vessels. When circulation slows, from fatigue, genetics or poor sleep, the darker, oxygen-poor blood pooling in those vessels shows straight through the near-translucent surface, reading as a bluish or purple tint. This is the type that visibly worsens after a bad night.

Here the colour is brown rather than blue, driven by excess melanin, the skin's own pigment, in the under-eye area. Melanocytes (the pigment-producing cells) are stimulated by genetic predisposition, common in deeper skin tones, by repeated rubbing from allergies or vigorous makeup removal, and by inflammation. Unlike vascular circles, pigmented ones do not fade with rest.

With age, the tear trough (the groove between lower lid and cheek) deepens as fat-pad volume is lost, the skin thins and the underlying bone gradually resorbs. The "circle" here is not really a colour at all but a shadow cast by that hollow, which is why it looks worse under overhead light and softens when you face a window straight on.