Kojic Acid Dark Circles
Q: Will kojic acid help dark circles under eyes?
A: Thanks for your message Emily, and yes, that is an excellent question. Being that this ingredient is so effective at lightening the skin, it only makes sense to use it for dark circles… or does it? Not exactly. Here’s why…
Understanding dark circles
We all know what they look like, but few of us have actually researched what causes dark circles under eyes. Obviously, from an aesthetic perspective, they cause the skin under the eyes to be much darker than normal… usually a purplish-black color. But unlike other pigmentation problems, that’s where the similarities end…
You see dark circles are the result of overprominent blood capillaries under the surface of the skin. Since the skin under the eyes is so thin (and thins out even more as we age) it means that there’s not much covering these capillaries. The result? You literally see the blood under the surface of the skin. This is why kojic acid dark circles treatments make absolutely no sense. The problem is not with your skin’s pigment, but rather with those capillaries underneath the skin.
How to treat dark circles
There are two “plans of attack” that you can use to address the problem:
1. plump up the skin under the eye: As mentioned, the only thing wrong with the skin is that it is too thin. So using topical creams and moisturizers which are known to plump up the skin may not be a bad idea. Personally, my favorite one is hyaluronic acid cream. Why? Because this ingredient is a natural substance already found in your skin (like collagen and elastin) but it serves a unique purpose… hyaluronic acid cream acts as a sponge for water! Reportedly it can soak in up to a thousand times its own weight in water. If you choose to use this type of cream, please only use ones which the manufacturer says are okay to use around the eyes.
2. use eye cream for dark circles: This is by your best bet if you want to really address the problem. The kojic acid dark circles idea won’t help, but vitamin K for dark circles can. That is precisely why these creams use vitamin K, which is a well known ingredient used for a number of circulatory issues. When it is applied topically in the form of a dark circles cream, it is said to help promote and restore these capillaries so they function more normally. Instead of them be backed up and creating that dark color, many users see significant improvement after a few weeks of use. This is why virtually every dark eye circles cream uses it as the main ingredient.