For Real Change That You Can See, Lighten Up Dark Under Eye Circles From Within

Natural darkness can be improved, if you know where to start.

Under eye darkness really can be depressing when you look at yourself in the mirror.  Though you can’t prevent the hand that heredity may have dealt you with how your body reacts to allergens, stress, or even processes the nutrients from foods you eat for playing a part in developing dark circles, there is another solution besides concealers and eye creams with vitamin K or caffeine to free up that trapped blood lurking beneath.

Instead of just working on the outside to mask the problem, you might want to try working on the inside as well.   What I suggest is to supply the body with plenty of the nutrients it needs to strengthen blood vessel walls from leaking to that delicate eye area through eating more antioxidant rich foods.

Berries such as blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, and blackberries are excellent sources. Pomegranates, dark varieties of grapes, pecans, almonds, legumes, sweet potatoes, dark green vegetables, and parsley are just some others that can help build up the structure of blood vessel tissue.

Drinking more water to flush out toxins and keeping the blood circulating more freely also does seem to help. 

My allergic shiners are still there, but I am noticing my under eye area has brightened somewhat since starting this. Mary is happier that I now added more antioxidants to my day with the improvement I have had so far.  Try it yourself and hopefully, your own under eye darkness brightens up your look and mood as it is doing for me!

A Crazy Makeup Trick That Makes Extremely Dark Circles and Habitual Under Eye Bags Less Visible!

If you tried every makeup trick in the book and still haven't got the results you would like, you need to try this simple technique.  

If you tried practically every concealer for heavy duty circles and eye cream for dealing with swollen, puffy eyes and haven’t found the amount of help you need, then l have a suggestion that you should explore.  Try brushing the area with a matte nude blush or bronzer.  The color seems to help counteract that extreme darkness or the look of puffiness better than trying to tackle the problem with concealer alone. 

Review + Swatches: Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealers (Fair, Fair Golden), Cover and Contour on the Go Perfection Stick (Fair) and Concealer Brush

**Disclaimer:  This post has been compensated through a free product (s) or monetary payment.  Opinions are solely mine. All links are "no-follow" links.**   

Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer in Fair

A product that most of us can’t live without is concealer.  Since I heard a lot of great buzz about the ones from Amazing Cosmetics, I just had to see for myself  how well their Amazing Concealers and Perfection Stick covered, disguised and corrected what needed done on my face.

The company was kind enough to send me two different shades of their Little Amazing Concealer ($28) in Fair and Fair Golden.   This is a travel size .2 fl. oz., but they also have a larger .5 fl. oz. size ($42). However, I like this smaller tube because this full coverage, highly pigmented, waterproof concealer can go a long way before it will be used up.

Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer in Fair Golden

The consistency of this product is not thick, but still creamy and somewhat liquid. Do shake the tube thoroughly before you attempt to squeeze some out to make sure it blends well. 

Amazing Cosmetics concealer brush is a quality tool for applying concealer, especially for hard to reach areas like under the eyes for doing a more thorough job.  

I was glad that they also supplied me with a concealer brush because this formula was ideal to paint under eye dark circles.  The size head of that brush made my application more precise as I patted a tiny dot of it in, especially when it came to getting the area near the bottom lashes and the corners of my eyes. 

The first swatch on the left is Amazing Concealer Fair Golden, then Fair and ending with the Perfection Stick (Fair) swatch.

All I needed was one coat of this concealer to banish my current darkness.  In its place, their formula managed to brighten as it hid and flawlessly blended into my natural skin color without settling into my creases over time.  I could wear either shade, but I prefer the lighter Fair color for how it suited my complexion.  There are 18 other shades available.

The Perfection Stick ($23) was something else I was fond of using for all the things this chubby pencil did to help beautify me.  I liked it for throwing in my handbag for bringing some light where I need it or to spot cover a skin problem or under eye darkness, if the occasion called for it when away from home. For heavy under eye darkness, you'll still want the Amazing Concealer because this is lighter and gives more of a brightening effect.  It was also great for playing with my lip line or to even out your skin tone.  This self-sharpening pencil comes in three other shades besides Fair that I selected.

Amazing Cosmetics Perfection Stick in Fair

I don’t know how I ever missed trying Amazing Cosmetics until now, but I’m glad that I finally tried a few of their products.  After my experience with their concealers, I do intend on looking into more of their products. Do check them out as well!

Have you tried Amazing Cosmetics yet and these concealers?  

Some Great Tricks to Get Rid of Puffy, Swollen Eyes!

Swollen eyes are no fun.  However, there are simple solutions that can come to your aid.

When you have allergies, you tend to have more than your share of swollen eyes due to fluids building up from irritants. A while back I shared some helpful tips to reduce eye swelling.  Since that time, I found more ways that I also liked for dealing with this problem that you may also be interested in trying.

The first one that I want to tell you about is about is in your refrigerator. Cleanse your face first.  Next, head to your kitchen because you’re going to need milk.  Pour a little into a cup, clean lid, or bowl and take it with you to wherever you keep your cotton balls.  Dip one in the cold milk (preferably whole milk for the most benefits) and then go stretch out on your bed, wearing this saturated compress for about 10 minutes or so. 

Before the time is up, the high fat content from the milk will have accomplished two things.  Being a cold liquid helps the swelling probably just as much as some ice water, but due to the high fat content this method moisturizes while soothing any feeling of irritation that you also might be experiencing.

Not only do I use this method when my eyes puff, but I also highly recommend using milk as a final rinse after cleansing when your skin becomes irritated and sensitive. For a while, I had problems and kept switching one skin care product after the next.  Nothing that I seemed to put on was feeling good on my skin. What rescued my suffering skin was when I applied milk and kept it on until it dried before rinsing.  This simple trick worked to comfort it through a difficult period.   

Another thing that helps swelling is picking up a bottle of aloe vera gel.  Keep it refrigerated and apply when you need it the same way to your clean eyes with a loaded cotton ball.  By the time you lift that cotton ball with aloe vera, its vitamin E helps shrink the puffiness.

Something else that is very important that I want to pass along is drinking more water for this problem.  After all, the puffy eyes and dark circles that you could be having might be due to toxins building up in your system because you’re actually dehydrated. Your fluid intake is not the only factor you need to consider. Medications, even over the counter drugs, can contribute to this problem so try drinking more water (between six and eight glasses) a day.  

I hope this helps you as well because swollen eyes are far from beautiful.    

Review: Mineral Fusion SPF 16 Brightening Eye Cream for Under Eye Darkness!

**Disclaimer:  This post has been compensated through a free product (s) or monetary payment.  Opinions are solely mine. All links are "no-follow" links.**

Mineral Fusion SPF 16 Brightening Eye Cream won Mary's heart!

Since I have been beauty blogging, I have reviewed quite a few eye creams.  Some of those products worked better than others for smoothing out fine creases and moisturizing while providing a nice base before concealer and eye makeup.  However, I have never found one that did such a sensational job as Mineral Fusion’s SPF 16 Brightening Eye Cream.

This all-natural eye cream is a rich textured, white cream with light reflecting mica and zinc oxide for mineral SPF protection along with rose hip oil and avocado for hydrating the delicate skin in this area as well as firm it in its 100% vegan formula.  What you don’t have to worry about in this cream is any parabens, artificial color, talc, fragrance or gluten that might cause you sensitivity or pose a risk to health.

The first few days, I did not notice any real change from this cream.  It did smooth and moisturize just like the others and made it easy to apply my other eye cosmetics, but nothing exceptional that made it stand out. Then, something happened a couple of days later that really impressed me. 

On the fourth day of using this eye cream, I saw a dramatic change in how it lightened my under eye darkness.  Don’t get me wrong, but I still have some darkness in a small section at the corner of each eye. Nonetheless, most of the remaining darkness is greatly improved in color.  I have never seen anything do such and amazing job on my allergic shiners than this eye cream for whitening those dark circles.  If this cream did so much in just four days, I can only imagine how great my eyes are going to look with continued use.

Trust me on this, I have year round allergies that make dark circles an everyday occurrence.  Yet, this $24.99 eye cream did things that some pricier ones could not to turn this problem around.

With all sincerity, if you live with an under eye darkness problem, Mineral Fusion SPF 16 Brightening Eye Cream needs to be in your beauty bag.  After trying this product, I am confident that you will be thanking for turning you onto its awesome lightening power.

You can find it at Mineral Fusion or Whole Foods Markets, but do pick it up!  I love, love, love this eye cream and so will YOU!

*Disclaimer:  Free products were provided to facilitate this review--not my opinion.*

A Helpful Trick to Conceal Serious Under Eye Darkness!

IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer is one of my favorites.

Trying to cover up my allergic shiners has taught me quite a few things of what works and what does not when it comes to dealing with heavy duty under eye darkness. What I am about to share with you is a great trick to use on those days when your circles are extremely dark.

Try dabbing some creamy white eye shadow in the corners of your eyelids at the top and bottom. Those ladies with a dark complexion can try the same technique only use a light brown shadow instead. Now blend well before layering on concealer on the area and around the eyes.

I also found that the best shades of concealer are ones that have pink, peach or yellow undertones to offset the blue and green darkness lurking beneath your eyes. 

Furthermore, concealers that have light-reflecting pigments are the most helpful.  This variety of concealer will redirect light–and attention away from that darkness.

On those occasions, I suggest steering clear of certain eye shadow colors such as purple, red, plum and blue shades.  Instead of being complimentary, those particular colors will work against you.  You’ll just end up looking like you lost a fight so keep that in mind when making up your eyes and opt for ones that are neutral or have warm tones in brown, peach, or gold.

Mally Beauty Cancellation Concealer System (Fair) Can Help Banish Darkness (Review)

**Disclaimer:  This post has been compensated through a free product (s) or monetary payment.  Opinions are solely mine. All links are "no-follow" links.**

This is the color of the concealer.

I count myself lucky to have a nice complexion.  However, my luck ran out when it came to under eye darkness due to my constant battle with year-round allergies.  As you can guess, I rely heavily on concealers to cover up those allergic shiners of mine or someone might accidentally take me for an extra zombie in Living Dead !

Naturally, this is not the type of attention I would like to attract.  As a result, I probably have more different brands and forms of concealers than some women have shoes. Though I had tried quite a few products from Mally Beauty, I had never gotten around to Mally Roncal’s solution. Therefore, I thought her Concealer Cancellation System (Fair) would be great to review.

This comes in a nice bag handy to pack and store.

What arrived is a three-piece system of a cream concealer (pink container), a finishing powder (silver container), and brush, housed in an adorable, soft pink pouch with a snap closure to store each separate metal container.  

As you can see from my photos, the color of the cream concealer is a light beige with a bit of peach to it, which is ideal for me with my light warm complexion.  After you load the flat side of that brush with product and dab it on any darkness, this concealer has a creamy texture and feels moisturizing.  

Make sure to remember just to dab, dab, dab instead of rubbing the concealer underneath your entire eye.  If you do that, you will run into problems just as you would with any concealer and have it settling into those fine lines.   The only finger that you should use as your secondary tool is that pinkie since it is the smallest and least likely finger to tug on fragile skin and ruin your concealer application.

I concentrated on the inner corner of under the eye near the nose and the far corner at the edge of the eyes, where I have pockets of scary black.  Once I dabbed with the brush carefully just to those small, targeted areas, I used my pinkie finger to gently tap the concealer in.  This is where you stop because you do not need to spread concealer on the entire under eye–only where it is needed.

Next, I flipped the brush to the other side and loaded it with the accompanying powder.  This is essential to locking in the concealer’s staying power because once I did, I had an extra bit of brightness that was good to go all day!  

Here is the powder for the final touch!

Seriously, if you’re having problems with your concealer, I recommend two things.  Do look into Mally Beauty’s Concealer Cancellation System ($35) because it will not leave you disappointed.  Equally important, I recommend changing your technique because a great product works hand in hand with how well you apply it.  Together, you can’t go wrong and will be amazed at how much better you’ll lighten that darkness!

A Great Concealing Trick to Brighten Eyes and Look More Rested!

Whenever your eyes could use some extra brightening power, I want to share a simple makeup trick to make you look like you had a few hours more sleep with the way it distracts the eye from that problem area.  

You won’t believe how much better that you’ll look by wearing highlighter along with that concealer.  Apply under eyes, near the top of your cheekbones and work your way over to the sides of your face. This one extra step will divert attention away from any remaining under eye darkness.

You could stop there, but I like drawing the eyes further to focus more on the upper-lip area. Try applying some of the highlighter in the two creases of your cheeks near your mouth and above your lip beneath your nose.  Blend into your foundation carefully. This takes a bit more time, but the results are worth it, especially for those days when your eyes could benefit from some perking up.

I hope you try this trick because it is a keeper as far as yours truly is concerned.