The relationship between dark circles, puffiness, and bags.

Dark circles, puffiness, and under-eye bags tend to be lumped together in beauty talk. That’s inevitable to a degree—they’re three common issues that arise in a pretty small patch of skin—but they’re also distinct from one another, and it’s worth knowing the difference.

Dark circles are pretty much what they sound like—the area under the eye being darker than the rest of the face. The reasons for dark circles vary: Some people’s skin is naturally darker under the eyes because of their genetics. For others, it’s temporary, caused by the blood not circulating optimally—a condition that is particularly evident where our body’s skin is the thinnest, i.e., under the eyes.

It’s when we get to under-eye puffiness versus bags that things get a little confusing. Under-eye puffiness is a temporary state of being, well, puffy under the eyes, and it’s caused by fluid accumulation. Bags, on the other hand, are a natural result of aging. So if your puffiness comes and goes, or it gets better throughout the day as your body’s fluid redistributes after you’ve spent hours lying down in bed, you’ve got puffy eyes, not bags. If the puffiness stays around and doesn’t respond to things like exercise or the classic cold spoons over the eyes, it’s bags.

Prevention for under-eye circles and puffiness is similar: Get enough sleep, eat a balanced diet, move your body, and don’t smoke. For puffiness specifically, treat your allergies (the fluid retained by the sinuses can spread to this area) and remove eye makeup before going to bed. Bags are a little trickier. As we age, the tissues around our eyes weaken, leading the fat that once supported the whole eye area to migrate downward. The only way to truly get rid of bags is a dermal filler or aesthetic surgery.

The good news is that all of these issues can be addressed. Eye Revive helps reduce puffiness and the appearance of bags because of its caffeine, which firms the area in conjunction with Activated Silk™; its vitamin E moisturizes, which helps soften the area’s appearance. It also helps with dark circles because it contains vitamin C, a natural skin brightener. C Advance Anti-Aging Serum brightens the appearance of dark circles (take care not to apply it too close to the eye, though, as it can cause irritation). For more intensive treatment for dark circles, try Silk + C30 Anti-Aging Films. This concentrated vitamin C treatment helps brighten skin’s appearance, and its Activated Silk helps deliver that nutrient efficiently—use it for three days in a row to help correct the circles, then use it as needed to maintain.