"I slept well, so why do I look so tired?" Many people often hear this because of dark circles. If your dark circles persist even after applying moisturizing creams, getting more sleep, or cutting back on caffeine, the cause might lie elsewhere.

To sum it up first, dark circles are generally classified into three types: vascular, pigmented, and structural. Since the causes are different, the treatments that work well also differ. If you undergo a treatment without knowing your specific type, the results may be weak or you could end up going in the wrong direction.

Discover Your Type with Just a Finger

If you try these three steps in front of a mirror, you will get a good sense of which type your dark circles are closest to.

1. Gently pull the skin under your eyes upward: If the color lightens when pulled → Vascular type. If it stays the same → Pigmented or Structural type.

2. Check the contour under your eyes from the side: When looking in the mirror from a side profile, if the line under your eyes is flat → Vascular or Pigmented type. If it is hollow or protruding → Structural type.

3. Compare the color under your eyes with the skin on the back of your hand: If the area under your eyes is browner than the back of your hand → Pigmented type. If it looks bluish or purplish → Vascular type.

Combining these three steps will give you a rough idea of your type. However, clinical data shows that multiple factors, including pigmentation in the under-eye skin, visible blood vessels underneath, and the structure of periorbital tissue, often act simultaneously, so it is more accurate to confirm this with a medical professional during a consultation.

Vascular Type — Bluish and Purplish Dark Circles

The skin under our eyes is the thinnest on our body. It is only about 0.5mm thick, which makes the capillaries underneath highly visible. The venous blood inside these vessels appears bluish or purplish, and when that color shows through the thin skin, it looks like dark circles.

This type is the most common, and most dark circles that "get worse with lack of sleep" belong to this category. When you are tired, the blood vessels dilate and blood flow slows down, making the color appear darker.

Treatments that work well include dermal fillers to gently restore volume so the blood vessels underneath are less visible, collagen boosters* to increase skin thickness and reduce transparency, and vascular lasers to directly target and shrink the blood vessels.

Collagen Booster*: This is a treatment that helps stimulate collagen production from within the skin to increase skin thickness. Representative ingredients include PDLLA (Juvebook). When the skin under the eyes becomes thicker, the underlying blood vessels show through less, fading the dark circles.

Conversely, laser toning or whitening creams have almost no effect on the vascular type because pigmentation is not the root issue.

Pigmented Type — Brown and Black Dark Circles

The pigmented type is characterized by an overproduction of melanin pigment in the skin under the eyes. It looks brown even in normal conditions, and the color does not fade much even when the skin is pulled upward.

The causes are diverse. Frequent UV exposure, the habit of rubbing your eyes, chronic inflammation due to atopy or allergies, and genetic tendencies can stimulate melanin production. This type is particularly common in Asian skin, which naturally contains more melanin.

Effective approaches include methods that directly target melanin, such as laser toning (Pico or Q-switched lasers), tranexamic acid toning, and Vitamin C iontophoresis.

Daily self-care must also go hand-in-hand. Reducing the habit of rubbing your eyes and applying sunscreen daily right up to the under-eye area will help. It is also common to see deeper pigmentation in areas where the inner frame of glasses rubs against the skin.

Structural Type — Shadows Created by Hollowness

The structural type is not a color issue, but a "shadow" issue. When you lose fat under the eyes or when the bone structure below the eyes becomes prominent, shadows are cast there, making the area look dark.

A key feature of this type is that "it looks dark from the front, but the color disappears when light shines on it from slightly above." People whose dark circles almost disappear when adding bright light in photo editing apps typically fall into this category. It is not because pigment is present, but because light does not reach the area, making it dark.

For those in their 20s and 30s, dermal fillers are often sufficient. However, for those in their 40s and older who experience sagging, surgical approaches like lower blepharoplasty (which removes or repositions under-eye fat and trims loose skin) may be considered step-by-step. Fillers eliminate shadows by restoring volume, but injecting too much can cause a puffy or unnaturally bulging appearance under the eyes.

A Mixed Type of Two or Three Factors is Most Common

In actual consultations, it is rare to see a "pure, single type." Clinical classification studies also show that anatomical structure, mid-face soft tissue, and skin pigmentation work together to create dark circles, meaning most people have a combination of two or three factors.

• Vascular + Pigmented: A very common combination in Koreans. This is usually treated with a combination of fillers or collagen boosters along with laser toning.

• Vascular + Structural: Cases where loss of under-eye fat makes the blood vessels even more visible. Fillers can address both issues simultaneously.

• Pigmented + Structural: This is difficult to resolve with a single procedure. It is standard to receive laser toning and fillers stage by stage.

Therefore, rather than choosing a clinic that claims "this one procedure will solve everything," you will get better results by choosing medical staff who guide you step-by-step on "which issue to address first, and what to address next."

Two Things to Check Before Your Consultation

First, take photos of your dark circles from various angles. Having photos from the front, the side, and with light shining from above helps the clinical team determine your exact type and is incredibly useful for before-and-after comparisons.

Second, ask for an explanation of "why this procedure is right for my type." If a clinic immediately presents you with a package price without any explanation, it is safer to look around elsewhere. This article is meant to provide general information, and it is safest to directly confirm your dark circle type and the appropriate treatment sequence with medical professionals.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Can dark circles improve with cosmetics instead of procedures?

A. If you have the pigmented type, cosmetics containing brightening ingredients like Vitamin C and niacinamide can gradually bring improvement. However, if you have the vascular or structural type, cosmetics will have almost no effect because the issue is at a depth that cosmetics cannot reach.

Q. Do under-eye fillers last permanently?

A. Hyaluronic acid fillers typically last about 8 to 18 months. Because there is little movement in the under-eye area, they tend to last longer there than in other areas. Autologous fat grafting is permanent, but it has a longer recovery period and requires careful swelling management.

Q. Is it true that bruising occurs easily after under-eye procedures?

A. Because there are many blood vessels and the skin is very thin under the eyes, bruising can occur easily after a procedure. It usually disappears within 1 to 2 weeks, but if you have important events, it is safest to get the procedure about 2 weeks in advance. Getting a prescription for a bruise-healing ointment beforehand will also help.

Recommended Reading

• Self-diagnosis to check if blood vessels are the cause of your dark circles*: What about diurnal variation? It is vascular.

• Dark circle treatments: Why you saw no results no matter what treatment you received

• Tranexamic acid for melasma, Niacinamide for PIH — Why they are treated differently

• Cinderella and Glutathione whitening injections: The actual reality behind the claim of immediate tone-up