Raccoon eyes are dark circles under the eyes. They are caused by sun damage and broken capillaries. Concealers can help cover them up, but why not prevent them? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Managing your time before bed, not sleeping with infants and small children, and getting seven hours of uninterrupted sleep on a consistent basis will drastically improve your skin.

Adjust Your Goggles

If you don’t want to deal with raccoon eyes every time you go tanning, try shifting your goggles around. This ensures the skin around your eyes gets even exposure to UV rays and avoids a patchy look.

Getting rid of raccoon eyes is not just about removing the bruises, it’s also about preventing them from occurring in the first place. One of the most effective ways to prevent raccoon eyes is to move your tanning goggles every couple of minutes. This will minimize the amount of coverage over the area below your eyes, ensuring that the skin is exposed properly.

Another way to prevent raccoon eyes is to wear a pair of goggles that are strapless and have no ridges. This ensures that the area under your eyes is not covered with a thick layer of tanning lotion, avoiding a line between the tanned and untanned areas.

It’s also important to take precautionary measures before and after a tanning session. Using a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher is essential to protect your eyes and skin from the damaging effects of UV rays. Additionally, wearing sunglasses is a good idea to protect your eyes from the sun’s harmful glare.

If you do get raccoon eyes after a tanning session, it’s important to visit the doctor right away. This is because raccoon eyes are actually a sign of skull or brain injuries. These injuries lead to internal bleeding, which causes the bruises and dark rings under your eyes. These bruises are also known as periorbital ecchymosis.

The doctor will do a physical exam and check the bruises by touching the surrounding areas to see if there is any tenderness or swelling. Sometimes, the doctor may also conduct a neurological exam to rule out any potential nerve damage. Additionally, imaging tests like MRI or CT scans may be ordered to confirm the cause of the raccoon eyes.

There are some underlying health conditions that can cause raccoon eyes, such as aneurysm or meningitis. If these conditions are diagnosed and treated at the earliest, they can help prevent serious complications. Other conditions that can lead to raccoon eyes include poor sleep quality and chronic lack of rest. Creating a regular bedtime routine, managing your time before and after work, sleeping without infants or small children in the same bed and getting seven hours of uninterrupted sleep each night will help to alleviate this condition.

Apply Bronzing Lotion

If you’re a fan of tanning, you know that the area around your eyes is one of the most sensitive areas. That’s why you’re obligated to wear tanning goggles when you visit a tanning salon. Those goggles protect your eyes from UV rays that are harmful to the skin and can cause raccoon eyes, a condition in which you develop dark circles under your eyes.

The delicate tissue under the eyes is lighter than most other facial skin. So if you apply too much bronzer to the area, it can easily look patchy and uneven, especially around the eye area. You can prevent this from happening by applying a light layer of bronzer to the area under your eyes before you start tanning. This will help create a natural, even appearance under your eyes and give you a more balanced look overall.

In addition to preventing raccoon eyes, bronzing lotions can also provide an instant pop of color for your face and cheeks. The best option for this is a non-staining lotion, which means that it uses natural ingredients such as caramel, riboflavin, walnut shell and henna to provide instant color without any of the damaging effects of DHA. You can find these at most beauty supply stores or online.

If your raccoon eyes are caused by under eye hollowness or dark circles, you can fill in these areas with dermal filler. Dr. Leong offers several dermal fillers, including Restylane Lyft, which can be injected into the tear troughs to rejuvenate these hollows and make you look more refreshed and alert.

Another way to diminish under eye darkness is to use a serum with peptides. These can be purchased at most beauty supply stores and are specially formulated to reduce the appearance of dark under eye circles.

You can also get rid of raccoons by using repellents or deterrents. A popular repellent is a product called “Racoon Evictor,” which sprays a formula that smells bad to the raccoons and makes them want to leave your property. Other products include powders and sprays that contain hot pepper extract to deter raccoons from your home and garden.

Apply Sunscreen

The skin under the eyes is lighter than the rest of the face, so the delicate area around the eyes can absorb tanning lotion or spray with a darker color that gives the impression of raccoon eyes. A bronzing lotion applied to the face and neck helps balance the tone of your skin and prevent tan lines around the eyes. The key is to use a light layer of the lotion under the eye. A pea-sized amount is enough to cover the area without causing an unwanted appearance.

The dark circles under the eyes of raccoons are made from small blood vessels that can burst, which causes redness and swelling of the tissue. This condition is more prevalent in women than men and can be caused by a number of conditions, including sleep deprivation, allergies, stress, smoking or even certain foods. If a person has a predisposition to these conditions, they may experience the problem earlier in life than other people.

If you are genetically prone to dark circles under the eyes, you can try a variety of home remedies and lifestyle changes to minimize their severity. Sleep at least seven hours per night with your head slightly elevated, cut back on salt and eliminate processed, take-out and fast food, salty snacks, dairy products, sports drinks and soups. Increase water intake and cut back on alcoholic beverages, fat, sugary foods and sweets. These changes should help reduce swollen, watery under-eye circles.

Some people develop raccoon eyes due to their facial structure and the shape of the lower lids. These factors can make it difficult to conceal the area with makeup. A blepharoplasty, or surgical removal of excess fat under the eyes, can improve the look of these dark circles.

Another way to reduce raccoon eyes is with dermal filler. Injections of the filler can improve the shadowing under the eyes and prevent a “tanned” appearance. The results of the injections last between 12-16 months in the tear trough area and less than a year in other areas of the face.

Finally, avoiding direct sun exposure and wearing sunglasses when outdoors is a good way to prevent the formation of raccoon eyes. A high SPF sunscreen of 30 or more should be used to protect the skin from sun damage and the formation of tan lines around the eyes.

Apply Makeup

The skin under the eyes is lighter than the rest of the face, so applying makeup can help to cover up any mild white circles that may appear after a tanning session. Apply a foundation that matches your new tan shade, and blend it evenly. Then, use loose powder to help set the makeup and keep it looking fresh for a long time.

Makeup can also be used to get rid of raccoon eyes that result from mascara smudges. To remove them, first, soak a cotton ball or Q-tip with your eye makeup remover and then gently dab around your eyes, being careful not to get any of the product in your eyes.

Finally, you can apply an eyeshadow or concealer that is a darker color than your new tan, and carefully blend it under your eyes. This will help to hide any remaining dark circles and give you a natural look.