Dermatologist Shereene Idriss explains why under-eyes hollow with age: the eye socket widens, cheeks lose support, and fat pads shrink. A simple test reveals the cause: shift the light angle; if darkness moves, it's a shadow from structure loss, not pigment. Topical products won't fix structural hollowness; you need fat transfer or blepharoplasty.
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Do this 20 times to reduce under-eye hollowness. Face yoga isn't going to fix your under-eye hollowness, and in about 10 seconds I'm going to show you a quick test so you can figure out what's causing yours. First, think of your face like a couch. Bones are the frame, your fat is the stuffing, and your skin is the fabric. As we age, all 3 of these things are changing, but nobody is talking about your bone structure, the frame, especially around your eyes. Your eye socket is going to widen. Your cheek is going to lose some of its structural support, and your fat pads are going to shrink and drop. And this changes how the skin in your under eyes appear and how the hollow catches the light when you are in a different lighting. So here's a quick test. Look straight ahead in good lighting and then change the angle of the light. If the darkness dramatically changes, you're probably seeing a shadow from a hollow. If the color stays even when the shadow appears or disappears, then you're probably seeing pigment or blood vessels. And if you gently lift your cheek regardless of the lighting and the hollowness improves, then it is structural. This matters because it changes how you treat it. If it's pigment, you want to use a product that's going to help to brighten your under eyes. But if it is structural, no amount of face yoga or eye cream is going to help with your under eye hollowness, and you're looking towards something like an in-office procedure. Now, a fat transfer can help to fill that under eye hollowness, but if you have a lot of laxity, you may need a lower bleph as well. So before you go ahead spending countless hours doing facial yoga or buying $100 eye creams, figure out first First, what is it that is causing your under-eye hollowness?
