How to Remove Blackness Around the Eyes With a Homemade Mask

Homemade masks begin with a trip to the grocery store.

There are a host of reasons why the dark circles around your eyes appear. Dr. Ellen Marmur, chief of dermatologic and cosmetic surgery at the Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York, attributes causes for your "raccoon eyes" to include your sleepless nights, aging and hereditary genes. If you want to begin your treatment with a homemade mask, make a quick trip to the grocery store for supplies.

Things You'll Need

• Cucumbers
• Teabags
• Paper towels
• Paperclip or safety pin
• Preparation H
• Night mask
• Coffee grounds
• Gauze
• String
• Vitamin E
• Vitamin C
• Almond oil
• Mint leaves
• Cotton balls
• Scarf

Instructions

1. Use an age-old remedy to soothe swollen tissues under the eyes caused by allergies or sinus irritation. Freeze sliced cucumbers or damp teabags. Unravel three or four paper towels and fold them lengthwise so that they can wrap around your entire head. Place the frozen bags or cucumbers over your eyes and lay the towel on top. Wrap the towel around your head and secure with a paperclip or safety pin.

2. Use temporary fixes if your condition isn't chronic or permanent. Preparation H can be used directly on dark circles, but make very sure that you don't get the product in your eyes. Apply a small amount to the tip of your index finger, dab on the dark area and rub in. Apply at night and place a night mask over your eyes before you go to bed.

3. Save grounds from your last brew of coffee and wrap in gauze. Be sure the grounds are not hot. Tie with string to create a pouch. Make one for each eye. Tie each of the pouches together with more string, keeping them eye-distance apart. Tie the string around your head to make a mask. Lie on your back and allow the pouches to rest on your eyes for 45 minutes. Repeat daily.

4. Grind vitamins E and C, almond oil and crushed mint leaves together. Stir until you've formed a paste. Apply paste to the circles on your eyes with a cotton ball. Tie a scarf around your head pulling it taunt around your eyes over the cotton balls. Use this treatment before going to bed at night. Repeat two to three times weekly.

References

• Real Simple: Effective, All-Natural Beauty Ingredients
• WebMD: Banish the Bags Under Your Eyes