Beauty - My Current Products for Dark Under eye Circles

Dark under eye circles have always been a bugbear of mine. I dislike them, a lot. As a super busy working, single parent I'm exhausted pretty much most of the time. I've not been sleeping well lately either and I'm a bit self conscious of my under eye bags (although to be fair, I bet a lot of it is in my head and they're probably not as bad as I think). I've got into a great routine for my skincare but I hadn't been using any eye creams so I thought I would see what was on the market to prevent and cover up my dark circles.

As an aside, I have read that your sleeping position can help prevent under eye bags, and that instead of sleeping on my tummy I should be sleeping on my back. Also, Victoria on Twitter (@Butterfly_Craft) has rightly pointed out that drinking lots of water will help. Another reason why I need to up my daily water intake!

Here's what I have in my bathroom right now, a mix of concealers, brighteners and skincare products...

Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer, £5.49

This is my budget favourite and I've purchased this a few times from the high street chemists. At £5.49 I think it's great value for money.

Bobbi Brown Tinted Eye Brightener, £20

This creamy product doesn't feel too heavy under the eyes and it gives some coverage. It's available in a variety of shades, so it was easy to get a good colour match for my skin tone.

bareMinerals Stroke of Light, £22 *

This product immediately brightens up my under eye area and I've been using it daily since receiving it! Really easy to apply and blend in. Depending on how bad I feel my under eyes are, I'll either use this alone or on top of a concealer.

Kiehl's Clearly Corrective Dark Circle Perfector, £29

I haven't used Kiehl's before but I spotted a review of this product in Psychologies magazine and decided it was worth trying. Out of all of my recent purchases, this is the one that is most expensive and it's the one that I'm torn over. The formula is tinted so it immediately brightens dark circles but it feels a little chalky/powdery and I think this product can make my under eyes look worse, especially if I'm having a dry skin day. It's more of a skincare/make-up hybrid product so perhaps with prolonged use it will help with the root cause rather than just act as a concealer. I doubt I'll buy this again, sorry Kiehl's. I was given a tester of the Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Eye cream which has a lovely thick consistency for applying before bed and if anything I'd rather buy this than the Dark Circle Perfector.

Origins GinZing eye cream, £23

This wonder cream helps perk up my eyes and the natural ingredients help to de-puff the under eye area. It looks pearlescent in the pot, and when applied to your under eyes it helps brighten up dark circles. A little goes a long way, so I can see this little pot lasting me a while. I use this every morning when I apply my moisturiser and once it's absorbed (which doesn't take long) I apply a concealer or brightening product.

* I received the bareMinerals Stroke of Light as a PR sample. All other products I have purchased myself. Opinions as always are my own and are honest.

{Sunday Roundup & Naked Mums}

If you haven't already seen on Twitter, I've been having a bad week. It all started on Sunday last weekend when I had a niggle in my right eye. By Monday morning my eye was a bit swollen & sore and on the way home from work I went to the optician (who said to go to the doctor) and then the doctor (who said to go back to the optician). My eye became progressively worse despite trying two different antibiotic drops/ointments, I've also developed some sort of cold/sore throat and I ended up back at the doctor who prescribed antibiotic tablets and a further eye ointment. After a week, my right eye is still really puffy and bruised (it looks like I've been punched) and the infection has now started in my left eye which is red and sore.

I was rather concerned that I'd developed shingles in my eye as the children have chicken pox at the moment, but the GP and optician both believe that it is a bacterial infection rather than viral. The optician is of the opinion that I've had a bad immune response to a bacterial eye infection, and this occurs in people, like me, with an impaired immune system (I take immunosuppressant tablets for Crohn's Disease). I can't remember what she said it was, but from a quick google I think I have keratitis (inflammation of the cornea) and conjunctivitis (inflammation of the conjunctivia).

Normally I always wear make-up, even if it's just a smear of gloss and a touch of mascara, but for this week I have been in public sans make-up, naked if you will. Kate from Naked Mum blog will be proud of me! I have been under the weather and to be honest, I've not really cared what I look like. This is not like me! I'm normally of the mantra 'look good, feel good' but I just haven't had the energy to even attempt to look good. My children and I have both been poorly and yes, I even went to the optician in my pyjamas (with a coat on over the top!).

Here I am...

Ouch!

Puffy & bruised :-(

On Mother's Day... my left eye has started to get red & sore, right eye still puffy & bruised :-(

To make my week even worse, I had a horrible experience at my GP surgery. My son had a sore bottom as one of his chicken pox spots has become infected - I had to go to the doctor to get him seen. I didn't have time to arrange a babysitter, so I threw the kids in the pram and off we went. The littlest wasn't very happy when we were there and was crying a little. We had to wait which didn't help matters, but that was to be expected when we didn't have an appointment. I was just really glad they were going to see us. We moved from the waiting room into the corridor so as not to disturb the other people that were there. However, one of the other patients (an elderly man) was not impressed with the crying and complained to the receptionist, who proceeded to see if there was anything I could do to quieten her down. I felt like I had no other choice but to go outside and wait in the rain - all three of us poorly remember - to be seen by the doctor. It was awful. As he left he said that he was glad to be going as we were so noisy and that I should leave my children at home next time. Needless to say I was in tears and had no response for him. I'm visibly not well.... why would someone be so horrible? The support on Twitter was lovely, and by the time I got home and had a cup of tea I felt much better. (The kids dad has since phoned the practice and put in a complaint on my behalf.)

Anyway, here are a few other pics for my Sunday Roundup:

Some new Disney to keep us amused during our week in the the house!

Lemsip (Max, no less!) for a poorly mummy!

Heinz tomato soup!

My sick little ones. Aww!

Mother's Day flowers...

...and more Mother's Day flowers!

Pizza Hut as my Mother's Day treat...any excuse!!

How has your week been?

P.S. Gertie is looking rather lovely in her contribution to Kate's Naked Mum blog hop - very glam! Do pop on over and leave her a comment :-)