The 4 Types of Dark Circles: Pigment, Vessels, Shadow or Mixed

This is an English adaptation of a clinical article Dr. SangYoul Yun — board-certified dermatologist and Medical Director of Delight Dermatology in Gangnam, Seoul — originally published in Korean. Read the Korean original on Naver. It has been restructured and translated for international readers; all references are the author's own.

"I've tried lasers and whitening creams elsewhere for my dark circles, but they didn't really improve. Why?" I hear this often in clinic. My first question is always the same: "Has anyone diagnosed which type of dark circle you have?"

Dark circles are not one diagnosis. By cause they fall into four types, and the effective treatment is completely different for each.¹ Put simply, whitening cream barely helps a vascular dark circle. If the type isn't accurately diagnosed and you just receive the same "dark-circle package," you often spend time and money for a poor result.

1. Four types — color and location give the answer

In Huang and colleagues' 2013 classification study of 65 patients with dark circles, the breakdown was pigmented 5%, vascular 14%, structural/shadow 3%, and mixed 78%.¹ In other words, nearly every patient is a mixed type — which means a single treatment has limits.

78% of patients with dark circles are the mixed type (Huang 2013 classification)

Type	Share	Color / features	Cause
① Pigmented	5%	Distinct brown, well-defined border	Melanin in the epidermis/upper dermis (after eczema, UV, chronic irritation)
② Vascular	14%	Blue/purple/red tint, darker with poor sleep, fatigue, pre-menstruation	Vessels showing through the deep dermis
③ Structural / shadow	3%	Dark from the front but disappears when lit from below	Tear-trough hollowing, orbital fat descent
④ Mixed	78%	Two or three of the above together	Where most real patients fall

2. Self-assessment — how to check at home

• Stretch test — gently pull the dark-circle area sideways. If the color fades, it may be vascular (stretching thins the vessels); if it stays, it may be pigmented (melanin doesn't change when stretched).
• Time-variation test — if it darkens with fatigue and poor sleep, it may be vascular; if it stays constant regardless of condition, it's pigmented.

If the results conflict, you most likely have the common mixed type.

3. Treatment matrix by type

① Pigmented — topical brighteners plus toning laser

First line: tranexamic acid, kojic acid, arbutin, and vitamin C topicals plus a superficial toning laser such as Spectra toning.³ Note: strong peeling can actually trigger post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH), so a conservative approach is correct.

② Vascular — vascular laser plus dermal reinforcement

First line: vessel-targeting lasers such as Vbeam (pulsed-dye laser) or IPL, plus a retinoid to thicken the dermis so the vessels show through less.⁵ Note: whitening cream alone doesn't work here because it isn't a melanin problem — treating a vascular circle with brighteners is the most common mistake.

③ Structural / shadow — collagen booster, filler, eye Thermage

First line: tear-trough HA filler to fill the hollow, or a PLLA/PN-class collagen booster for long-term collagen stimulation. For firmness, eye Thermage or Sofwave can help.⁴ Note: excess filler can look unnatural, so it matters to leave this in the hands of an experienced specialist.

④ Mixed — combination (multimodal) treatment

First line: after an accurate diagnosis, set priorities and combine the treatments above in stages.⁶ Note: a single procedure gives only a partial effect. Since 78% of patients are here, consistent multimodal care matters most.

4. Myths vs facts

• "Enough sleep makes them disappear." → Sleep helps only the vascular type.
• "Whitening cream always helps." → It works only on the pigmented type and is useless for vascular and structural circles.
• "Filler fixes it all at once." → Effective only for the structural type.
• "They came from staying up working." → Sleep deprivation is an aggravator, not the cause; genetics and constitution are the bigger factor.⁷

5. How we approach dark circles at Delight Dermatology

We diagnose the type first, and because 78% are mixed we plan a staged approach rather than pushing a single procedure — toning for pigment, Vbeam/IPL for vessels, collagen booster or filler for structure, and eye Thermage or Sofwave for firmness, matched to the type. We set realistic expectations that dark circles are improved rather than fully erased, and prevent recurrence with sun protection, retinoid, and vitamin C home care. Dark circles are an area with especially many "mistreated" cases.

Bottom line: dark circles are not one thing — if you don't know the type, treatment misses. Pigmented, vascular, structural, mixed all need different treatments, and since 78% are mixed, a multimodal approach rather than a single procedure is the standard.

References

1. Huang YL, Chang SL, Ma L, et al. Clinical analysis and classification of dark eye circle. Int J Dermatol. 2014;53(2):164-170.
2. Sarkar R, Ranjan R, Garg S, et al. Periorbital Hyperpigmentation: A Comprehensive Review. J Clin Aesthet Dermatol. 2016;9(1):49-55.
3. Brady RT, Shah-Desai S. Clinical Efficacy of a Novel Topical Formulation on Periorbital Dark Circles: An Objective Analysis. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2025.
4. Kołodziejczak A, Rotsztejn H. The Impact of Carboxytherapy and Treatments Combining Carboxytherapy and Selected Chemical Peels on Vascular and Pigmentary Components of the Dark Circles. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2024;17:1875-1885.
5. Treatment of Periorbital Vascularity, Erythema, and Hyperpigmentation. Facial Plast Surg Clin North Am. 2022;30(3).
6. Periorbital hyperpigmentation: Current treatment modalities. Int J Dermatol Venereol Leprosy Sci. 2025;8(2):43-47.
7. Prevalence and Differentiation of Periorbital Darkening Among Medical Students. Univ Diyala Med College. 2025.

Medical disclaimer. This article is general information and does not replace individual consultation. Dark-circle-type diagnosis and procedure selection should be decided after an in-person consultation with a dermatologist. Results and recovery vary between individuals, and dark circles are treated toward improvement rather than complete removal.