Pigmented, Hollow or Vascular Dark Circles: How to Tell Which One You Have
Dark circles are the concern we get asked about most, and also the one where people waste the most money. Not because the treatments do not work, but because there are three different causes that look similar in the mirror and need completely different treatment.
Someone with hollowing under the eyes can use every brightening cream on the market and see no change, because there is no pigment to lighten. The shadow is coming from the shape of the area, not its colour.
At Truly Permanent Beauty Clinic our under-eye dark circle treatment in Kolkata starts from INR 1,990, and the first thing we do is establish which type you have. Depending on the answer we may also use HydraFacial from INR 2,990 or PRP from INR 3,490 as part of the plan.
This guide gives you two simple tests you can do at home in under a minute.
The Three Types of Dark Circles
In simple terms:
- Pigmented: extra melanin in the under-eye skin. Looks brown.
- Vascular: blood vessels showing through thin skin. Looks blue, purple or pink.
- Structural: a hollow or groove casting a shadow. Looks grey, and changes with lighting.
The colour is your first clue, and the two tests below confirm it.
Two Tests to Identify Yours
The stretch test
Stand in front of a mirror in even light. Gently stretch the skin under one eye sideways with a fingertip.
If the darkness stays exactly as it was, it is pigment sitting in the skin, so pigmented. If it fades or lightens noticeably when stretched, it is vascular, because you have flattened and stretched the vessels showing through.
The light test
Look at your under-eye area with light coming from directly in front, then tilt your chin up so light falls from above.
If the darkness largely disappears when the light hits the area straight on, and deepens when light comes from above, you are looking at a shadow rather than a colour, which means structural hollowing. Pigment does not change with the angle of light.
Doing both tests takes a minute and tells most people what they are dealing with. It also explains why so many home remedies disappoint: they are almost all aimed at pigment, and a large share of people who think they have dark circles actually have hollowing or vessels.
Pigmented Dark Circles
Looks like: brown or coffee coloured, often extending onto the lid and sometimes down the side of the nose. Does not change when stretched or when light moves.
Common causes: genetics, which is by far the biggest factor and very common in Indian skin, sun exposure, chronic eye rubbing, allergies and post-inflammatory pigmentation from eczema or from harsh products.
What helps: this is the type that responds to brightening treatment, gentle peels formulated for the eye area, and consistent daily sun protection. Results are gradual and need a course rather than one sitting.
Worth naming: if you have allergic rhinitis or dust allergies and rub your eyes daily, treatment will keep losing ground to the rubbing. We see this pattern constantly in Kolkata, especially around seasonal changes. Patients who get the allergy under control alongside treatment do noticeably better than those who treat only the pigment, and it is usually the missing piece when someone says nothing has ever worked for them.
Vascular Dark Circles
Looks like: blue, purple or pinkish. Often more visible when you are tired, unwell or dehydrated. Lightens when you stretch the skin.
Common causes: naturally thin under-eye skin, which is the thinnest on the body, poor sleep, dehydration, screen fatigue, and thinning of the skin with age making vessels more visible.
What helps: treatments that thicken and strengthen the skin so vessels show through less, along with improving circulation in the area. This is where treatments that build collagen in the eye area do more than any brightening product, because the target is skin thickness rather than colour.
Sleep and hydration genuinely change this type, unlike the pigmented type where lifestyle advice tends to overpromise. Someone with vascular circles who fixes their sleep will see a real difference. Someone with genetic pigmentation who does the same will not, which is why blanket advice about sleeping more frustrates so many people.
Structural or Hollow Dark Circles
Looks like: a grey shadow rather than a colour, with a visible groove or hollow between the lower lid and the cheek. Changes dramatically with lighting, and photographs worse than it looks in person.
Common causes: facial anatomy, which is often inherited and can appear in your twenties, loss of volume in the mid face with age, and significant weight loss.
What helps: the shadow is caused by shape, so it responds to treatment that addresses volume and skin quality in that groove rather than pigment. Skin quality treatments soften the transition and reduce how sharply the shadow reads, though anatomy sets a limit on what is achievable.
This is the type where honest expectation setting matters most. If your hollowing is anatomical, treatment can soften it meaningfully but will not make the area flat. Anyone promising to remove it entirely with a course of facials is not being straight with you.
Most People Have a Mix
Pure single-type dark circles are less common than mixed. A very frequent combination in Kolkata is genetic pigmentation with a degree of hollowing, and it is often worse on one side than the other because most people sleep predominantly on one side.
That is exactly why a plan matters more than a single treatment. A mixed presentation usually needs pigment work and skin quality work running together, sequenced rather than piled on at once, and the balance between them is set after looking at the area properly.
It is also why comparing your results to a friend's is unhelpful. Two people can have identical looking dark circles in a photograph and need entirely different treatment.
Treatment and Cost in Kolkata
Under-eye dark circle treatment at Truly Permanent Beauty Clinic starts from INR 1,990 per session. Most people need 4 to 6 sessions spaced 2 to 3 weeks apart, with pigmented circles generally needing the fuller course.
Where the plan includes supporting treatments, HydraFacial starts from INR 2,990 and PRP from INR 3,490. Not everyone needs these, and we will say so if you do not.
The consultation establishes which type you have and what is realistically achievable, and you get the session count and total before booking.
Book a Consultation
If you have tried creams and home remedies without result, the most likely reason is that you were treating the wrong type. Both our studios, Ballygunge and Gariahat, are open 7 days a week.
Call 7044454843 or book a consultation. For causes, home care and when to move to clinic treatment, read our guide on dark circles causes and remedies.