Dear Chris,

You are correct, the purple color you see on your lower eyelids is the actual color and not due to a shadow, dark circles under the eyes, or eyelid bags.

The color is caused by the fact that the eyelid skin is so thin that the color of the eyelid muscle beneath the eyelid skin, the eyelid muscle is actually a reddish purple color, shows through the eyelid skin and creates the purple color on the lower eyelid or eyelid bag. Protruding fat that surrounds and protects the eyeball, and should be left alone in someone your age causes any eyelid bag that is present.

The dark purple color of the eyelids should not be confused with what is commonly called dark circles or dark circles under the eyes. Dark circles under the eyes, technically called the naso-jugal fold are actually a depression beneath the eyelid and a structural problem that occurs with facial aging in people much older than you.

To my knowledge, no plastic surgery or laser can remove this color.

The best solution is to use a concealer or cover up. Dermablend® and Covermark® are two good ones you could try, but there are many others. At your age please don’t even think about surgery or lasers, they don’t work for the dark color and are not safe for you at your age.

Thank you for your question. Millions of people have exactly the same dark color that you have. From now on study other peoples faces, look at their lower eyelids and you will see that everyone’s eyelids are a darker color than the skin of the rest of the face. You are normal, like the rest of us! If the color bothers you by all means try a concealer-it should help.

Thanks for your excellent question that is of concern to so many people. For further information visit my Boston Plastic Surgery Website, read Save Your Face or contact me.

Dr Seckel

Boston, Massachusetts

Peabody, Massachusetts

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 8th, 2006 at 11:41 am and is filed under Bags and Dark Circles Under The Eyes. Both comments and pings are currently closed.