Battling Dark Eye Circles

I have chronic, dark under eye circles. I always have - pretty sure it's a hereditary feature of mine to have incredibly thin skin under my eyes and the natural deep set of them doesn't help either. No matter how much sleep I get (and believe I usually get more than the recommended 8 hours - I LOVE sleep!) I always look like I just crept out of my grave.

Which isn't always a bad thing - I tend to embrace my inner zombie all month long during October, but if I'm after a bright springy or summery look - it's just not a good time.

So how do I deal with my dark under eye circles?

1.) Step One - Moisturize! I try to keep my under eye area hydrated by using an eye cream at night and a caffeinated serum in the morning to ease some of the inevitable puffiness. I use gentle patting motions with my ring finger - don't rub! The less capillary breakage, the less bruised your eye area will look.

2.) Step Two - Gel Masks. These things are heaven-sent, I swear. I love the Que Bella ones because they're HUGE and cover my entire under eye area. They're also super soft and don't really stick too hard to my skin, making them easy to gently peel off afterwards. I like to enjoy them while I take a hot bubble bath and then carry on with my usual night-time skin care routine.

3.) Step Three - Concealer. I'm gonna be honest here. I'm still searching for a good concealer that a) has the right color correcting that I need (peachy or yellow undertones balance out the blueish-purple of my circles the best) and b) doesn't cake or crease under my eye. I'm already 30, I don't need my makeup to emphasize the fact that I'm developing fine lines around my eye area, thank you very much!

4.) Step Four - Embrace it! You read that right - for some of us there's just no hope for completely eliminating our dark circles unless we go under the knife or dole out lots of cash for high-end dermatological treatments. I have neither the time nor money for that, and I'm assuming you probably don't either.

So the best you can do is take good care of your under eye area, keep it hydrated and wrinkle-free, and invest in a solid (pun intended) concealer.

How do you deal with under eye circles or puffiness? What tips and tricks have worked for you over the years?