Like you I also had raccoon eyes from my mother. Ugh. Anyway, what I found works for me is an eye cream called Extreme Eye Rescue by Isabella Pelle. I searched high and low for an eye cream that helped with dark under eye circles and puffiness - and this is it for me. It's fairly inexpensive and does what it says it does. It's done a great job of reducing my under eye darkness and my puffiness is completely gone. I also feel that the skin around my eyes looks younger, probably due to the retinol in it. As an added bonus, the company offers free shipping on all orders - which is great b/c every penny counts these days! Check them out online
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Please note before I found the Extreme Eye Rescue, my college friends suggested to me the "natural remedies" route. This is what they suggested and I painfully tried;
1 - chilled cucumber slices over the eyes
2 - crushed papaya with cranberries, apply paste around eyes
3 - pomegranite with seasalt
4 - purple onion juice applied around eyes. Just one tiny drop into the eyes and you forget every problem you have. I guess that is the idea behind this natural remedy.
Conclusion: Some people including friends and family sit around "inventing" oddity cures for problems. However, these failed remedies pointed me to the real solution for me. Don't waste your time on those quack natural remedies.
sara