Product
No eye product erases genetics or sleep debt, and anyone promising otherwise is selling you the jar. What a well-formulated caffeine serum can do is reduce morning puffiness and modestly brighten the look of circles with consistent use — and this one does, for under £10.
Set expectations accordingly: it is a sharpener, not a cure. The cure is in the sleep chapter.
Problem
Dark circles have three causes that respond very differently: pigmentation (largely genetic), thin under-eye skin showing the vessels beneath (genetic, worsens with age), and puffiness or shadowing (lifestyle — sleep, alcohol, salt). Product meaningfully helps the third, modestly helps the second, and barely touches the first.
The honest protocol: consistent sleep before anything else, then a caffeine eye serum for morning puffiness, SPF to stop pigmentation deepening, and realistic expectations. Anyone promising to “erase” dark circles in a fortnight is marketing to your tiredness.
Product
Aesop rarely chases trends, and the Parsley Seed range is the proof. This serum is the unglamorous workhorse of a considered routine.