The Little Rubbery Patches That Make My Undereye Circles Vanish

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My face, like my body, is covered up a whole lot less in the summer. I wish that was because I transform into this carefree cool girl for the season with the attendance of a single Memorial Day barbecue, one who just needs peach lip gloss and a tan to be beautiful. But in reality, it’s because I sweat an abnormal amount in humidity (okay, always), and that means foundation, concealer, and all my other skin-camouflaging makeup takes a seasonal staycation in my bathroom.

With this annual cosmetic retreat in mind, I’m constantly seeking skincare solutions that’ll boost my bare-faced confidence. And while I’m still searching for the holy grail product that’ll calm my lifelong redness (please, email me your recs!), my undereye circles are now under control thanks to Shangpree’s Gold Black Pearl Hydrogel Eye Mask.

The thing I love most about these sparkly little black patches — besides that they’re just kinda fun-looking — is that they immediately reduce the undereye discoloration that makes me look tired even when I’m not. I don’t use my Urban Decay color corrector or Onomie concealer the mornings I use these.

Cheryl, Racked’s beauty guru, says that’s because hydrogel — what the rubbery patches are made of — helps a product’s ingredients absorb faster, but also that there’s no hard science to prove this yet. But if I trust anything more than science, it’s my mom, and she might love this eye mask more than I do; she marveled at the results on both our faces when I brought them home one winter weekend, so I gifted her a stash this past Mother’s Day.

Two problems keep this product from perfection: Its price ($60 for as many patches) and its time commitment (a minimum of 10 minutes), so I typically reserve it for when I’m taking my time to get ready for something, whether that’s a date or being on camera for a Facebook Live.

But with warm temperatures already feeling straight-up disgusting, I’m planning to use it on a more regular basis and hope that those short-term effects accumulate, because I have better things to worry about this summer than undereye circles.