5 Top Treatments You Can Book In London To Reduce The Appearance of Dark Circles

I look exhausted. Partly because I am exhausted, but also – I’ve learned – because the skin beneath my eyes is thinning with age, and combined with pigmentation, the dark circles look darker. I’ve watched the Insta videos for under-eye concealers that make the circles disappear. I’ve bought the products, but mine don’t budge. My visit to the aesthetic doctor – in which he says I need filler along my cheekbones and into the tear trough beneath my eye – left me bolting for the exit. I’m not ready for a needle (or cannula) to my eye area – yet – so I have tested a range of non-invasive treatments to try and reduce the dark circles beneath my eyes. These five are the best.

Tried & Tested: Non-Invasive Treatments For Dark Circles

Lymphatic Drainage at The French Pharmacy

Rebecca Trévalinet works out of The French Pharmacy in Marylebone (a joyous discovery in itself, filled with all your favourite French beauty brands, and some I’ve never heard of, including some lovely ones for children and babies). Rebecca studied politics at UCL and pivoted to holistic wellness, learning first from her mother in Paris and going on to create Méthode Trévalinet, a meld of traditional French lymphatic drainage (tougher, deeper), Chinese acupressure and sophrology.

She started at my feet, moving up the body, and asked if she could look in my ear. She asked if I was having hip trouble (I was), how I was sleeping (well) and how early I got up every morning – before I could answer, she said early I think, because I have a little girl (I do). When she worked on my stomach, we discussed my digestion problems (I can’t tolerate gluten) and asked if I was grieving (I am, but have been for a long time, and I think we’re all grieving something).

She worked on my face like she was a concert pianist and my cheeks the keyboard. The massage – she explained – de-puffs, firms and works away black circles. Mine are blue-black apparently, and benefit from lymphatic massage. She started at my collar bones and released my lymph nodes before moving to the jaw, firmly massaging under my chin before focusing on the cheeks. Her movements are very gentle around the eyes, having first released the lymph again in the corners, sweeping around and around my face rhythmically, pausing at acupressure points on my forehead. Despite the constant movement, it was super relaxing.

The Verdict: I left feeling slimmer, lighter and with visibly brighter skin and eyes. She gave me a black obsidian gua sha and I’ve been watching her Instagram videos to keep up the lymphatic drainage.

BOOK IT: Méthode Trévalinet Body & Face Lymphatic Drainage, £300 for 90 minutes. methodetrevalinet.com

Rebecca Trévalinet at French Pharmacy

Facial Reflexology at Surrenne, The Emory

This was unlike any facial I’ve had before. Daisy Robinson combines energy healing and reflexology with a seven-step cleansing hot cloth facial. She works intuitively, so there is no fixed regime – instead she works with the face and is guided around the body, releasing old, stagnant energy where needed.

The ‘normal’ facial part is very bespoke: Daisy can use any products in Surrenne’s extensive and top class arsenal and will go with whatever the skin needs (and her own favourites). For me, that included Kate Somerville’s Intensive Exfoliating Treatment (smells tropical and delicious) and Eyeam’s No Baggage Caffeine Eye Serum, to reduce puffiness and minimise dark circles.

Once she’d applied a mask, Daisy was guided to my feet so did some reflexology where she felt a big shift on the right side of my body, which represents the past. Having told her my hormones are okay – balanced, not an issue – this felt pretty intense around my ankles, which corresponds to my endocrine system. She explained giving birth to four children would lead to a build up of energy that needs clearing out.

Then with an oil, she did the face reflexology sequence and used a gua sha to work on my jaw, releasing tension and to help with my TMJ. This is combined with some gentle massage to drain the lymphatic system, helping lift and contour the complexion and brighten under the eyes.

Then a crystal wand around the mouth, to open the heart. She was guided to my sacrum (the tip of my nose in facial reflexology), where she says we store a lot of emotion relating to family, generational issues and drama from old relationships. Cue another big shift in energy.

The Verdict: Afterwards, I felt lighter and extremely mellow, like my body had been reset somewhere deep inside. I asked if my system felt stressed. ‘She’s felt worse,’ she said. My adrenals are a bit ‘buzzy’ so she worked along my cheekbones to open the diaphragm and recommends I do some breathwork. This was the most holistic facial I’ve ever had – the natural alternative to Botox.

BOOK IT: Zone Face Lift by Daisy Robinson bespoke treatment, £390 for 90 minutes. surrenne.com

MZ Ultimate Lift Facial at Claridge’s Spa

Dr. Maryam Zamani is an oculoplastic surgeon and aesthetics doctor, so while the MZ Skin products are gentle and kind, they are very results driven. The range is particularly well known for the bioplacenta formula, a plant-based, lab-grown formula (phew) that mimics the reparative and restorative nature of a placenta. Products that contain growth factors, the therapist explains, are what it’s all about.

This 90-minute facial is designed to lift and tone and really goes to town on the facial massage, which  is long and invigorating. There are moments where it feels satisfyingly firm, helping sculpt while draining any fluid from my face. The drainage massage around the eyes is much more gentle and she applies the teardrop-shaped gel MZ Hydra-Bright Gold Eye Mask (MZ Skin is also known for its gel sheet masks, and I have since bought the under eye gold ones) to reduce puffiness and fine lines (my wrinkles are most pronounced around my eyes).

The Verdict: This is a very targeted and thoroughly nourishing facial and while it is all super relaxing, I feel like the products are really working – there’s lots of sensation on my skin, especially during the Renew & Revive facial mask, which contains AHAs to gently resurface and brighten. Ten minutes under the LED mask at the end to calm, soothe and boost collagen – during which time I have a head massage – and my skin definitely looks brighter and hydrated and my eyes more awake.

BOOK IT: MZ Skin Ultimate Lift facial, £300 for 90 minutes. maybourne.com

The spa at Four Seasons Park Lane

Cellcosmet ProCollagen facial at Four Seasons, Park Lane

First, the hotel has nailed its spa. On a dark evening after a long day, I was swept up to the rooftop (no subterranean treatment rooms here) and tucked under a duvet overlooking Green Park and the twinkling lights of London. Before the treatment even started, I felt cosseted in my little glass bubble, high up away from the fray.

The Four Seasons, Park Lane (for hotel nerds, this was the first Four Seasons to open outside Canada in 1970) was the first UK hotel to partner with Cellcosmet – cutting-edge Swiss cellular skincare experts – on a series of specialist facials. The Cellcosmet products (90 percent natural; 10 percent clinically-proven active ingredients) were created to target cell repair, hydration and protection of the skin microbiome.

I had the ProCollagen facial, which combines the highest-grade marine collagen with Cellcosmet’s CitoPepTM extracts, which powers 5,000 peptides and proteins into the skin. After multiple cleansing steps, an ultra-pure collagen-infused treatment was added to the skin around my eyes and my face was wrapped in a ‘veil’ of the collagen and Cellcosmet mix. There was a fantastic toning massage too.

The Verdict: After 60 minutes, my skin felt super nourished and my tired eyes looked brighter and less puffy.

BOOK IT: Cellcosmet ProCollagen facial, £235 for 60 minutes. fourseasons.com

Teresa Tarmey Advanced Facial at Claridge’s Spa

Teresa has a clinic in Notting Hill, but she couldn’t get me in so I saw one of her colleagues at Claridge’s – and after this more invasive of my non-invasive treatments, I needed some Claridge’s cosseting afterwards. This facial is bespoke, designed to really address skin concerns – including extractions (which, according to Claridge’s spa director Cat Wigmore, are making a comeback).

If you want to feel nurtured – your face cleaned and soothed and stroked – this is not the facial for you. Because this is Claridge’s, the loo seat and the bed are both warmed, but there’s no plinky-plonky music or mood lighting in this treatment. This is the kind of facial where you hear the slap of gloves being pulled on… at regular intervals.

We begin with a consultation. Ewelina is no nonsense and has zero bedside manner but she knows her skin. Mine is sun damaged, red with angry broken capillaries, and dehydrated; I need more zinc, omega 3s and cold-pressed olive oil. She thoroughly cleans my skin (Teresa Tarmey is passionate about proper deep cleaning) and does some rhythmic massage around my eyes. My milia are extracted: the longer you leave them, the deeper they go. Cue seven years’ worth of painful extraction, some so stubborn and awkward, I had a light bruise for a few days afterwards.

Next came the laser, where it smelt and felt like my skin was burning (laser and microneedling are, she tells me, the two most effective things for skin). I bottled the second, different laser to blast my broken capillaries because by that point my nerves were jangly and I couldn’t face any more. Then peptides and microneedling (particularly focused on the under eye area) which is not painful; it’s weirdly satisfying and I suspect addictive.

The facial finished with 10 minutes under the infrared – to calm the skin (and my nerves), so I emerged less red and more relaxed. Within an hour, my skin was back to normal – bar the milia sites – and for the next fortnight my eyes were noticeably brighter.

The Verdict: This was the least enjoyable of the five treatments but the most instantly, visibly effective. Ewelina suggested I have the facial every four to six weeks to kickstart the collagen (will bankrupt me) and then just a few times a year. Next time I’ll dig deep and have the capillaries blasted.

BOOK IT: Advanced facial, £310 for 60 minutes. maybourne.com