January 10, 2018

Xanthelasma: The Yellow Spots on My Eyes. What Exactly Are They?

I know they are something people wonder about. I mean, you can’t help but notice them as they are right on my eyelids and are pretty apparent. I’m sure a lot of people wonder what they are, but would never have the nerve to ask. I completely understand.

What are Xanthelasma?

Xanthelasma are basically the presence of too many lipids in the blood stream. Basically, they’re fat deposits and since the eye lids are pretty much fat free, they are a great place for them to deposit themselves!

How do you get them, exactly?

To put it bluntly, when you gain a lot of fat. I gained mine during my last pregnancy – which we lost – so they are a wonderful reminder of the child that I don’t have. I was putting on the weight really quickly and was eating terribly and voila! They showed up! At first, it was one on top of one of my eyelids, then the other and finally one on the end of my eye.

Can you get rid of them?

Yes. If you’re lucky.

They aren’t very easy to remove and I’m not even sure that they will go away on their own if you lose weight and get in great shape. I’m not there yet and I’m still making poor choices when it comes to soda.

I know some people have pressed them with garlic to practically “burn” them off (kind of like a chemical peel). I tried this twice and it helped, but it didn’t get the whole thing. Maybe if I was in better shape physically, it might have responded better. Or maybe just getting in shape would do the trick. I don’t know.

You can also have them surgically removed, but then there is scarring and the money. Since it’s cosmetic, insurance doesn’t cover it.

I do believe some people are genetically predisposed to them as well. My sister has them as well and my dad thinks he had one start years ago.

At first, I was very self-conscious about them. I loaded on the concealer and makeup, trying to find the best method for covering them so no one noticed them. As time went on, I guess I just got tired of plastering my eyelids. I don’t wear makeup much anyways, so having to spend all that time was annoying to me. I finally just accepted them as they are and don’t care what people think.

But, if you have them, you can cover them with the right concealer. I use It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye and Gleam by MAC to keep a natural looking eyelid while concealing the Xanthelasma.