Anok Yai and generations of models have used hemorrhoid cream for under-eye bags. The ingredient behind the myth was pulled in the 1990s, and dermatologists have since reversed their position.
Anok Yai, who has opened for Prada and walks the couture calendar, told Marie Claire how she used to handle under-eye puffiness before a show. “I’ve used hemorrhoid cream under my eyes, and it works like a charm to snatch them up,” she said. “I don’t do it anymore, but this is a hack,” she said. The hack has been passed backstage from makeup artists to models for roughly half a century, and it originally described a formula that has not been sold in the United States since the 1990s.
The active ingredient that made the trick work was live yeast-cell derivative, once used in Preparation H. “LYCD hasn’t been included in these creams since the 1990s,” Healthline reports, after the Food and Drug Administration pulled it over a lack of evidence that it treated hemorrhoids. Current formulas rely on phenylephrine, a vasoconstrictor, which narrows blood vessels and does little else.
“Creams that contain phenylephrine may help narrow the swollen blood vessels around the eyes, which may improve the appearance of swelling,” Ross Phan, a pharmacist wrote for GoodRx. “But they won’t help all causes of puffiness and swelling. And they won’t do anything to improve dark circles caused by increased skin pigmentation.” Puffiness caused by fat displacement, allergies, or genetics is outside its range.
Dermatologists say skip the hemorrhoid cream
Dermatologists have advised against the practice for years. Jeanine Downie “strongly advises against the application of Preparation H to the eye area,” she told Derm Collective, citing “the obvious risks of irritation, high potency and the potential for it to get into the eyes.” The skin under the eye is the thinnest on the body and sits within a centimeter of the eye itself.
Repeat use carries a cost. Long-term application of phenylephrine can leave skin “thinner,” “more fragile,” and “red and swollen,” according to Healthline, which describes the condition many users are trying to correct.
The premise underneath the whole practice is also shakier than it looks. Reviewing the literature on periorbital hyperpigmentation in Cosmetics in 2021, the dermatologist Uwe Wollina noted that the common belief that dark circles signal lost sleep is “discussed as controversial.” In one Indian study of 200 patients, 63 percent had a family history of it.
The market has grown regardless. Eye cream alone was estimated at $5.4 billion in 2025 compared with the $1.2 billion hemorrhoid category that produced the hack in the first place.
Morgana Colombo, a dermatologist in Reston, Virginia, told NewBeauty that phenylephrine “could potentially cause white discoloration or rebound redness if overused.” Michelle Yagoda, a New York facial plastic surgeon, told TODAY that “Preparation H formulations often contain petrolatum, mineral oil and paraffin that can clog pores and cause breakouts,” and that lanolin in the formula “can cause contact dermatitis in many.”
Downie recommends using green tea instead. It “has powerful antiangiogenic properties, meaning it can decrease the potential formation of new blood vessels, which in turn, can reduce the likelihood of puffiness as well as blue-red darkening under the eyes,” she told Derm Collective. GoodRx lists a cold compress, a chilled caffeinated tea bag, an over-the-counter retinoid, sunscreen, and adequate sleep. Caffeine constricts the same vessels phenylephrine does, and carries no warning about contact with the eyes.
Cleveland Clinic’s list is unglamorous: a cold washcloth to restrict blood vessels, antihistamine drops for people who actually have allergies, skincare with caffeine or retinol, less salt, and seven to nine hours of sleep with the head slightly raised. The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends propping the head of the bed a few inches and limiting fluids and salt before bed.
Yai’s other habits are less contested. “I always use rose oil after I take a shower,” she said. “I usually buy one that I can’t pronounce from this Hamam in Paris that I go to, but any rose oil can do.”
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