Malar Bags

Malar bags — also called festoons — sit lower than under-eye bags, over the cheekbone itself, and are bounded below by a fixed ligament that gives them a distinct crescent edge. That boundary is the identifying feature: the swelling stops in a line rather than fading gradually into the cheek.

The cause is anatomical drainage rather than skin quality. Lymphatic flow in that compartment is poor, and fluid that accumulates has nowhere efficient to go, so it pools. Age, allergies, salt, alcohol, sleep position, thyroid disease and some medications all worsen it, and it is characteristically worse in the morning and after crying.

Two things follow, and both are worth saying plainly. First, malar bags are commonly mistaken for under-eye bags, and the treatments that help those — caffeine, cold, sleeping propped up — do very little here beyond the transient. Second, dermal filler placed in the tear trough, a standard fix for under-eye hollowing, can make malar bags substantially worse by adding volume to a compartment that already drains badly.

Realistic options are medical: treating an underlying allergy or thyroid problem, and procedures aimed at the tissue itself. Skincare improves the skin over a malar bag and does not address the bag.