Aren’t you sick and tired of waking up to inflamed, puffy eyes? Or people looking at you sympathetically with a “you look tired” comment? This is a topic I am pretty obsessed about, for the aforementioned reasons. I have tried so many ways to combat my puffy eyes. In this article I go over 9 tried and true methods to soothe and yes, to even eliminate, puffy eyes.
Ah, the ongoing battle against puffy eyes – we’ve all been there, right? But fear not, my fellow warriors of the morning mirror pep talk! Bid farewell to those sympathetic glances that scream, “You look tired.” We’ve got the lowdown on conquering puffiness, and it’s time to share the love!
Unlocking the Puffy Secrets – Hack #1: Pinpointing the Culprit
Picture this: you wake up and first thing you do is look in the mirror. Ouch! There, revealed, is a ‘punched-in-the-eyes’ masterpiece. Friends, this was my story about 18 months ago. But fear not! You can say goodbye to puffy eyes forever, starting with Hack #1, a superhero move: pinpointing the cause.
Puffy eyes are your body’s signal of discontent, so let’s decode the mystery. Dive into your diet and product choices – eliminate the suspects and you will almost immediately see a change to those puffy eyes.
After a process of analysis and elimination, I narrowed the culprit of my puffy eyes down to one major thing. But, my findings also revealed a surprising thing that made no difference to my puffy eyes. And that thing was: Salt.
If you look up on the web about “tips to reduce puffy eyes”, ALL the articles talk about how salt could be an underlying reason for this problem. Now, I love me some salt. In fact, I probably err on the side of being too salty. I love salt so much, that I didn’t even bother to eliminate it from my diet. And it made no difference.
The thing that did cause my puffy eyes, no matter what else I did (more on those below), was hot, sugary drinks. Yes, these delicious mugs of warm comfort would undo whatever I had been doing to de-bag my eyes and brighten them up. Sad, but true. What’s a girl to do?
Hack # 2: Eliminate the culprits from your diet
Now I have separated these two things, because it is one thing to pinpoint the cause of puffy eyes, and quite another to go through the painstaking process of eliminating it from your diet. And yes, I had to eliminate my beloved hot chocolate and coffee sachets if I was going to say goodbye to my puffy eyes forever. But you know what? I could see results within 24 hours of cutting them out.
These hot drink sachets are problematic because they are full of sugar, emulsifiers, thickeners and preservatives. Four BIG no-no’s for health, and MAJOR causes of all inflammatory-related illnesses.
I found the drinks to be MORE problematic than sugary, salty food.
Even if I was having sugary, salty FOODS, when I eliminated the sugary DRINKS, the puffy eyes were no more, and I think the reason for this is threefold:
- These sugary drinks are SO CONCENTRATED in sugar, emulsifiers, thickeners and preservatives, all of which are terrible for your health. And if you are having 3-4 hot drinks a day, that is a LOT of this stuff. I may eat bad foods sometimes, but not as often as that so as to major damage.
- What I was replacing them with was herbal tea, which is FULL of health benefits, including anti-inflammatory properties. So it was a double win: removing the bad stuff, which in itself would have been beneficial, and feeding my cells with the good stuff.
- The hot chocolates and coffee sachets are liquid sugar, which hits your bloodstream faster than sugar in any solid context. So liquid sugar can be more damaging to your blood sugar than say, a cookie or a piece of cake. I believe this is the reason eliminating sugary drinks had more of an impact than cakes and other baked goods.
Emergency Rescue – Last-Minute Hacks
That’s 2 hacks down, and 7 to go! These next 7 hacks are last-minute tricks to knock the puff out of those eye-bags.
Got a date, meeting, or event? No problem! Let’s combat those puff emergencies with these tried and true methods. These are tricks you can do with things that are probably already in your house, you deflate your eyes and have you preening before your beloved.
Hack #3: Ice, Ice, Baby!
As much as you can bear, walk the ice cube over the puffy and inflamed areas. Try to last for as long as the cube lasts. The coldness of the ice contracts the skin and reduces the puffiness.
Hack #4: Cucumber Coolness
Sit back, relax for a bit, with sliced cold cucumber over your eyes. You will need to sit for as long as the cucumber will last.
The coldness of the cucumber as well as the hydration properties will help to reduce the inflammation around your eyes.
Hack #5: Tea Time
Brew anti-inflammatory tea, apply warm tea bags, and let the puff drama fade away. Your skin will absorb all the nutrients in the tea, making your eyes look brighter and more youthful.
Brew the tea and apply the warm tea bag to the inflamed area once it is cool enough to handle. That’s a double win: a calming sib of anti-inflammatory tea, plus the beauty treatment from the tea bag.
Sip, Sip, Hooray – Hack #6: Hydration Station
You have puffy eyes because your body is reacting to some kind of toxin in your body. Flush out the toxins with water and lemony goodness. Your body will thank you, and your eyes will sparkle!
Lemon juice stabilises your blood sugar and is a powerful tonic for reducing inflammation.
Drinking about 3 litres of water per day, lemon-infused or not, should cleanse your body and flush out all those puff-inducing toxins. You should begin to see results after a couple of days.
Bean Blues – Hack #7: Coffee Cautious
Step away from the coffee beans! Opt for herbal tea; your eyes will thank you for the break.
If there is anything that seems so exacerbate puffiness in the morning, it is coffee. I know!! It’s sad, but I have found it to be brutally true. I have found that because coffee dehydrates, it tends to make your skin look dull and lifeless…and it does nothing for my puffs! In fact, it usually makes them look worse! Stay away from coffee and stick to herbal tea, green tea if you need the caffeine.
Sweat it Out – Hack #8: Exercise Excitement
Another way to instantly get rid of puffy eyes is to exercise. Get that heart pumping – exercise fights inflammation, leaving you feeling alive and puff-free.
I’m talking the kind of workout that gets your heart rate up and the blood pumping through your body and your face. A workout like this will do wonders for my puffy eyes. It seems to fight inflammation and visibly reduce puffiness.
Plus it makes me feel so alive and ready to fight!
Go on, get sweaty!
Air Affair – Hack #9: Freshness Factor
Fresh air is the most wonderful aide for physical AND mental constitution. Fresh, cold morning air, is particularly wonderful for the complexion and getting rid of puffy eyes. The coldness and freshness of the air brings roses into your cheeks and contracts that puffy skin. I notice puffiness go down after 20 minutes or so of being outside.
Those early morning rays are particularly beneficial for your melatonin production, too! Embrace the outdoors, let the fresh air be your ally. The morning breeze is your secret weapon against puffiness.
Ready to bid adieu to the puffiness saga? Dive into these hacks, embrace the freshness, and let us know your victory dance! Share your tips and tricks below, because in this journey to puff-free glory, we’re all superheroes. Keep it simple, keep it fabulous, and let’s conquer those puffy eyes together!
Puff-Free Cheers,
Steph @ SimplyHomeAndHealth
