No matter how many hours of sleep you get at night, if you wake up with baggy or puffy eyes, you look like you had a late night – you look tired and you definitely don’t look your best. Puffy eyes are a common complaint for men and women alike. Here are three lifestyle changes you can make to minimize your risk of puffy eyes and three tips to reduce the ones you wake up with.
Daily Lifestyle Changes for Baggy Eyes:
Drink More Water: Puffy eyes can be a result of dehydration. Many people don’t get the recommended 8 glasses of water a day and if you have baggy eyes and aren’t drinking near that amount, this could be an easy place to start. Alcohol consumption can also quickly dehydrate you, so keep drinking at a minimum. Carry a water bottle with you throughout your day. Don’t like water? Try drinking Barley Tea like they do in Korea and Japan.
Get More Sleep and Switch Your Sleep Position: If you’re a belly sleeper, you’re more likely to have baggy eyes. (And eye wrinkles!) Blame gravity, as it causes fluid to collect and stay under your eyes. Try sleeping on your back and sleep with two pillows instead of one. It might be hard to sleep on your back if you’re used to sleeping on your belly, but soon it will be normal and body pillows can help keep you in the right position. Aim for 8 hours a night! Shut off the TV, turn off the computer, put down the book and go to sleep. You’ll feel so much better in the morning.
Reduce Your Sodium Intake: A diet heavy in sodium causes fluid retention in the body. Baggy eyes are a really great visual of this. When you reduce your sodium level, your body releases the fluids and you may see a reduction in your under-eye puffiness. Make sure to reduce your consumption of processed foods, which often contain far too much sodium – sometimes half a day’s worth in one meal.
Quick Fixes for Baggy Eyes
Cool Compresses: Elevating your head on a pillow or two and placing a cold compress on your eyes is a great easy way to deflate those baggy eyes. There are many options here: cucumber slices (my favorite) potato slices, frozen spoons, ice wrapped in a towel – pick your favorite, lie back and let the cool compresses get to work. These are also great to use after a good cry that caused swollen eyes.
Cool Tea Bags: Another thing you can put on your eyes to reduce puffiness is cool tea bags. You’ll get the benefits of the cool compress as above to reduce swelling with the extra benefit of antioxidants, which will soothe your skin. Put your used teabags in a container in the refrigerator so you always have some when you need them.
Under Eye Massage: They make products like Garnier’s eye roller specifically for this task. Massaging your eye cream with a roller helps reduce the puffiness and feels simply amazing. If you don’t want to spend money on a product, you can gently massage your under eye with your moisturizer or eye cream. Be careful not to tug the skin under your eyes. For double benefits, keep your eye cream in the refrigerator for the cool-factor and the massage-factor.