Prevent and reduce puffiness under eyes
Puffiness Under Eyes Causes
You may not know it, but the skin around your eyes and the rest of your face were not created equal. Thin, delicate, and sensitive, our fickle under-eye skin is more vulnerable to aging—and irritation—than its southern cousins, the nose and cheeks. As we get older, this fragile skin doesn’t bounce back from late nights or stress like it used to, causing under-eye puffiness. While the side effects of aging are often genetic, some signs can be avoided through proper care and prevention. If you’re looking to prevent signs of aging, the first place to start is with an eye cream. No one likes puffiness—it can cast shadows over your eyes that resemble dark circles, make you seem tired, or worse—make you appear to have been crying.
Puffiness can be caused by external, easily avoidable factors, like fluid accumulation. This can occur if you’ve had too much salt in your diet or if you drink alcohol a little too regularly. Try swapping your glass of wine for orange juice or another soft beverage—experiment with this for a week and see if your puffiness doesn’t diminish significantly. Try limiting your salt intake, too: we often pay no attention to the levels of salt in our food or our cooking, and a little mindfulness can go a long way towards getting rid of your bags under eyes.
Of course, eye puffiness can be caused by genetic factors or the natural process of aging. Concealers and foundation can be a godsend when it comes to puffiness that just won’t go away; but if you’re fed up with makeup or it just doesn’t do the trick, it might be time to begin a long, rewarding relationship with a good under-eye cream.
Why Eye Cream?
It might seem like a good idea to use your face cream or moisturizer on your under-eye area—it’s not! Moisturizers formulated for the whole face may include strong concentrations of ingredients that, while good for the rest of your skin, may prove too powerful when applied under the eyes, causing irritation or redness. Eye creams are, as one would expect, specially formulated for the skin under the eye; they contain a higher emollient, moisturizing property specifically designed for the delicate, thin skin that can be hit particularly hard by environmental factors—factors considered to cause up to 80 percent of the signs of aging.
Eye creams generally come in three types: creams for fine lines, dark circles, and puffiness. Creams aimed toward busting wrinkles and fine lines are possibly the most popular and the ones whose commercials are most frequently seen on TV. They contain ingredients like retinol or peptides, both of which stimulate collagen production to “fill out” wrinkles. Anti-dark circle creams often contain ingredients which even out skin discoloration or improving circulation under the eyes. Under eye creams for puffiness, however, come in many guises. Some contain caffeine to “wake up” your skin, while others have cooling ingredients like cucumber to calm it down and ease swelling; some are gels, which can be good for oily or acne-prone skin, while others are silky creams great for dry skin and for wearing under makeup.
Make Your Puffs Go Poof
There are lists of miracle products as long as electoral registers, but they rarely come with any comment on the efficacy of the product or reviews by real users. Here’s the rap sheet on some of the best under eye creams for puffy eyes in all price ranges: what they are, how they work, and who loved them.
High End Cream for Puffiness Under Eyes
Estée Lauder Idealist Cooling Eye Illuminator Review
A depuffing, eye brightening treatment, this product claims to reduce dark circles and reduce swelling in puffed-up eyes. Its airy, whipped texture makes it a lighter cream than most others and its ceramic applicator tip has its own cooling properties, massaging the product into the skin—this is the one feature that seems to stand out, as the ceramic tip naturally stays cool and refreshing. Although not strictly a concealer, it does provide a sheer shimmer to brighten the skin under the eyes; it comes in two shades, Light/Medium and Medium/Deep. Sea algae extracts and caffeine act to perk up your eyes and decrease puffiness, while Vitamin C, pinoxide and magnolia extract reduce excess pigmentation and increase microcirculation.
OVincze of Makeupalley.com writes, “I tried this product and the immediate effects were amazing, it did almost completely get rid of my circles and no product had done in that past and really helped with puffiness as well. It looked like I did not even need concealer and I am convinced my eye area is one of the worst cases possible.” However, another user who also had dark circles disagreed about the need for concealer: “…the ceramic tip is indeed ingenious the color matches my skin wonderfully however I do need a concealer over this as for puffiness and dark circles which is a major issue for me.”
While the results might be miraculous for some, users also report that this cream requires frequent re-application to stay effective, and others have reported that the cream irritated their skin. Of course, no one’s skin is alike and some may have reactions while others don’t, so it’s a good idea to do a small spot test before use or test a sample.
Mid-Range
Clinique’s All about Eyes Review
As if Clinique’s reputation for pure, effective skincare wasn’t enough, its eye treatment was one of Allure’s recent Best of Beauty Award Winners. In a discreet, attractive peach-colored bottle, Clinique’s All about Eyes eye cream is a favorite among beauty critics and consumers alike. With magic ingredient caffeine to depuff and Vitamin and green tea extract to refresh and revitalize, this cream also targets dry, tired skin with wheat sphingolipids and whey protein which repair the skin’s moisture barrier and stimulate collagen production. All in all, users have found it works better for depuffing eyes than for erasing fine lines or blasting dark circles, but for this price it’s a power cream designed to target every problem area around the eye.
Artsymomo of Sephora writes, “I’m young and don’t have many signs of aging around the eyes yet but I’m hoping this will ward off lines and wrinkles and it definitely helps my eyes not be puffy or have dark circles” while Akalishy swears by it: “I have tried many creams and this one is the best with de-puffing and moisturizing!”
Many people disliked the jar packaging, which makes the cream difficult to get out without using your fingers. Others have had a mixed reaction to the cream, finding that it worked well for puffiness under eyes, but not as well for other issues: “This works pretty well at de-puffing tired eyes, and the gels feels amazing while applying. It didn’t make my under eye circles any less visible.” (Rhonda2010, Makeupalley.com)
Budget
Aveeno Naturals Positively Ageless Lifting and Firming Eye Cream Review
Where 10 years ago Aveeno was better known for its calamine lotions than top-knotch skincare, times have changed. Boasting natural ingredients and a reputation for gentle, mild products perfect for sensitive skin, Aveeno now has a line of anti-aging creams and serums. Formulated with Aveeno’s own Shiitake Complex, clinically shown to lift and firm skin around the eyes, as well as brighten and reduce dark circles, this is an extremely affordable, well-regarded product worth a try if you suffer from puffy eyes. With a thick but non-greasy texture, it delivers moisture to thirsty under-eye skin while diminishing puffiness.
Despite the relatively inexpensive price, this cream has worked for people for whom other products did not: MestaySS of Amazon.com was “never really someone who sticks with a routine when it comes to skincare” until she met Aveeno’s eye cream. “ In the mornings, I wake up with no puffiness, no dark circles, the fine lines at the corner of my eyes are disappearing…my concealer usage below my eyes has drastically reduced, because I honestly don’t need it anymore!” As with so many creams that promise it all, however, it falls short in some categories, as Andrea from Amazon.com found: “While it doesn’t eliminate my fine lines and wrinkles, it does help minimize them a little and the creamy texture covers the dark circles under my eyes.”
As with all eye creams, test them out before you put them all over your under-eye area as you may find you have an allergic or irritated reaction to them. While there is no miracle cure or magic potion to instantly zap your under-eye woes, these products seem to do a good job at lessening them. Combined with good hydration, proper nutrition and general self-care, they should help reduce puffiness under eyes.
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