The Eyes Have It: getting rid of under eye bags

So what’s the deal with eye bags? For some people it’s hereditary, but I never had eye bags until a month or 2 ago, so I’m kinda curious. Where did they come from? What am I doing or not doing to have these show up? Maybe you’ve asked the same questions.

Today, I want to share the best of what I’ve found in Face Yoga as well as some very unexpected but highly recommended remedies. Let’s jump in.

The things that bring this on, it turns out are:

• dehydration
• lack of sleep - guilty - I’m working on it!
• processed foods
• too much salt
• allergies  
• environmental factors
• alcohol
• lack of circulation in the face

it can also be fluid retention or a thyroid condition, and for these its always best to look into the root cause. 

Face Yoga: Here are exercises designed specifically for under eye bags

1a) Tapping with index fingers under the eyes and around the eyes to above the eyebrows – to increase circulation underneath and around they eyes bringing oxygen and fresh blood to the surface of skin. The helps remove toxins, and also helps drain the lymphatic system. –Be very gentle because this under eye are is super delicate. Try this for 1 minute per day. You’re waking up the area.

1b) Acupressure:  use your index finger to gently massage  both sides of your nose about an inch down from the center of your eyes – you can look up when you do this. Then  move to just below the sides of the nose keeping a light pressure, - -its an acupressure point used specifically to help eye bags and circle the other way.

1c) Smoothing: go from between eyes with index fingers smooth out under the eyes and and lift off at the cheek near ear - use a very light touch - - this helps lymphatic drainage and boosts collagen and elastin – do this about 3-5 times.

2) Eye Rotation - place hand on forehead, keep the forehead still, look up to ceiling and down to floor. . Look up to ceiling  and down to floor up and down, to reduce puffiness  and dark circles, boosting blood flow. Then look from one side to the other, forehead is still. Then come back to center.  Open your eyes as wide as you can, and then bring the hand down.

3) "O" Shape & Squint - put your mouth in an 0 shape, look up, and squint your eyes or flutter them for 5 seconds, take a short break and come back to it -  do this for about a minute a day, This is activating the dormant muscles under your eye, so they can circulate and drain better.

Some everyday remedies or things to try :

Cold Spoons – maybe your grandmother did that one. Put 2 spoons into the freezer. Rinse with water and place cold spoon on the puffy eye area. A refrigerated eye mask can also be used.

Cucumber Slices -  under the eyes have been used forever – because they are high in sodium and draw water out of the puffy area.

Caffeine – any gel or cream with caffeine shrinks the puffiness around the eyes. That’s why an old remedy is to put tea bags on the puffy area, preferable a black tea with lots of caffeine. One product with caffeine that’s recommended by a crew of dermatologists who had very good arguments for each of their recommendations is L’oreal Revivalist 2.5 with caffeine and hyloronic acid.  I’ll include the link here in case you’re interested to see how the doctors arrived at their recommendations.

Acrylic - based products -  this one has been all over social media as the effect is quite immediately noticeable. In Peter Thomas Roth Firm X, one of the ingredients is an acrylic compound that forms a kind of glue on the skin. Good for people with very loose skin under eyes or if you have a special event that lasts a few hours  that you want to prepare for. Not for everyone.

Retinol is another ingredient that firms the skin under the eyes and builds collagen. Roc Retinol Correction Eye Cream is one of the choices. By the way, I like to give you information that does not cost hundreds of dollars to try. In fact, I’d say don’t buy into the hype. Which leads me to this next one which costs 2$, and it is found in your kitchen.

Baking Soda Paste – just mix 3 tablespoons of baking soda with I teaspoon of water till it’s like toothpaste – apply in the puffy area and let it dry for 5 minutes – then just rinse and air dry.. This calms the inflammation and has an astringent effect to pull out puffiness  – I’m trying this one now.

As always, the invitation is to play with these and see what resonates with you.