Solutions for Eyes: Puffiness and Dark Circles. What’s a Gal to do?

Oct 28, 2009 Author: Jen Hill | Filed under: Anti-Aging, Eye Treatments, Skincare, Skincare Solutions

I’m sure you have all heard that getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night is optimal for your health. Sleep is our bodies’ way of renewing itself and recuperating from the stress and the daily wear and tear of life. I honestly try to get my full 7 to 8 hours, heck, and I’d love 9 if I could manage it, but realistically women have many responsibilities that don’t always stop when the lights go off. Between pets, kids and toys that spontaneously start *bleeping* in the wee hours, we often don’t get what our bodies need.

I recently received a letter from a busy mother of four even busier children. Becky writes,

Dear Jen,

I have a question for my friend the beauty blogger….what can I do about these puffy, dark eyes that I have? (Thanks in large part, I am sure to my beautiful new daughter! ) Do you have any ideas? I am currently using a Bobbi Brown eye moisturizing cream, but it does not seem to be doing the trick. I’d love any ideas.

I completely understand Becky, the one place that really shows the lack of sleep (and our age) are our eyes.

About the eyes. I have tried several eye creams in the past year and what I am discovering is that a lighter cream is actually better for puffiness; this is because a heavier cream holds in too much moisture and can increase puffiness. As a quick home remedy that I would recommend is splashing cold water around your eyes in the morning or using a cold compress or sliced cold cucumber slices for a few minutes as a way to reduce any swelling or puffiness around your eyes.

Dark circles are another issue and many creams claim to reduce them, but be very skeptical of their promises. According to Paula Begoun (The Cosmetic Cop),

“Dark circles can be caused by several factors, and each one needs to be dealt with in a different way. Dark circles can be caused by sun damage, veins and capillaries that show through skin, irritation, and the natural dark pigment that can occur in this area. They can also be a result of natural shadows that fall within the eye area, making that area appear darker. Plus, dark circles can be a result of dry skin making the area look dull and tired.

If you have allergies, you may want to consider an antihistamine. Although uncommon, food allergies may also be to blame, but this would need to be confirmed by an allergist. City pollution can get to your eyes by the day’s end, too, so you may want to use an air filter in your home or office.”

Notice the four highlighted points of Paula’s statement. You will want to address pigmentation, shadowing, dry skin issues and possibly even allergies to combat dark undereye circles. Dark circles are a mult-faceted problem so by addressing each issue you can increase your chances of success.

I would love to hear from the rest of you on ways that you treat and disguise dark eye circles and puffiness. As one of my favorite Steve Miller songs plays, “There ain’t no way to hide those lying eyes,” but maybe, just maybe there is a way to diminish your puffiness and the look of your undereye dark circles!

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7 Responses for "Solutions for Eyes: Puffiness and Dark Circles. What’s a Gal to do?"

Grishma October 28th, 2008 at 10:16 pm 1

Dark circle has been a part of me since age 16 or so. Getting a good 8 hour sleep does seem to help lighten it but beyond a point it doesn’t. At one point many people ended up calling me as “Ray ban” for the area around my eyes looked real black not just dark. I have tried cucumber/rose water regularly but that did not improve the condition much. Because of the dark circles, i cant use any form of eye make up as it will just make the dark circle look darker ( I am from India. So i will be really grateful if you can give me some solution which is available in India as well. Most of the times my eyes look tired and weak even though i am bouncing with energy. I am 24 now and i will be thankful to you for the rest of my life if someone can help me out of the problem. I have ended up envying other people who do not have this problem as they use all those pretty colors and liners on their eyes and i just cant afford to use any of those.
Elena October 29th, 2008 at 12:40 am 2

In my experience, my dark circles are because of my puffiness (as in the puffiness creates the shadows). Because of the heaviness of most eye formulations I’ve rarely used any, more often spread my regular moisturizer to my orbital bones and letting it travel around the eyes.
However that can only do so much. the only thing I’ve found that helps, taking a lecithin supplement (lecithin is a nutrient usually found in egg yolks and soy products that binds water into cells rather than around them, thereby helping treat water retention). It’s made a big difference for me. I also don’t bloat during my period anymore and my cellulite looks a smidge reduced (one of the many causes of cellulite is water retention, and this is why caffeine creams work well, they suck up excess water). Over time preserving water where it needs to be, inside cells, is a great anti-aging strategy. I say everyone, take or eat 2000mg of lecithin every day.
Jen Hill October 29th, 2008 at 8:46 am 3

Thank you so much Grishma and Elena for your comments!

Sounds like taking a lecithin supplement is a smart way to reduce swelling in MANY places. I will have to try this.

Grishma, I will also start seeking for an inexpensive eye product that is available in India. Best wishes to you and hopefully we can find something wonderful soon!
Samir April 25th, 2009 at 12:04 am 4

The issue is same with me. My skin color is dark even as an Indian but I am ok with it. However, my dark circles have been around for years and nothhing seems to be working. I am excited to use GARNIER under eye roller but the reviews dont seem exciting enough.
@Grishma: Did you find anything?

Thanks Elena for your advice in lecithin. Will try that.
Debbie August 12th, 2009 at 1:30 am 5

I’m so glad the review of the Garnier roller was posted here. I was considering buying the Walgreen’s equivalent of it but have decided against it, thanks to the many reviews I read. I just feel that it wouldn’t work for me after reading them.

The second point of interest I found here was the idea of lecithin used to help combat dark circles and puffiness. Whodathunk it? I’m interested in trying it, to say the least. But I have an autoimmune disorder. So I already take all sorts of supplements and medications as prescribed by my doctor and take nothing new without consulting her. In the meantime, I looked it up. What I found is that no one should recommend that anyone take any certain dose of this supplement unless they are a physician advising a patient: http://www.lecithin-source.com/lecithin-supplements.html

There are lots of possible side effects and so people really should speak to their doctors to find out if taking lecithin – and how much – is a good thing for them or not. Do I plan to ask my doctor? Of course! I’ve been dealing with puffiness and dark circles for 25+ years, lol. Thanks so much for the suggestion! But I won’t take anything unless I speak to my doctor about it first. I urge everyone else to do the same.
Grishma November 11th, 2009 at 10:47 pm 6

@Samir: I tried garnier and all available forms of creams that claim to reduce dark circles. One thing that has helped me reduce it is i use cotton dipped in rose water and put it over my eyes in the night when i sleep. This seems to be helping my eyes. They dont feel dry in the morning… and the dark circles also look much lighter now though not completely gone. My friend told me that grated cucumber and potato on this cotton pad reduces dark circles further. Have not tried it yet. But rose water seems to be helping me a little.
Cacau November 13th, 2009 at 10:55 am 7

Man, I have dark circles under my eyes since I was 4 years old…
And I have insomnia for a long time now, so I usually don’t sleep as much as I need to…
I try to use concealer but none worked well ’till now.
I hope I’ll find a solution someday!