That great party that ended later than planned or binge-watching your favourite tv show all night. No matter how much fun you had, starting your day with big bags under your eyes is anything but fun. Looking at yourself in the mirror while being confronted with puffy eyes is complicated enough, let alone that you would go outside. No way. There is only one thing you need: the best tips on how to get rid of the bags under your eyes!
How do you get bags under the eyes?
Before we give you any tips on how to prevent eye bags, it is good to know how you get them in the first place. Prevention is better than the cure, right? When it comes to under-eye bags, the first thing that pops into our minds is lack of sleep. But more causes ensure those unwanted bags.
- Exhaustion
The lack of sleep is the worst culprit for getting bags under your eyes. When you are in the land of Nod, your lymphatic system removes moist and waste products. To do that, a good night’s sleep, between 7 and 8 hours, is preferable. If you do not meet the preferred hours of sleep, then chances are that the residual moist and waste build up under your eyes. - Smoking and (excessive) use of alcohol, drugs and caffeine
Drinking too much alcohol and caffeine can lead to dehydrated skin and, as a result, bags under your eyes. Alcohol and caffeine also harm your sleep rhythm. Smoking cigarettes affects blood circulation and not in a good way. Also, your collagen production decreases, causing the skin to become puffy, saggy and loose. Collagen is an essential element for the firmness and elasticity of the skin. - Dehydration
Dehydration makes eye bags look worse. You must maintain proper hydration to enhance circulation that helps remove excess fluid from the eye area. Keep a water bottle with you at all times and refill it as many times as needed throughout the day. - Bad eating habits
Forget about your fish and chips or greasy pizza, but opt for a banana or a green smoothie instead! Bad eating habits can cause under-eye bags. Eating a fatty meal every once in a while will do no harm, but make sure you eat enough vitamins and minerals for glowing skin. Vitamin A stimulates the recuperative power of the skin and vitamin C contributes to collagen production. It is also better to eat salt and salty foods in moderation since salty foods are common culprits of water retention. And water retention is one factor that can affect the appearance of the under-eye. - Stress
Stress levels affect the cortisol levels, which increase the appearance of bags under the eyes. Tensions in family life or at work can lead to lying awake for nights, worrying, and unhealthy dietary choices. Especially prolonged stress can worsen the condition of your skin and causes bags under your eyes. If you want to reduce these bags, you will need to solve the original situation first. If you’ve been experiencing prolonged stress, we advise you to go see a doctor. - Genetic predisposition
Sometimes it is just bad luck and your eye bags are genetic. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do about that, and most tips and tricks to make your eye bags fade away will not work. If this is the case, you can use makeup to visibly diminish your bags. Do the eye bags bother you and do they impede your daily life? Then you always consider surgery to have them removed.
What is the difference between eye bags and dark circles?
Eye bags, dark circles, they are identical, right? Well, lots of people seem to think so, but there is a difference. Eye bags look like swelling or puffiness under the eye area. An eye bag is basically puffy skin that looks like a bag. They are caused by fluid retention in the eye socket. Dark circles are just that: darkness under and around the eye area which is caused by skin tone and / or genetics. They appear when you lack sleep because they will have increased fluid build-up. That leads to pooled blood in the superficial blood vessels. Most people mix up these terms and they often mean dark circles when they are talking about eye bags.
How can you treat eye bags?
Did you just wake up with massive bags under your eyes and you don’t even consider leaving your house? No worries, we have collected all tips and tricks on how to reduce and diminish your bags. Now you can go out and look radiant and fresh.
Reduce eye bags
If you want to diminish your eye bags, you must deal with the cause. The goal is to develop as few bags as possible, so you do not have to go way out to conceal them. You already know everything about developing eye bags. The best advise we can give you to diminish your eye bags, is to live as healthy as possible. Do you get enough sleep? Do you have stress? Do you have bad eating habits? Do you smoke or drink too much alcohol? If you want to diminish your eye bags, the best way is to address issues. Make sure you get a good night’s sleep, at least an average of 7 to 9 hours each night. Eat healthy according to the PHE standard, stop smoking and drink in moderation. Do you need any help? Stop smoking aids can help, but your GP can also help achieve a healthy lifestyle.
Remove eye bags
Once those bags are there, you only want one thing: they have to disappear ASAP. Often eye bags do not completely vanish, but some simple tricks and makeup take you a long way.
#1 Cooling your skin
Cooling your skin works magic if you want to diminish the bags under your eyes. The cold reduces the swelling and makes your bags less visible. All you have to do is take an icepack and wrap a cloth around it, just like you do when you sprain your ankle. What if you do not have an icepack at hand? Luckily there are plenty of bog-standard goods you can use for cooling. You can put a frozen spoon on the bags, or pop a few cucumber or potato slices on your eyelids. Or you can put a cooled (chamomile) teabag on your eyes as a treatment. Whatever you pop on, all you have to do next is sit back and relax for 10 minutes and voila, the bags are not as baggy!
#2 Hydrate from within
We all know that your mind and body benefit from drinking water. But did you know that taking in more water throughout the day may reduce your puffy eyes? If you do not hydrate your body enough, it will hold onto whatever it has for storage purposes. By drinking more, you can decrease puffiness around your eye area. Just make sure you always keep a water bottle with you, so you can take a sip whenever you need to. That will help your water intake.
#3 Anti-puffiness cream
Moisture, moisture and more moisture, use an anti-puffiness cream to reduce the bags under your eyes. Many question these creams and you will not see an immediate result in most cases. But a special anti-puffiness eye cream can help smoothen the delicate skin and reduce the appearance of fine lines. Daily apply your special eye cream and after a while, you will notice a reduction of the bags. One last tip: store your cream in your refrigerator for an extra cooling effect.
#4 Concealer to cover eye bags
Do you want to have an immediate result when you try to remove your eye bags? Then concealer is your go-to! But what is a concealer? Well, a concealer is like a magic wand that helps you fake a fresh-faced look, even if you lack sleep and have massive bags under your eyes. Concealer hides blemishes and evens out your skin tone. It also keeps your under-eye circles under wraps. Apply a sheer layer of your favourite foundation first, including the areas around your eyes. Give your foundation some time to settle before you cover your additional areas (i.e. under eye area). Use a shade that matches your skin tone to get the best results. Do you have circles that are more blue-tinged? Then use a pink or orange-based concealer one shade lighter than your skin tone. This colour masks the blue discolouration and also brightens the skin.
#5 Massage under-eye bags
Massaging the bags is a simple and relaxing way to drain the excess fluid under your eyes. Press two fingers on your bags with the tips pointing to your nose. Close your eyes and gently rub, making smoothing strokes towards the cheekbones. Repeat this as many times as needed to get the best results. Please be gentle and don’t start rubbing like crazy if you don’t want to end up with even bigger bags. You can use some eye cream if you like that.
Does Vaseline petroleum jelly help under-eye bags?
It is commonly said that Vaseline helps reduce bags, but is that true? Vaseline is known for its hydrating effect on the skin. According to many, it could also help reduce eye bags. A few downsides: rubbing Vaseline on your eye bags can provoke eczema and annoying eye irritations.
Many Hollywood stars use haemorrhoid cream to defeat their eye bags. This cream reduces puffiness under the eyes, but it has some undesirable side effects: it can irritate the under-eye skin, cause swellings, and serious vision problems. Experts warn us: if you want to remove your under-eye bags, please do not use anything that is not suitable for the eyes!
