6 tips to help puffy eye bags

Simple fixes to help improve your under-eye texture

Published in

Curology

4 min readDec 9, 2020

Extra baggage is never fun to carry, and the bags under your eyes might weigh on you heavily. If you want the truth, puffy skin around the eyes is very common, especially as we age — thanks, gravity! While fully getting rid of your eye bags likely won’t happen overnight, causes of your eye bags might be easy enough to unpack.

Many methods to help depuff eyelids cost little (if any) time or money; simple lifestyle changes might be able to make a difference. Good eye creams don’t have to be fancy. You can pick them up online or at your local pharmacy. The caveat: certain home remedies for under-eye bags should probably be skipped.

Do sleep well.

It’s always a good idea to prioritize rest if you’re tired 💜 Not getting enough sleep might contribute to under-eye puffs, so try going to bed earlier — or, even better, sleep in! However you choose to get it, take your full 8 hours to nourish the entire body (skin included).

One other tip: try raising your head when you sleep. This can help prevent fluid buildup while you’re off in dreamland. There are a few other methods to make your sleep work for your skin, too!

Don’t be salty.

Salt retains water. This basic chemical reaction can do funky things to your skin. Case in point: your eyelids may swell like blinky balloons. If you have puffy eyes, you might want to monitor the sodium in your diet and see if eating less salt makes a difference.

Do use eye cream.

Eye bag creams can do the heavy lifting for you — depending on the formula. Look for hydrating eye creams that list ingredients like retinol, vitamin C, and caffeine. Do your best to avoid anything potentially overly drying, irritating, or pore-clogging. Here are some of the best eye creams that meet our standard for ingredients:

If you (like me) are feeling extra nerdy, this Curology guide gets into the nitty gritty of eye cream science.

Don’t use Preparation H.

Hemorrhoid cream? Not worth your time. Although there might be temporary improvements, long-term use can possibly cause unsavory side effects like skin thinning — it’s so not worth the risk. This hack is hogwash. Don’t dab Preparation H around your eyes!

Do manage allergies.

Allergies suck for tons of reasons (red, itchy eyes being one of them). Bummer alert: allergies can also make under-eye puffiness worse. Try not to rub the eye area, and consider taking allergy medication if you need relief. And, next time you get a chance, talk to your dermatologist about allergies and your skin.

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Cold-spoon it — maybe.

A classic home remedy for eye bags: stick a metal spoon in your freezer for a few minutes, then rest it on your eyes. Cold compresses like this one can help reduce swelling, but the spoon itself isn’t magic. I’m a big fan of chilled green tea bags.

Some stuff is out of our control (like how toast is always landing butter-side down). As we grow older, our skin naturally changes. I get it — it’s not always easy to own it. But, if nothing else, we can try to surrender to this process.

In the meantime, we can take control of our skin by building smart routines that make sense for our skin. If you need help with your skin, you can connect with a dermatology provider when you sign up for a free month of Curology (just pay $4.95 + tax to cover shipping/handling).

It’s a custom skincare subscription that makes a prescription cream for your skin’s needs. They’ll send you skin routine staples (like our cleanser and moisturizer) for no extra cost, so you can get your entire skincare routine without leaving the house (or putting on pants).

P.S.

We did our research so you don’t have to.

Cleveland Clinic. Aging & Painful Skin. (2020, n.d.).
Mayo Clinic. Bags under eyes. (2020, n.d.).
Shaun C. Desi. How to Get Rid of Bags Under Your Eyes. Johns Hopkins Medicine. (2020, n.d.).
Ibid.
Mayo Clinic, ibid.