Bags Under the Eyes? Yes, you can reduce them.
Who wants big bags under their eyes….grrrr. They’re awful. But they can be reduced!
Causes: There are some long term causes to the dreaded bags, and some short term ones as well.
- Time. Yup. Over time, collagen breaks down and the skin under your eyes is already about the thinnest area of skin on your body. Reduced collagen and aging fat pads (everyone has them under their eyes) begin to droop under the eyes…as early as age 30.
- On the short term side, excess sodium can makes your body retain water and puffs out your eyes when you lie flat.
- Lack of sleep can also do it. After 18 hours without sleep, tear production dwindles and our eyes get irritated, which is why we rub them, thereby inflaming the skin and moving blood vessels around, causing swelling and puffiness.
Improvements:
- Long term: sunscreen and sunglasses will help prevent collagen loss. Discuss issues with fat pads with your dermatologist. There are some treatments including removal, that can help.
- Home grown: if you wake up in the AM with big bags under the eyes, there are a few DIY suggestions that do work (albeit mildly in my experience): tea bags steeped and then cooled in fridge and and placed on eyes for a few minutes can bring down the puffiness. Its the tannins and/or caffeine that helps. The backs of cold spoons placed on the baggy area under the eye can help reduce puffiness and swelling as well, as can cold eye compresses.
- The makeup artist’s bazooka: Instantly Ageless OMG! This product is amazing in that a small (and I mean very small) dab under the eyes can reduce under eye bags by 90%. Works on men too!
- Makeup: to help disguise puffy eyes, a matte powder is best. You don’t want anything shiny or attracting attention to the bags. You also don’t want to highlight them with a concealer that’s a shade lighter. Note: you are not going to be able to cover up the puffy eyes. Makeup works wonders to change the color of things (like dark circles) but it is difficult for makeup to change the 3-dimensionality of things – like bags. You are better off dealing with the bags first off, straight out of the shoot, with the DIY suggestions above or the OMG! product or one like it that you like.
