Skincare Tips from Renée Rouleau: Tips for Reducing Under Eye Puffiness
Savvy, smart, and always knowledgeable, Renée Rouleau is my go-to for all that is skincare. She’s a celebrity esthetician with her own line (I love her AHA/BHA Cleansing Gel!), and she also regularly updates her blog with skin care tips and tricks.
Go to bed early to avoid yawning. Every time you yawn at night, it increases fluids around the eyes resulting in tears. When you stay up too late and yawn excessively, those fluids increase swelling making you puffy in the morning—no different than if you cried a lot.
Sleep on two pillows. Keep your head elevated by sleeping on two pillows at night to reduce under eye puffiness. This helps to reduce fluid retention in the eye area so you’re less puffy in the morning.
Avoid using rich and greasy eye creams. Many companies formulate eye creams with rich oils to compensate for the lack of oil glands around the eyes. Although this moisture is so needed, the heavy oils can migrate into the eyes while you sleep and cause you puffiness when you wake up in the morning. The solution? Avoid the ingredients mineral oil and petroleum in your eye creams and don’t apply too close to the lower lash line. (Another problem with heavy eye creams containing these ingredients is that the oils can weigh down the delicate skin tissue and over the course of time, can weaken elastin fibers causing premature wrinkles.) All Renée Rouleau eye creams are very hydrating—but not greasy.
Ditch the cucumbers. They don’t contain any miraculous puffiness-reducing properties but they do have a gel-like consistency (from the seeds) making it good for retaining cold temperatures—and it’s the cold that reduces puffiness. Since it’s the cold that reduces puffiness, you can grab anything out of your refrigerator (ice, bag of frozen peas) and it will do the trick—as long as it is held on the area for at least 10 minutes. (Note: The only type of puffiness that can be reduced from cold, is puffiness that is not normally there—like when you wake up in the morning. Unfortunately, there is no cure for chronic puffiness/bags except cosmetic surgery.)
Avoid eating salty foods at night. Avoiding salty foods (especially at night) can definitely help prevent under eye puffiness when you wake in the morning. Excessive sodium causes water retention resulting in excessive swelling of the eye tissue. If you are trying to avoid puffiness of the face (especially before a special event), it’s best to avoid salty foods at night and drink a lot of water to flush your system.
You say that yawning increases fluids around the eyes resulting in tears, and those fluids increase swelling making you puffy in the morning. However, my eyes are always running/teary, but I never have puffy under eyes. If I have any puffiness, it’s the upper lids and/or the whole face that are puffy.
Wohh, thanks! Needed this article for a long long time!
These are some great tips, a lot i didnt know!
Very interesting article! Of course we should all sleep early and avoid salty food anyway, but it’s always nice to hear new reasons of why it’s good to do so! My only beef is with the second tip.
Sleeping with more pillows puts a strain on your spine and neck, it’s actually best to sleep as flat as you feel comfortable with, preferably on a firm mattress; additionally, it reduces snoring. So I think suffering through some puffy eyes is worth being gentle to your spine
this is so helpful!thanks:-)
Thank you for these great tips! Especially the greasy cream one! I always put oily creams around my eyes at night and now i know why i sometimes wake up with burning red eyes!
At times undereye circles and bags has a lot to do with the kidney’s, not enough water and detoxing. Great tips!
this is 100% great for me!!!
Thanks!!!
Thanks Christine, for featuring my skin tips!
Of course!
Using two pillows causes neck pains so I’ll skip that tip. Everything else is definitely do-able!
Also, don’t rub your eyes, no matter how great the temptation!
And if you use one of those gel masks, don’t leave it too long or fall asleep with it on. They slowly warm up over time, not what you want! I speak from recent experience :/
Right, except if you sleep on two pillows, you’ll quickly develop a second chin. As to cucumbers, they contain a bunch of B vitamins and minerals, so yes, there is a difference between ice and cucumbers.
I swear by Shielo’s Complexion Moisturizer. I carry a jar with me on the plane. It is light, small, and fits in those under 3 oz. plastic baggies, and I put t on my face and hands a few times during flying. When I land, I have less of that dry and puffiness that I used to get.