What are your best tips and tricks for dealing with under eye bags? What has worked??
Water and sleep have been the only things that help minimize them in a meaningful way, but good concealer/brightener can be a temporary fix. I don’t have really large under eye bags, more like dark circles for me, though.
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Since mine are genetic, I’ve found that the best solution is to embrace them! 🙂
This!
My mother had surgery to remove the tissue under her eyes. The bulge is fat – and she was so thin. Yes, it’s genetics and I am glad I don’t have them as bad as she did, bless her heart.
I think my aunt had a similar surgery, and in her case, the end result wasn’t amazing — She ended up with the skin on her lower lids pulled too taut, and she deals with chronically dry eyes as a result. The kicker is that she’s an oculoplasty surgeon, herself!
It’s absolutely genetic, and I figured, why fight it? The bags aren’t really doing anything bad for my well-being, and any self-esteem issues I may have had regarding them is more of an issue with oppressive beauty standards than anything.
Yes! Also, getting a little wrinky. Bags filling up gets rid of them nicely. Lol.
For a quick fix, I like to apply a cold spoon to my under-eye area for a couple of minutes. For a long term fix, I’ve found that the Vitamin E Eye Cream from The Body Shop works really great. It gets rid of bags under the eyes, and at the same time it reduces darkness and fine lines as well.
nothing for me…they’re hereditary. they’re easier to cover (the darkness, not the puffiness, that’s always there) when i sleep well, but that’s rare for me :/
Get enough sleep! Because no amount of skin care or make-up can truly hide those bad boys I’m afraid…
Fortunately I don’t really have bags, just dark circles which are easier to hide. Years ago I read that people were using Preparation H! I think I’ll just live with the bags if I get them…
Preparation H is really bad for your eye area skin to use long term. On an emergency basis it’s ok. It thins the skin and in turn makes your eye skin age quicker.
FYI, the ingredient that gets rid of wrinkles is Bio-Dyne (a live yeast derivative) is only found in the Canadian version of Preparation H and not in the Preparation H in the U.S.A.
Honestly, my undereye darkness faded considerably after switching over to Paula’s Choice products. I was so surprised because she has no special eye creams and says you can use any good facial moisturizer on the eye area, which I started to do. They faded pretty much immediately too… Like next day I was like “Whoa! Where’d my bags go??”. So I guess my tip is ditch the eye creams, which usually have irritating ingredients (especially if they burn your eye!) and just use a well-formulated moisturizer with lots of vitamins and anti-aging ingredients.
And don’t forget the sunscreen around your eyes! Find one that’s OK for both eyes and face. I think this is one of the most neglected areas for sunscreen, at least with people I know!
Chronic illness and pain take toll on my eye area and now add sleep deprivation from menopausal night sweats to the fray. Many days I am carrying serious eye baggage in the form of purple discoloration and also aging genetic hollowing of the eye socket. Here’s what I do:
I like to take a two step process using two different types of concealer. I start with a very emollient concealer that matches my skintone. I use aggressive anti-aging products so am more prone to dryness and I need this layer. My surprising pick for step one is MAC Matchmaster in shade 2 (great for NC20-25 skin). Amazing that a stick concealer can be so light and creamy and not emphasize small lines. I apply concealer only in the areas where I have discoloration using a flat synthetic brush (MAC 242). Then I pat using the tip of my baby finger a thin liquid or sponge tipped tube type concealer in a peachy shade on top. First place in this type of concealer goes to: Giorgio Armani High Precision Retouch with Dior Star and By Terry Densiliss being pretty darn good too. Ideally, I wish the GA came in a shade 03 light peach was a shade lighter. I also tried the peach shade in the GA Master Corrector line of concealer and it is super dark peach so better suited to medium or darker. I prefer not to set the area with powder as I think it takes the glow away and with that any reflecting bit which helps minimize the appearance. Powdering does add to longevity though, but flattens the area and makes hollows more pronounced in my experience. Pick your poison.
Hey Wendy, I ‘m glad you commented on this. I have pretty bad hereditary circles. Aging, anti-aging products, my illness, lack of sleep , and all that super stuff don’t help me either. I use the Armani orange corrector. It blends well for me(my skin is more true medium though). I have used mine under the Cle de Peu stick concealer. So, You find it is better using the concealer under the corrector? Do you brighten the area? I noticed you said you use the concealer in the shade of your skin tone. I always have mixed in a shade a bit lighter and did the triangle thing to highlight. I have some hollows going on..not bad bags. I get puffy. But, it generally subsides by mid morning. Lately , I have been just using a touch of meteorites (which I’m sure you know is finishing powder technically) to set my entire face due to dryness. Maybe , I will try a day of not using powder.Thanks! 🙂
Hey Nicole: I have the same issue, deep crevices and discoloration, not so much the bag part. I use a hyaluronic acid complex on my whole face and eyes which tends to smooth out fine lines and it also seems to brighten my eye area. For some reason I started applying the skin matching concealer first (I think I was lazy one day and thought I could get away with wearing just one…wrong). I go with a version very close to my natural tone. When I go lighter, the crevices appear deeper on me. Then after layer one, I look in mirror and I do the scary face. The one where you look in the mirror and tilt your head down (like you are planning to tell a super spooky story at night and hold a flashlight under your chin..LOLoL) Anyhow..spooky face helps me to see the areas that are problematic. I apply the GA liquid thingee with that little tiny brush and then pat it very gently on those areas alone. I do not tap it into skin where the colour is ‘normal’. For me, this seems to work best. I actually have not tried Meteorites as a finishing powder. Great tip! I like the skin under my eyes to look moist. I find hyaluronic acid treatment to be the best for me because you get the appearance of plumped skin without any greasy typical eye cream crap to bunch up and create absolute chaos. If I wear eye cream that is hydrating enough for me, I find it invariably creases on me by the end of the day and then I look like Haggis McBaggis. I don’t like her.
Wendy,lol..you are too funny..yep. I know that scary face all too well! The more I have paid attention lately,on days I skip HAC,I feel like my face looks younger. Its not all carved out. But,like you ,I am on the thinner side and unfortunately,time has contoured my face with gravity. I’m not sure of the type of hylauronic acid complex you use. But I have Hyalo plasma by Perricone. I have been using it only at night. Maybe ,I’ll try to get it into my day routine and save my creams for night. Worth a shot! I agree,the eye area does look better moist. In a sense you are highlighting via texture that way vs shade. Thanks for the tips!
Well, Wendy, I am right there with you on that same menopausal sleep deprivation w/ chronic illness road. It does impact the eye area. Badly. So I was reading through the comments and found yours, finally understood *why* peach works (took me a while), didn’t have any peach concealer yet, so I did an alteration on that whole crazy thing of using red lipstick to correct circles, and instead sanitized my Revlon Smoked Peach Matte lipstick….and took the plunge! Dabbed a bit on, questioned my sanity, put my usual concealer over that, and voila! No more dark circles or hollowed out looking sockets, even behind my glasses! Tomorrow, I’ll try the peach over the regular and see what happens. Thanks for the peachy idea, it works!!!
Yay Nancy! Woot!!!!
Same here, more dark circles than bags. But cut down on salt, drink more water, get more sleep. Also heard wet tea bags and cold spoons help.
I got lot improvement with Tanamu oil before sleep.
I have dark circles and eye bags…translates to not pretty. They get darker due to lack of sleep and allergies 🙁 The best thing for my dark circles has been Bobbi Brown’s Peach corrector; I can use it alone on better days or under an actual concealer for more brightening on those really bad days. I also like Benefit’s Erase Paste because’s a less pigmented 2-in-1 (corrector + concealer) for those better/lazy days. I also make sure to moisturize really well under there morning and night, use a daytime eye cream with sunscreen, and once a week I use an eye cream with retinol too. The retinol helps with my fine lines under there…I’m 23 but I’ve had these specific lines under there since probably middle school. The bags…well those never go away so I’ve kind of learned to live with them. I’ve tried all kinds of concealing techniques to try & minimize those but found its too much work and the results aren’t that amazing so I just forego trying to minimize the bag. Minimizing the darkness is usually my goal now and that’s ok.
I have dark circles more than bags. Corrector has been a LIFESAVER for me! I use Tarte CC Corrector and watch the dark circles disappear. Then I add concealer on top and set it with powder. The addition of dark circles has been the biggest change to my face as I’ve aged.
I get horrible eye bags from crying. I’ve tried EVERYTHING but the best has been to rub moisturizer on the lids and undereye area, massaging it. Repeat this as long as you can.
Consistent hydration! i noticed my bags went away if i drank an adequate amount of water for my height/weight on the daily basis. when i started slacking off, i noticed their return 🙁
Sleep, water, Benedryl, and caffeine eye cream!
I consider the bags to be the same as my lines; it’s age and there’s only so much you can do. I try to make sure my concealer is thin enough that it doesn’t emphasize the bags by getting cakey. I use concealer to deal with the dark circles and using Origins Mega-Bright eye cream has helped with those as well.
As others have said, plenty of water and sleep help. Sleeping with the head of the bed slightly elevated can also help with bags and puffiness, as it helps prevent fluid pooling under the eyes. My mom did that for years and years.
I also have a jade facial roller, looks like a large elongated oval bead, about an inch long. It’s held in place by a metal triangle that is attached to a handle at the other end (this: http://www.cultbeauty.co.uk/ying-yu-rollers-jade-facial-roller-small.html). It’s wonderfully soothing to use and does seem to help with the puffiness.
My under eye area has been getting super dry. Ive been using aquphor on it for about a week and It’s getting much better already.
I don’t have under eye bags or dark circles around my eyes, but if I did – I think drinking more water, getting to bed earlier would be the cure – just like you advised Christine.
Caffeine seems to help, along with cold. I like the Garnier undereye depuffer (it’s a green roller ball, and they came out with a bunch of different formulas, the original works best for me), it not only reduced puffiness under the eye it also helped puffiness on the “hood” of the lid if you apply all around the eye. Stay with matte products, nothing illuminating.. that just highlights the problem. If you have darkness the best thing I’ve found is the Mac prep+prime pen in Bright Forecast.. but the Maybelline master conceal in Medium is almost an exact dupe.. just the slightest bit thicker. Both products are a deep peach shade.
Well, I’m 61, and dint have any wrinkles, but do have big puffy under eye bags, no discoloration. So, if I’m reading right, there’s really nothing I can do, except cold spoons, Garnier roller, which I do see some, little, results, and peach concealer? That is just so sad. I saw the question, and got excited because I’d hoped to get some exciting new and clever tricks, bummer…. I will try the peach under my BM, golden tan mineral powder foundation…which is the best foundation ever, and just rock on. Thanks ladies, thanks Christine!
There’s not much I can do about them apart from surgery, so have had to slowly accept them. I do try and cover the darkness by applying pixi peach corrector, followed by maybelline fit me concealer in a highlighter way then dab a tiny amount of Mac Pro long wear concealer on the actual shadow of the bag. Doesn’t completely get rid of it but it’s about the best method I can do.