How to Depuff Eyes

Many of the most common signs of aging affect the eyes. Wrinkles, fine lines, eye bags, and puffy eyes all take away from your youthful radiance, making you look tired, sad, old, and low-energy. When you start to notice these signs, it’s important to treat them right away to maintain your younger appearance and boost your confidence. Read on to learn how to treat aging and depuff eyes.

What Causes Puffy Eyes?

Many factors cause inflammation and swelling around the eyes, known commonly as puffy eyes. The most common causes include: 

• Poor sleep, which causes the collagen and elastic tissues around the eyes to break down
• Eating too many salty foods, which causes water retention and swelling
• Drinking alcohol which causes fluid buildup in the under-eye area
• Eye strain from staring at screens for a long time while doing activities such as working at a computer, watching TV, or driving for long periods of time.

Some medical conditions can also cause puffy eyes. Kidney and thyroid disorders, chronic vitamin deficiencies, and allergies all lead to inflammation throughout the body, including the soft tissues around the eyes.

Finally, some eye puffiness is normal with aging. As tissues start to break down over time, swelling and inflammation become common. And the delicate tissues in areas like the under-eye are easily damaged over time. Fortunately, proactive skincare such as anti-aging or restoring creams can keep those tender tissues from breaking down as quickly.

How To Depuff Eyes

If you’re looking in the mirror wondering how to depuff your eyes in the morning, there are a few ways to quickly and easily reduce eye puffiness.

Cold or Warm Compress

For a quick and natural answer to how to get rid of puffy eyes instantly, try a cold or warm compress. A cold compress shrinks the blood vessels around the eyes, restricting fluids to the area and bringing down any swelling. You can use an ice pack wrapped in a towel or soak a washcloth in cool water and apply it directly to the eyelid and eye area.

Warm compresses are great for draining lymphatic fluids or relaxing strained muscles around the eye that may cause swelling. If you don’t have a heat pack, you can use a washcloth soaked in warm water. Steam also opens up the pores and helps drain fluids from the surrounding nodes.

Gentle Massage

Another way to reduce puffiness and drain fluids from the area around your eyes is to gently massage the affected area. Take the tips of your fingers and lightly rub in circles, moving from your inner eye area to the outer corner of your eye. This pushes built-up fluids toward the lymph nodes in front of your ears so that the fluids can drain more efficiently.

But be careful not to use too much pressure. Pressing too hard could damage the delicate blood vessels in that area or cause additional damage to the under-eye tissues, increasing the swelling instead of reducing it.

Antihistamines

If your eye puffiness is related to seasonal allergies, one of the most effective ways to reduce it is to take an over-the-counter antihistamine medication. This treats the problem at its source, reducing the allergic reaction that irritates the eyes and causes inflammation. Without that irritant, the puffiness should go down or go away entirely.

Be aware that many antihistamines can make you drowsy. If you’re trying to reduce eye puffiness first thing in the morning or during a busy workday, antihistamines may not be the right route, as you may become too drowsy to drive safely or focus on your work.

Under-Eye Cream

For general, daily puffy eyes, an under-eye cream can work wonders in reducing puffiness. Under-eye creams offer a host of benefits, treating more than just puffy eyes. They can also reduce signs of aging such as fine lines, bags, or dark circles. This brightens up your eyes and keeps you looking spry and youthful, even after a long day or restless night.

Some creams are designed to be used in the morning and at night, while others are meant only for bedtime. Which you choose will depend on your ideal daily routine and the effect you want to achieve.

Best Cream for Puffy Eyes

Eye creams can be part of a proactive routine to prevent eye puffiness and age lines from cropping up, or they can be used as a reactive treatment to reduce eye puffiness, fine lines, eye bags, and other early signs of aging. The best men’s eye cream for you will depend on your needs.

Restoring Eye Cream

If you’re looking for a light and natural eye cream to perk up your appearance in the morning and reduce puffiness and fine lines, try our Restoring Eye Cream. This cream uses a combination of natural ingredients to improve your overall eye appearance, including:

• Hyaluronic acid to deeply moisturize and restore skin elasticity
• Matrixyl 3000 protein peptides to boost collagen production and smooth out fine lines
• Caffeine to increase circulation and reduce swelling to eliminate dark circles and eye bags.

Where other men’s eye creams are heavy or oily, our Restoring Eye Cream is lightweight and absorbs quickly, so you can swipe on a little in the morning and look refreshed and rejuvenated by the time you leave for work. Our Restoring Eye Cream is gentle enough to be used twice a day. Apply a little in both the morning and the evening for the best long-term results.

Retinol Eye Cream

If you’re looking for an intensive repair cream that can prevent or eliminate signs of aging like wrinkles, dark circles, and puffy eyes, our Retinol Eye Cream is for you. Designed for even the most sensitive skin, this retinol cream includes naturally restorative ingredients such as:

• Jojoba oil and Hyaluronic acid to intensely hydrate and restore the delicate skin under your eyes
• Vitamin E to even out skin tone and improve complexion with age-defying antioxidants
• Retinol to penetrate deep below the skin and improve collagen production and cell turnover, restoring your skin’s vitality.

Retinol creams provide powerful results, so you only need a little. Apply a very small amount to your eye area once a day, typically at night. If you incorporate our Retinol Eye Cream into your morning routine, be sure to follow it up with an SPF facial lotion to protect your sensitive skin while the cream is at work.

How To Use Eye Cream

A quality anti-aging eye cream should be an integral part of your daily skincare routine. Some creams should be applied twice daily, like our Restoring Eye Cream, while others — like our Retinol Eye Cream — should be applied only once daily, or less depending on how your skin responds.

To apply the cream, start by cleaning and drying the skin around your eye. Put a pea-sized amount of lotion on the tip of a finger and massage it gently into the skin around your eye, being careful not to get the cream into the eye itself. In the morning, follow up with an SPF lotion for extra protection. If you have especially sensitive skin or you notice any irritation or flakiness around your eyes, limit use to twice a week, and consult a doctor for further advice.

How To Choose the Right Eye Cream

When choosing a puffy eyes cream, start by thinking about your priorities and goals. Different creams work best for different issues, such as dark circles, dryness, puffiness, wrinkles, or fine lines. Choose a cream targeted toward the issues most important to you.

Also consider how the cream will fit into your daily routine. If you usually do your skincare routine in the morning and evening, you'll likely want a lighter cream that can be applied both times, such as our Restoring Eye Cream. If you only perform your skincare routine once a day or you want something more intensive designed for less frequent use, our stronger Retinol Eye Cream will better suit your needs.

How To Prevent Puffy Eyes

Taking care of your body is one of the best ways to prevent puffy eyes in the morning. Your eye health is tied to your overall health, so a few healthy habits can keep your eyes looking bright.

First, reducing your intake of alcohol and excessive salt helps prevent swelling due to water retention. Use a variety of other seasonings to keep food flavorful with less salt, and limit alcohol to occasional use and never right before bed.

Adequate, quality sleep is also important for eye health. Too little or poor quality sleep can lead to swelling and eye strain. Try practicing healthy sleep hygiene habits such as maintaining a consistent bedtime, shutting off screens for at least an hour before bed, and keeping your room quiet, cool, and dark.

If you think you might have any health conditions that might be associated with your eye puffiness, seek treatment from a qualified medical doctor. This can both improve your overall health and improve your eye appearance.

And if you’re concerned about eye puff due to normal aging, one of the best ways to depuff eyes is a preventative skincare regimen. Take care of your skin by washing your face, wearing sunscreen, applying daily moisturizers, and using a high-quality men’s eye cream, like our Restoring Eye Cream or Retinol Eye Cream, to keep that youthful glow well into your sunset years.