10 reasons for eye puffiness and what you can do to minimize their appearance

Whatever the reason behind your puffy eyes, nearly every skincare company manufactures products targeted to soothe and depuff.

What can you do to minimize eye puffiness? Keep reading to learn more! 

The Top 10 Culprits for Puffy Eyes

More often than not, most puffy eyes are caused by some kind of allergic reaction, fluid retention, inflamed skin due to irritation, some fat pads distended on the eye area or a combo of all these.

The following are the top 10 reasons for puffiness around the eyes and some simple remedies you can do to help reduce their appearance:

1. Diet

Salty foods could be causing your puffy eyes! A diet loaded with salt results in water retention in your body which causes the eyes and the skin around the eyes to puff up.

Cut down on salt

To get rid of puffiness, cut down on your salt intake by avoiding salty foods like chips, cold cuts and other preserved products, such as soup and frozen meals. Processed or restaurant foods contribute to as much as 75 percent of salt in an average American diet.

Read food labels to count the amount of salt in what you’re consuming. The American Heart Association recommends limiting sodium to 1,500 mg per day.

It’s best to eat a diet of rich, anti-inflammatory whole foods like salmon, vegetables and fruits. Most of all, it is key to stay hydrated so drink plenty of water throughout the day. These small changes in your diet will make a huge difference.

Stick to one glass of alcohol

Your alcohol intake has a direct impact on the fragile skin around the eyes. Drinking too much bloats the body which leads to the eye puffiness, as well as face puffiness. Having one too many drinks also makes it harder for most to get a solid night of sleep, which is another contributing factor to under-eye bags.

Stick to no more than one drink per night. If you still notice bloating around your eyes, consider limiting your booze intake to special occasions only.

2. Sleep position

Sleeping with your head flat on your bed can cause body fluids to collect under the delicate eye tissues thus, resulting in puffiness come morning.

Counter this by sleeping on your back and using an extra pillow to prop your head up a little higher than the rest of your body. ‌Gravity‌ ‌will‌ ‌help‌ prevent fluid buildup and reduce puffiness when you wake up.

3. Contact lenses

Contact lenses can make you prone to swelling and eye irritation. For those needing vision correction, make sure that you are using the most comfortable lenses you can find.

In addition, it would help if you follow your provider’s exact recommendations for wear, cleansing and disposal. Prevent puffiness by keeping your eyes well-lubricated at all times with the use of appropriate eye drops.

4. Allergies

Exposure to various allergens, either through the air or by rubbing your eyes with allergen-laced fingers, can cause eye puffiness. Pollen, dust mites or animal hair that comes into contact with the sensitive skin around our eyes can cause swelling and irritation. When this happens, avoid touching the eye area. Rubbing increases inflammation and pulls the skin, which results in sagging and will only make puffiness worse.

These allergens can also be inhaled through your nose, leading to inflammation that results in eye puffiness. Consult with your physician about taking an anti-allergy eye drop or an antihistamine to control your symptoms. Often, symptoms include itchy, runny eyes. Applying a cool compress can do wonders too.

5. Makeup residue

One of the most important skincare rules to abide by is to never sleep with your make-up on. When left on overnight, makeup makes you prone to irritation, inflammation and can even cause eye infections that will lead to puffy eyes. Forgetting to remove eye makeup, especially mascara or eyeliner, before your bedtime can clog the glands in your eyelashes and lead to the development of a stye.

Make it a point to remove your eye makeup with a proper makeup remover before washing your face. This step is very important. A lot of makeup nowadays is smudge-proof or waterproof so your cleanser might not be enough to remove it thoroughly.

Remove makeup thoroughly with makeup wipes, makeup balms or micellar water - be sure not to pull or rub the skin around your eyes when removing the makeup. After removing your eye makeup, follow with a gentle and fragrance-free cleanser such as Yeouth Vitamin C Facial Cleanser to reveal a clean and fresh face.

Pro tip: Use a q-tip dipped in the makeup remover of your choice to gently clean your sensitive eye area. This will help prevent skin tugging that can lead to unwanted fine lines and wrinkles.

6. Dry skin

Dehydrated skin cells tend to shrivel, making fine lines and wrinkles around the eye area more puffy and pronounced.

Minimize the look of tiny lines and creases with hydrating eye treatments like Yeouth Radiance Eye Gel. Formulated with Hyaluronic Acid and Tripeptide, this eye gel is wonderful at helping to diminish eye puffiness. This soothing eye gel helps give the eye area a more hydrated and lifted appearance, for a brighter and more refreshed look every morning.

The light and silky texture of this eye gel is also perfect under makeup. 

 

7. Irritants

Exposure to various irritants will contribute to eye puffiness. Make sure that your skincare products or makeup (especially what you use on the eye area) does not contain irritants of any form. 

Avoid putting products with ingredients such as camphor, menthol, alcohol or any kind of fragrance around your eyes.

8. Crying

Did you just watch a tearjerker? Going through a rough patch? Puffiness is a direct result of crying. The act of crying causes inflammation around the eye area. That irritation, coupled with the natural tendency to wipe and rub the eyes during the physical act of crying leads to puffiness. Just keep in mind that the longer you cry, the worse the puffiness will be.

Use a cold compress to help ease the puffiness. While sitting or lying in bed, place a clean washcloth drenched in cold water over your eyes for a few minutes. Using chilled spoons, cucumber slices or tea bags can also help minimize swelling.

9. Fat pads

There are some who have puffy eyes because of genetics. Normally, this is due to very large fat pads around the eyes or because the fat pads have formed pouches through the facial muscles and start to sag over time. These pouches are what we refer to as under-eye bags. If you struggle with severe under-eye bags, they can successfully be removed through cosmetic surgery.

10. Sun damage

Yes, we can name a lot of reasons why you need to be extra diligent about protecting your skin from sun damage. It causes loss of skin elasticity, wrinkles and hyper-pigmentation.

If you have puffy eyes, take extra precaution, as your eye area is more prone to the negative impacts of unprotected sun exposure. Sun damage causes the skin to lose its elasticity, which in turn causes more fluid to accumulate around the eyes. Be sure to apply sunscreen on a daily basis.

Wear polarized sunglasses, sun visors or hats whenever you're outside during the day. You should also apply sunscreen made with zinc oxide, which shouldn’t irritate the eyes.

Ingredients that help decrease puffiness around the eye area

The skin around your eyes is very delicate. In fact, it is the thinnest skin on our bodies. This makes it much more vulnerable to harsh chemicals from skincare and the damaging effects of the UV rays from the sun.

Luckily, today’s new breed of eye products come with potent ingredients to help remedy common eye woes like fine lines, wrinkles, puffiness and hyperpigmentation. Here are the ingredients that you should look for when searching for the perfect eye product.

1. Tripeptides

These are the main building blocks of life and are found virtually in all of your body’s tissues. Your body produces less as you age.

Tripeptides are composed of a string of amino acids that are held together by bands of carbon and nitrogen. Proteins, the long amino acid chains, cannot penetrate your skin layers due to its huge molecular size, but tripeptides can because they have a shorter chain length.

Once inside your skin, tripeptides act as messengers that send out signals to your skin cell receptors by telling them how to perform. They produce collagen, which has the power to lift the skin.

2. Hyaluronic acid

We now know that dry skin contributes to puffiness. Hyaluronic acid has an exceptional ability to hold in moisture.

It is a water-attracting gel that works beautifully in skincare products. It helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines, crow’s feet and wrinkles by plumping the skin. With regular application of this essential hydrating ingredient, you will get visibly smoother, well-nourished skin.

3. Caffeine

Caffeine found in coffee can help stimulate blood flow when applied directly to the skin. This incredible action boosts collagen production to improve overall skin health. Think of it as a stimulant booster that energizes the skin. Caffeine essentially has the same effects on skin as it does on our physical energy levels when consumed. It perks the skin up!

According to Beverly Hills MD Cosmeceuticals, coffee also helps treat stubborn dark circles under the eyes. The caffeine helps dilate blood vessels around the eyes and minimizes the appearance of dark eye bags and puffiness.

Experience the benefits of hyaluronic acid and caffeine in Yeouth Retinol 2.5% Eye Cream. Specially formulated for the delicate skin around the eyes, this anti-aging eye cream contains the active ingredients that specifically target skin concerns like dryness, crow’s feet and puffiness.

Every person that you're going to meet is going to look at your eyes more than any other part of your face! Take care of them and look vibrant and youthful always.

Do you also experience puffy and swollen eyes? What do you think causes them? How do you get rid of the puffiness? Share it with us in the comments below!