How to stop waking up with puffy eyes. 👀

 If you're someone that wakes up to puffy eyes sometimes (or all the time), it can be the most irritating thing. Not only do you have to spend the first hour of your day trying to reduce the puffiness, but it doesn’t always go away.

Since it’s easier to prevent puffiness than it is to remediate it, here’s our top 7 tips to avoid waking up with puffy eyes.

Easier said than done sometimes, but regularly getting a good night’s sleep goes a long way to reducing eye puffiness. Adults on average require between 7-9 hours sleep a night, so once you know where you sit on that scale, work backwards from what time you get up in the morning to make sure you are going to bed early enough.

If you’re someone that suffers from regular puffy eyes, gravity & sleeping flat on your back is not your friend. Try propping yourself up with an extra pillow or a specialised sleeping wedge. With your head in a higher position to your body, gravity will help drain some of the fluid from under your eyes preventing that next morning puffiness.

Keeping your body properly hydrated will go a long way towards reducing the likelihood of waking up with puffy eyes. When you are dehydrated, your body goes into survival mode and will retain fluid wherever it can which includes around the eyes. If you are properly hydrated, this is less likely to happen.

During the day, have a measurement system that helps you to keep track of how much water you’re drinking, keep a glass next to your bed for during the night and have a big drink as the first thing you do in the morning.

If you regularly wake with puffy eyes but think you’re doing right to prevent it, you may suffer from some form of allergy that is causing your body to create histamines – which can cause inflammation, puffy & itchy eyes.

It’s well worth a trip to your GP to discuss whether you might benefit from antihistamines in either oral or eye-drop form. There are also things you can try at home to see if something in your environment is the culprit. Check the following:

• Have you bought new bedsheets or used a new fabric softener / washing powder that could be irritating your skin?
• Do you sleep with your windows open allowing pollens or allergens into your room?
• Have you added any new plants to your room that you may be allergic to?

5. Consider your diet.

There are two significant ingredients in our diets that contribute to puffiness around the eyes.

The first is eating too much salt. Too much salt in your diet causes excess fluid retention which can lead to puffy eyes. To manage this, try to not add salt to your food where possible & avoid foods high in salt such as processed foods, cured meats, cheeses & some breads.

The second part to our diets that affects puffiness is potassium. Potassium reduces the amount of fluid retention in our bodies so getting enough is vital. Try eating foods rich in potassium such as bananas, leafy greens, yoghurts & beans.

There are people everywhere that rave about cooling eye sleep masks & for good reason. Sleeping with a cooling gel eye mask has been proven to reduce puffiness and discolouration as the gentle, cool feeling eases or prevents swelling, reduces allergies, and can relieve headaches.

Eye creams have been proven to reduce puffiness along with preventing the early signs of ageing. The skin around your eyes is thinner and more sensitive than anywhere else on your face, so it makes sense that protecting it from irritation is important.

If you’re prone to puffiness, look for an eye cream that has soothing ingredients like Chamomile, White Tea Extract, Joboba, Arnica, Cucumber or Prickly Pear as these will help reduce inflammation, soothe the skin and help it stay hydrated.

Try our Intense Eye Crème for an instant, soothing hydration boost.