It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. The presence of eye bags, however, may keep anyone from looking further into those windows!
Eye bags can make you look tired and old. No one really wants to have them but they are very likely to surface every now and then most especially if you’re above 20. The good news is they tend to resolve on their own — most of the time. There are also so many home remedies for eye bags that help remove or minimize their appearance.
Various Reasons Why Eye Bags Show Up
These are the different things that can make the area under your eyes look puffy or swollen. Some of them can be avoided. The rest? You may have to learn to live with them and put your trust in some tried-and-tested effective remedies. Here are the various reasons why eye bags show up:
- When your parents have them, you are likely to have them too. Aside from undergoing the knife, there is nothing you can do to make those acquired eye bags go away for good — except for a few remedies that work temporarily.
- Lack of sleep. Fortunately, this particular cause of eye bags can be dealt with simply by making sure you are getting 7 to 8 hours of shut-eye each time.
- Nothing can make you look and feel older more than being stressed all the time. Aside from eye bags, stress can also cause the appearance of dark circles under your peepers.
- Salty diet. The consumption of food packed with sodium can make the area directly under the eyes swell due to water retention. Skip those salty chips, fast food meals and processed foods.
- When your body detects it’s not getting enough water, it will try to hold on to as much fluids in the body as possible. This often leads to puffiness of the area under your eyes.
- Cigarette smoking. If you want to steer clear of having baggy eyes, quit smoking. Your habit is keeping the area under the eyes from getting all the nutrients and oxygen it needs for health and beauty.
- Too much alcohol. Ever noticed that you have terrible eye bags each time you are suffering from a hangover? That’s because excessive alcohol consumption is linked to eye bag formation.
- Sinus infection, hay fever and nasal congestion can also leave you with eye bags. The good news is those unflattering cosmetic problems tend to go away the moment the infection has resolved.
- No one can stop time from moving forward, thus no one is exempted from having eye bags. As you age, collagen production wanes and muscles and connective tissues weaken, thus causing those baggy peepers.
Natural Remedies for Eye Bags
Other than undergoing the knife or shelling out huge sums of cash for those pricey and fancy eye creams, fortunately, there are various ways to deal with eye bags naturally. Here are some of the best ones:
- Cold water. Splashing cold water on your face helps get rid of that unsightly puffiness by constricting the blood vessels under the eye area, thus warding off the baggy appearance. You may also rub ice cubes on the problem areas.
- Potato juice. Grate a medium-sized potato. Transfer everything onto a cheese cloth and squeeze out the juice. Use a cotton ball to apply the juice on those eye bags to let a potato’s anti-inflammatory properties to work. Wash off with cold water after about 20 minutes.
- Chilled tea bags. Stash those tea bags you brew in the fridge as they will come in handy each time you are bugged by eye bags. Add a few drops of cold water to used tea bags to rehydrate them before placing them over your eyes. Doing this helps deal with excess fluids under the eyes by getting those blood vessels constricted.
- Egg white. In a small bowl, beat an egg white. Apply under the eyes using your fingertips. Leave it there until it dries up and makes the area feel taut. Rinse with water afterwards.
- Cucumber slices. Before slicing a piece of cucumber and placing a slice over each eye, it’s a good idea to let it chill in the fridge for a few minutes. This will significantly boost the eye bag-reducing effects of cucumber.
- Cold spoons. Always stash a couple of spoons in the fridge so that you have instant eye bag removers to grab each time. Placing them on your eyes helps get rid of that unwanted puffiness instantly.
