Loathe puffiness, dark circles, and crow’s feet? First let’s get down to why we have these issues.
Overconsumption of salt (which causes fluid retention), allergies that can cause inflammation and swelling, sinus problems, dehydration, fatigue and lack of sleep, stress, crying, aging and inherited facial features.
Now there are ways to control, combat and reduce these minor yet impactful problems!
Let’s discuss dark circles first:
Ayurvedic practitioners say eating too quickly, consuming a lot of caffeine and cold drinks, and skipping breakfast can stress the digestive system, making it difficult for the body to absorb nutrients. Dark circles can also be caused by anemia and lack of sleep.
Here’s what you can do to help heal this:
Consume warm foods & beverages, and eat at least one tablespoon of ghee or olive oil every day to aid digestion. Eating, exercising, and going to sleep at the same time each day will help regulate bodily functions and improve general health. It is recommended that sleeping or meditating is helpful.
You can also put slices of raw potatoes or apples on the affected area for 15 minutes every other day. The starch in potatoes and the potassium, B and C vitamins, and tannin in apples all help fade dark circles.
Now lets talk about puffy eyes:
Puffy eyes and dark circles under the eyes occur for many reasons, including inherited facial features, allergies, stress, eye fatigue and individual skin characteristics such as texture.
Here’s what we can do to help heal this:
Firstly, limit your salt intake – you will thank us later. It is also recommended drinking a glass of hot water in the morning to kick-start the kidneys and draw retained water from the tissues helps combat any form of fatigue. Stimulating the tissues around your eyes with a self-massage is also recommended.
Get plenty of sleep, use tea bags or ice cubes to help lessen the puffiness if need be. Eating potassium-rich foods, such as bananas, to eliminate excess fluids in your body is also helpful.
A self-massage recommended by an ayurvedic practitioner: With your ring finger, apply light pressure on the inside corner of your eye socket. Move your finger in a circular motion up to the area below the brow, then around and down below the eye, staying on the bone of the eye socket. Make five rotations.
Finally, let’s talk about the elephant in the room – Crow’s Feet:
Squinting, dry skin, and sun damage can cause the fine lines at the corners of the eyes known as crow’s feet. Yep, underage wrinkles are no fun right?
Here’s what you can do to help heal this:
Avoid excessive alcohol consumption, which is dehydrating. Wear sunglasses to avoid squinting and to protect the delicate skin around the eyes from harmful UV and UVA rays. Also, you can try dabbing almond oil gently on the skin at the corners of your eyes every night before you sleep.