Helping get rid of dark circles and puffy eyes

Eyes are the window to your soul and you always want it to be beautiful, wide open and sparkling. Dark circles and puffy eyes is not that nice and it decreases your beauty, but alas keep in mind it affects just about everybody at some time or another. However, regular care and proper diet can help you to get rid of dark circles and puffy eyes, or at least reduce them.

Cause of dark circles and puffy eyes:

• Hereditary
• Lack of sleep
• Not enough water
• Stress
• Age
• Lack of certain vitamins and minerals in the diet
• Overloading on alcohol
• Dark circles could point towards a liver or kidney that is not functioning properly.
• Sinus problems could develop dark circles under the eyes.
• Persons with a history of eczema, hay fever, or asthma also suffer from dark circles.

Dark circles can't be removed permanently when they are hereditary, but can be reduced.

Here are ome steps you could follow to get rid of dark circles and puffy eyes:

• Diet plan: Just like the skin and other organs, your eyes need certain nutrients to function properly and stay healthy. Change your diet by including more ecologically-clean meats, fish, and cultured dairy products from pastured cows. Remember that Vitamin B-12 is only contained in animal products, while Vitamin B-6 is most abundant in raw milk, meat, and fish.

• Get plenty of sleep: It's not entirely clear why inadequate sleep results in dark circles under the eyes, but we've all seen it happen either to ourselves or someone we know. For one thing, lack of sleep tends to cause the skin to become paler (thus increasing the appearance of darkness under the eyes), and it reduces circulation. It's also believed that too little time lying down is a cause in itself. Determine how much sleep you need (it's usually 7-9 hours per night, but varies throughout different people) and try to get that amount regularly for a couple of weeks to see if that helps.

• Apply cool tea bags, an ice cube wrapped in soft cloth, or cucumber slices to your eyes daily: The tannin in tea bags has been shown to reduce swelling and discoloration, and cucumber slices have long been used to reduce puffiness and refresh the appearance of skin around the eyes. Lie down, preferably in the morning, and leave fresh cucumber slices or cool, damp caffeinated tea bags (you can refrigerate them overnight so they'll be ready) over your eyes for about 10-15 minutes. Keep your eyes closed.

• Drink plenty of water: Fluid retention sometimes causes the puffy look. If you tend to drink a lot and consume a lot of fried and salted snacks, drink a lot of water. This will help reduce water retention since it will help dilute the alcohol and also flush out the excess sodium through the kidneys.

• Reduce salt intake: Excess salt causes the body to retain water in unusual places, and this can result in puffiness under the eyes. Too much salt can also impair your circulation, and cause the blood vessels under the skin to appear bluer.

• Quit smoking: Smoking causes vascular (blood vessel) problems that can not only threaten your life, but also make your blood vessels appear more prominent and bluer beneath the skin.

• Avoid rubbing your eyes: Usually rubbing of the eyes is brought on by allergies, but not always. Regardless of the reason, stop doing it. The rubbing irritates the skin and can break tiny capillaries beneath the skin, causing both puffiness and discoloration.

• Keep the eye area moisturized: "The best thing you can do to improve the way your eyes look is to moisturize the skin around them." Look for creams containing powerful moisturizers such as glycerin, sodium hyaluronate and vitamin E.

• Apply an eye cream: Dark circles may be caused by a deficiency of vitamin K. Regardless of the cause; however, recent research has shown that skin creams containing these two ingredients reduce puffiness and discoloration significantly in many patients.

• Protect your eyes from the sun's rays: The skin around the eye area is thinner and less capable of manufacturing the firming tissue collagen than skin in other places.

How to cover up dark circles and puffiness through makeup:

1. Use a yellow or peach-toned concealer which will camouflage the problem under your eyes. The yellow/peach undertones in the makeup will help cancel out the purple, blue, and brownish colors of your under eye circles.
2. Curling your eyelashes can instantly make eyes look larger by casting a shadow on the brow bone.
3. Reach for mascara that's specifically designed to lengthen and curl lashes to get the fluttery look you're after.
4. Shaping the brows correctly can open the eye, make you look younger and give your face a lift.
5. To make eyes appear larger, don't line them all the way around with the same color, instead, use a darker shade near the top lashes and a lighter shade as a smudge of color on the lower lash line.

Some useful tips:

• Mix turmeric powder with raw pineapple juice, not a canned version. Mix them together until a paste-like formation forms. Gently spread this mixture under the eyes. Let it stay on the eyes for 15-20 minutes. Rinse it off with lukewarm water. Do this procedure at nighttime for a week. You should see visible results within that time frame.

• For serious dark circles, use almond oil. Gently pat the oil under the eyes and around the eye. Do this in the morning and evening to see fast results.

• Eat 2 cups (or more) of organic spinach everyday.

• Eat 1/4 to 1/2 cup of raw almonds (must not be roasted or salted) 3 hours after eating dinner.

• Topical Bleach Creams
• Chemical Peels
• Laser Resurfacing
• Intense Pulsed Light
• Microdermabrasion

However, the surgery has a major risk, your skin can permanently have white spots or even darker under eye circles due to skin reactions. So be very sure before going for the surgery. But wnat l say do the best you can and if all else fails just cover them up!

(Sources: findarticles.com, buzzle.com, darkcircles.net)