by Elaina Marcotte

Created on: February 10, 2009   Last Updated: February 16, 2009

Your eyes, the window to your soul. Everyone sees them, quite often the first thing people look at when noticing or addressing you. It is impossible to hide them, except behind sunglasses, and unless you are going to be spending the day in the park, this is not an acceptable solution. How important it is to have them looking their very best, unfortunately waking up with puffy eyes or dark circles is often a reality.

A great place to start looking for solutions to this problem, is general over all health. If you are healthy, everything will be functioning just as it should, and you will look and feel great. Things such as high blood pressure, smoking, excessive salt intake, or a high consumption of alcohol can damage blood vessels. Under our eyes is a very thin layer of skin, thinner than anywhere else on our bodies, and under this skin is a large number of blood vessels. If they become damaged or are not optimally functioning, you are going to be able to see it, resulting in puffiness and dark circles. So here are some ideas on how to combat puffy eyes and dark circles.

1.Get lots of deep relaxing sleep.

2.Close your eyes and cover them with a cold cloth or refrigerated gel pack for 15 minutes, this will help reduce swelling.

3.Be cautious to not let your facial creams come in contact with the eye area. Many of these facial creams use a humectant which bind with water to keep the skin plump and soft, but this can make your eyes puffy.

4.Avoid rubbing your eyes, this can be damaging to the skin and blood vessels, making the problem worse.

5.Try eye masks or lotions, specifically made for the eyes.

6.Exercise, get your heart pumping and blood flowing. Getting active, especially with a cardio workout is excellent for moving out retained fluids that cause puffiness and getting your blood vessels working and functioning. When blood vessels become dilated and engorged from a sedentary lifestyle, this can cause the dark circles.

7.Drink lots of water, stay well hydrated.

8.Try using cosmetics to conceal the dark circles. Dark blue, purple or brownish tones are best hidden with a yellow or peach toned concealer.

These are some ideas to help you unpack those bags and dark circles under your eyes. Remember though the key to beauty lies in good health. Eat a balanced diet, and try a daily multi vitamin. It is easy to miss all our bodies require nutritionally in our busy days. A lack of iron can make you appear quite pale, accentuating dark circles. Also vitamin C is excellent for strengthening blood vessel walls, helping to avoid the dark circles in the first place. These are just two examples, but the list goes on, it is crucial to get the nutrients we need for our bodies to perform at their best. Healthy diet, active lifestyle, positive happy attitude. Feel great look spectacular.

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