My under-eye area frequently, most of the time lately, looks a little purplish and slightly puffy (only to the touch, not sight) and dry. This makes me look sick or tired, even when I am not. It’s at it’s worst when I sweat a lot in the sun (with a hat covering my face), and then take a shower afterwords. At this point, I look like I just woke up from a 24 hour nap or have the flu!
What can I do about this? I’m not some pretty boy or a model here, I just want to look normal and this has been happening more and more often, especially when I don’t take a shower until the middle of the day after cutting lawns. What kind of lotions can I use? Maybe some ladies can help me out? There are no “bags”, the area just seems puffy and sticky when I rub my finger over it. It’s not like the skin on the rest of my face. It seems to me like sweating washes away the oils that need to be there and leaves the skin, well, crappy, for lack of words.
I am fair skinned with no tan on my face and average complexion, 22 years old male in good health and I sleep on the sides of my face at night (if that matters). I am asking here because I would not know where to look for this info and I’m not about to ask people I know because it’s just a weird question.
You could try the age old trick of keeping a spoon in the freezer, then pressing it to your eyes to bring down the puffiness/swelling.
You seem a little skittish concerning all these lady-type things (while I believe men have a duty to tweeze their monobrows, wax their backs, cut their nails, etc.), but you might also want to try chamomile tea bags (cooled down). Just lock the door.
Your problem may be much more deeply rooted than you suspect.
Do you exhibit any of the following symptoms:
Impatience with other people.
Inability to delegate authority.
Perfectionism.
Multiphasic behavior (multitasking several different jobs).
Frequently run red lights in your car.
Typically experience excessive tension.
Unwilling to concentrate on books or museum displays.
All of these are symptoms listed for type A behavior. If you have answered “yes” to three or more of the symptoms, you may wish to read “Type A Behavior and Your Heart.” It will give you excellent guidance on how to alleviate the common elements of stressful behavior that are contributing to the dark eye-bags which are symptomatic of type A personalities.
Sometimes people just have eyes like that. If you are 22, you could still be … you might not have realized until now that fate planned for the areas under your eyes to be slightly darker and slighty more puffy than the rest of your face.
You can use girly products and allergy meds, but that might not make it go away.
If your eyes are just bound to look like this, become a private dick and wear a fedora.
Don’t buy the expensive moisturisers unless you are a ladyboy. You can cheap and more effective moisturisers at a phramacy, the kind that they usually prescribe to people with eczema.
Wrongo. The “cheapo” moisturizers are too heavy for the eye-area - they will exacerbate the problem, and leave the eyes feeling even worse.
The puffyness and dark-circles are probably caused by a grass alergy triggered by all the mowing, albiet a mild one.
the Vichy product I described will work perfectly for this problem. It’s in a small, innocent looking jar that can be carried with you or left at home. A light application will reduce the puffyness/darkeness in about 5 minutes.
I really shouldn’t be responding, as I showed my ignorance in this thread. But I will take a shot. You can use warm tea bags and cool cucumber slices (not at the same time), for puffiness and dark circles. Use a moisturizer at night. Be very careful with the skin, it is very delicate in that area.
1 - the cold spoon will be somewhat effective, but put it in the fridge, not the freezer - freezer is too cold - the spoon will stick to your face. Just take my word on this.
2 - Cucumbers will work - however you have to lie quitely for about 15 minutes to notice any difference. I don’t believe I have ever met a man, and very few women, who wanna lie around for 15 minutes to reduce eye-puffyness
3 - the tea bags have to be brewed and then cooled. If they are warm, they will make the problem much much worse. A warm tea bag is a good treatment for a stye though.
What?!? Of all the posts so far, not one person has recommended seeing a dermatologist?!? It sounds like something I have. I am just a little older than you, Fuel, so it might be an age thing. Anyway, I had dry, puffy, purple skin under my eyes for a while as well. Doctors say that it probably is eczema. I used Cortizone 10 until the symptoms went away. It worked like a charm. Now I moisturize twice a day with a Mary Kay eye moisturizer (my wife is a Mary Kay lady) and use the hydrocortizone as needed.
I feel your pain, though. For a while I looked like a drug addict or something. Really embarassing, and I had no idea what was wrong. You should probably see a doctor soon, in case it is something serious.
Also - if it’s not a skin disease, it could be that you’ve developed an allergy to something.
Oh. And for anyone who’s wondering, no, I do not own stock in the Vichy corporation.
I do, however, work in the biz and have access to just about every product you can buy at a drug store. I’ve tried just about all of them.
The Vichy stuff works the best. If people come in and ask it’s the one I recommend. I have recommended it to my mom. My sister in law. My friends. Etc. Etc.
alice_in_wonderland, is this available at a regular drugstore? I haven’t seen Vichy at my local CVS, and I couldn’t find it at drugstore.com–I’d prefer to avoid shipping costs and get it locally. Where would you recommend?
Laura
P.S. sorry for the hijack, but I’ve been looking for something to get rid of my dark circles for ages now!
Yep - go to a large chain drug store that has a “beauty” department.
In Canada it would be Shopper’s Drug Mart or London Drugs. I don’t belive that Super Drug Mart carries it.
In the US maybe Walgreens? (They’re a big drug-store chain, right?)
A small Mom & Pop type drug store wont have it, and department stores wont have it.
It is, however, worth the hunt. It really is, by far, the best product for this that I’ve tried, and when I wake up in the morning, I have bags under my eyes large enough to pack for an extended trip to Europe, which it totally clears up.
My mother, SIL, roommate, and countless customers report the same positive results.
I had a man come it who had deep bruising under one eye from being hit with a hot lead pipe (industrial accident). I recommended the Vichy to him, and he was very pleased.
It’s a cooling gel. It will moisturize the area. It will reduce puffyness. It will lessen dark circles.
Thanks for the advice. I’ll look into that stuff, aliceinwonderland. I am mildly allergic to dust and pets, and possibly grass and 2-stroke fumes, so that’s most likely the cause. Allergies suck. Also, genetics probably gave me susceptible, thin skin around my eyes.
I doubt I have eczema. For the most part my skin is healthy everywhere. I don’t have irritated skin at all. Is it possible to have eczema only under your eyes where nothing every really touches it? I doubt it. My problem is not all that bad… most of the time I’m the only one who can notice off-hand. Mostly my problem is that I look tired for up to 6 hours after I wake up. Maybe that Vichy stuff will help that too…