Do you ever wake up after a long weekend with unsightly eye puffiness that you just can’t seem to hide? All it takes is a few online searches to find one of the most popular eyes puffiness cures: cucumbers. Chances are likely that this cure isn’t news to you, maybe you’ve heard of the green veggie’s magic from your mother or grandmother, as this beauty hack is one that has been passed down for ages. Now, whether you take it upon yourself to slice up a cube and place it under your lookers, or you just apply another layer of concealer probably depends on how much faith you have in the beauty ritual or if you’re one to just chalk it up to a beauty myth. It seems that long summer days tend to turn into even longer summer nights for some of us here at Lionesse, which means we’ve certainly had our fair share of puffy eyes now and then. This got us wondering, what’s the deal with the summertime crop – can it really deflate eye puffiness?
To answer the question we went to work, sifting through all sorts of cucumber beauty related information as told by the pros. Low and behold, we found out that there is some pretty convincing scientific evidence, which backs the age-old claim. Dr. Gregory Nikolaidis, a dermatologist who currently practices in Austin, Texas, explained to Simone Kitchens, an Editor for Huffington Post, that cucumbers contain high levels of potent antioxidants and powerful flavonoids. Without getting too technical, the antioxidants and flavonoids give cucumbers the ability to lessen inflammation and ease swelling. But that’s not all! Dr. Nikolaidis explains that keeping the cukes in the fridge isn’t only good for their preservation, but the cool temperature makes for added beauty benefits. Apparently, the process of evaporation takes place when you feel the soothing and cool slices on your lids. To acquire the maximum eye de-puffing benefit from cucumbers, Dr. Nikolaidis suggests laying cool thin slices over closed eyelids for five minutes or so while lying down.
Now, we understand that you might not always have a cucumber in your vegetable drawer, chilled and ready to go. That’s totally understandable! It’s also the reason why you should grab yourself a box of chamomile tea next time you’re at the supermarket. Just like cucumbers, chamomile tea is also chucked full of antioxidants and flavonoids, which means you can reap the same benefits from the tea as you can from a cucumber slice. Although cucumbers are ideal for taking care of eye puffiness, it’s much easier to maintain a box of teabags, am I right? Just like cucumbers, you’ll gain a better benefit from the teabag if you lay it over your puffy eyes while it’s chilled. To do so, simply steep two bags of natural chamomile tea in ice cold water for two-to-three minutes. Lift them up out of the water and give them a little squeeze so that they aren’t dripping, but be sure that you don’t squeeze all the anti-inflammatory goodness out. Then, just as with the cucumbers, place the cool tea bags over your closed eyelids for about five minutes. Once the time is done, you are certain to notice a difference!
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