Is Your Beauty Regimen Hampered By Droopy Eyelid?
The power of gravity is pulling everything south more and more with every passing year. Now you’re noticing it in the eye area. Instead of your eyes looking wide, bright and alive, they are beginning to look like tired and droopy eyes. Of course you don’t like it, but that’s life, right? You’re not sure that anything can be done. Don’t be too quick to give up on trying to tighten up those droopy eyelids. You may have more options than you first thought.
The Eye Skin
Of all the skin surface area of the face, the skin around the eyes is the most sensitive. The skin here is quite thin, and the more years that pass, the thinner it becomes. Another effect of aging is the loss of what is called collagen. This is a protein that helps skin to maintain it elasticity.
This is why the skin is no longer springing back as it once did when you were younger. It’s like a rubber band that has become dried and brittle and will no longer spring back to its original shape.
Stop Rubbing
Perhaps you never even noticed before, but you could possibly have a habit of rubbing your eyes. This may happen especially when you’re tired, or when you’ve been sitting in front of the computer – or the TV – for long periods of time.
Begin to stop and take notice. Many habits develop subconsciously – we don’t even realize we’re doing it. This is true with rubbing the eyes.
Remember that this is thin and sensitive skin. Rubbing will only work to stretch it more and may then be one of the droopy eyelids causes.
Serious Disorder
There is a condition of drooping eyelids that is serious and can lead to a more complex disorder. In fact, the eyelid may droop to the degree that it will affect the vision. In this case it would come under the care of a qualified surgeon and would probably require surgery.
This condition is known in medical terminology as ptosis or blepharoptosis. This is rare and is not what is being addressed in this article.
Hereditary
Drooping eyelid could be a family trait. Look at photos of your grandparents, or even your great grandparents. Do you see that tell-tale droopy eye?
In the eye structure, there are eyes that naturally turn downward. This type of structure is more susceptible to result in droopy eyelids later in life. However, even if it is a family trait, that does not mean you can’t take steps to remedy your droopy eyelid.
Hydration
We come in contact with many drying agents in the course of a day. This includes such things as pollution, over-heated and over-cooled indoor air, and soaps that dry out the skin.
Additionally, most Americans consume foods and substances that dry the skin as opposed to nourishing it. Processed foods, refined sugar, alcohol and smoking are at the top of the list.
Add to this the fact that we take in great quantities of soft drinks, coffee, sweet tea and sweetened fruit juices, when our skin is crying out for pure filtered water. When the skin area is not hydrated properly it can result in the droopy eyelid look that no one likes.
It’s strange but true that if you deprive your body of the water it needs, it switches over into a water retention mode. This may be the cause of the puffy look in the drooping eyelids. Drink at least eight glasses of water per day to keep the skin nourished and hydrated.
Eye Strips
Relatively new on the market are transparent eye strips that can be placed on the upper eyelid to slightly raise the droopy eyelids.
The strips are easy to apply and remove, and while this is merely a temporary solution, it can be used for special occasions such as a photo shoot, or an important business meeting when you want to look your very best.
The strips are removed at the end of the day and come off easily. No needles, chemicals or surgery, but this remedy can take fifteen to twenty years off a person’s appearance, simply by a slight lift to the droopy eyelid.
Cucumber Slices
In the kitchen one can find a number of effective home remedies for tightening the skin above the eye that is causing the drooping eyelids.
A very inexpensive, but highly effective, remedy is cucumbers. Slice a fresh cucumber. Take two of the slices and place them over your closed eyelids. (Now you have a legitimate excuse to stop and rest for ten or fifteen minutes.)
Cucumbers not only work as an astringent, but they also have a cooling effect. The wonderful thing about natural remedies is that since they cause no harm, you can try them for several days in a row to truly test the effectiveness.
Tea Bags
Another inexpensive remedy for the droopy eyelids is tea bags.
Take two tea bags of regular caffeinated tea (not herbal teas) and soak them in water. Refrigerate for several hours.
Now lie down and place cool tea bags over your closed lids.
They can be left on for ten to fifteen minutes, or longer. The tannin in caffeinated black tea works on your skin to tighten the loose skin that is giving you the droopy eyelid appearance.
Potato
Who would ever think of the lowly spud as being a beauty treatment? But it is! This common vegetable, found in nearly any kitchen, is full of many medicinal properties.
Puree a potato in a food processor. Scoop out a small amount and place on your closed eyes. Leave it for thirty minutes or so, then rinse with warm water.
Enzymes in the pulp, along with the natural starch and vitamin C actually feed the undernourished cells of the skin. Additionally, the juice of a potato is alkaline in its makeup which acts as an antiseptic. Those who try this remedy swear by it. You may too.
Summing Up
The bottom line is you don’t have to put up with unsightly droopy eyes. Become pro-active and take the steps to look your best.