Fight the Enemy!!!

One of the most obvious signs of sleep deprivation (or lack of restful sleep) are the black circles under your eyes. I think mine are there permanently. Right now, I hide behind big sunglasses…either dark ones or ones that have really big frames. They seem to hide the problem, and give me a geeky- cool aura about me. I am loving that!!!!

However, did you know that there are other things that you can do to get rid of those black circles….and they wont cost you $150 at the cosmetic counter. Here are some ideas to fight the visible signs of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome:

• Increase your protein intake. besides giving us some much needed energy, protein will help get rid of the discoloration of the skin underneath your eyes. Guess this means I need to stop eating Ramen noodles.
• Get tested for allergies. I went through a period of time, where I was really intolerant to milk and chicken. Any time I had either, I would get awful headaches and huge black circles under my eyes (actually my face would turn a pale shade of grey). Knowing what your food limitations are will help reduce this problem. Also a multi-vitamin may help you out here.
• I guess stating that adequate sleep here, is not going to do most of us any good. Healthy sleep is pretty much all we want to begin with. OK let me rephrase that. Healthy sleep is all that I want.
• Wash your face with water as cold as you can stand it. The cold water causes the blood vessels to constrict, and the puffiness will reduce. Funny how I do the exact same thing, when I am trying to wake up.
• Have you tried the cold teabags and cucumber remedies? I use to do the cucumber thing when I was in university, but I don’t actually remember having black circles under my eyes back then. Will definitely have to remember to try them again, when I find a bit of free time.
• How about wiping the area under your eyes with a frozen cotton swab. I just heard of this, and I am flinching just thinking about it. Since there are a lot of ideas surrounding ice and cold products, maybe there is a little something to this suggestion.
• Creams with vitamin K are said to work. I haven’t found any yet, but am always on the look out for a good cream. Do you know of any?
• Eat green vegetables. Spinach, kale, cabbage – whatever is green and comes in veggie form will do its thing.
• Water Water Water!!!
• Remove salt from your diet. It will make you puffier. Salt also will slow down circulation and cause blood vessels to look bluer (which makes your skin to appear black).
• Smoking does exactly the same thing as salt, when it comes to skin. So maybe this should be added to the list of reasons why you should quit.
• They say to use a yellow based cover up to get rid of these unsightly circles. Maybe I have a really bad hand at applying this kind of makeup, because when I apply- it looks so much worse. Perhaps I should hire an entourage, where a makeup artist can make me look rested, everyday.
• Do people actually use hemorrhoid cream to get rid of these imperfections? Why would you put that near your eyes? EWWWW! I would rather let people see that I am tired, than be that desperate.
• Here is a great wacky idea – Cut some onions, so you can release the moisture that has been built up under your eyes, and then put a cold teabag on them for a few minutes afterwards. I love the things people come up with. I am definitely going to try this, as soon as I have some actual groceries in my house where cooking instructions are more than just “add hot water, and stir”.
• Put two tablespoons in the freezer for a few minutes, then take them out and apply to your eyes for a few seconds. A warning about this one. It HURTS! Think about what it would be like to touch a frozen pole with your tongue…its pretty much the same thing for the eyes. Maybe not that bad, but its not comfortable. You are much better off buying one of those gel eye masks and using that.

This list was taken from ehow.com and adapted by me. Thanks for the great suggestions!

Do you have any other ideas on how to get rid of the yucky circles. Do you like them, because it makes you look like you were reading all night long, or going to some wicked party and didn’t get home until 8am?

Let me know what you do to deal with this little shape.