DE-PUFF DIY EYE PADS

Waking up after a restless sleep because of stressful and busy day/week/month is a scenario we are all familiar with. Some mornings are harder to rub the sleep from our eyes than others, and some mornings are plagued with those dreaded dark circles to let everyone know that you didn’t sleep well.

As long as we walk the earth, so too, will undereye bags. There are many causes of these nasty things, ranging from allergies, to smoking cigarettes. The most common cause of dark circles results from oxygenated blood pooling beneath the under-eye skin. When you’ve been lying flat for a while, fluids accumulate and the veins beneath your eyes expand to hold more blood. As the skin under the eyes is so thin, this makes the blood beneath the eyes more visible.

Not being hydrated can also cause the body to shrink skin cells, making dark circles more noticeable. On the flip side, consuming alcohol causes the blood vessels in the skin to expand, making dark under eye circles more prominent.

Though we can’t stop dark undereye circles completely (unless you’d like to try sleeping standing up), we can ease them with this cooling and revitalising, de-puff eye pad DIY.

DE-PUFF DIY EYE PADS
(Makes 12 eye pads)

1 cucumber
½ cup aloe vera gel
1 cup of water
3 drops of peppermint essential oil
12 cotton rounds

Roughly chop the cucumber before putting into a blender with the cup of water, aloe vera gel, and essential oil. Blend until liquid, and run through a strainer into a bowl. Soak the cotton rounds in the strained liquid before squeezing out the liquid. Lay the rounds flat, and separate from one another, in a freezer bag and place in the freezer.

Whilst you wait for your kettle to boil in the morning, take the two pads out of the freezer and leave to thaw for 8-10 minutes. Take ten minutes out of your morning to sit back with your favourite morning beverage and place the eye pads over your eyes. The cooling effect will help reduce inflammation whilst the cucumber and aloe vera will help hydrate. Peppermint essential oil is known for its energizing and invigorating effects on mood, and will give you the kick start you need.

We like to really kick start our morning by using Goodwash lavender, rose geranium and Argan oil shampoo and conditioner. The essential oils gives us the boost to smash through a busy day with a level, calm, and glossy haired head.