Do you suffer from any of the following conditions?
Dark circles, bags, dryness and or puffiness under the eyes?
They are all symptoms that something is just not right.
Bags and puffiness mean your kidneys are not coping, or your bladder is not ok.
Unusual puffiness when you normally don’t have it – could indicate a urinary tract infection, or kidney infection – or other kidney issues.
It can also represent that your liver is overloaded with toxins – be that from alcohol, allergies, or intolerances – from food or skincare products, or something in the environment, such as pollens, pollution, chemicals or animal dander.
If you drink enough water, don’t drink huge amounts of coffee – use an eye cream, don’t use a foaming cleanser around your eyes (or heavens forbid – use soap), and your diet is loaded with fresh veggies and fruit – you may find that the dark circles under your eyes are hereditary.
If hereditary – this doesn’t mean you are stuck with the problem – it may mean that you and your parents are intolerant or allergic to a certain food substance which none of you have looked into because you have not been aware of it.
A food intolerance doesn’t have to be severe – it can be mild – in actual fact so mild, that you don’t actually notice you have it – you just notice that you lose weight when you stop consuming that particular food plus your skin improves, and the dark circles under your eyes disappear!
Food intolerances will cause you to become puffy, constipated or give you runny bowels – many people who have food or environmental intolerances or allergies suffer from oedema (puffiness) in their legs, feet, hands, face and eyes (as well as off course body!)
In my family we get puffy undereyes when we consume foods which we are intolerant to. The puffy eyes worsen as we age because the skin becomes thinner due to loss of collagen and elastin. We all have weak livers and suffer from urinary tract infections brought on by food intolerances such as gluten and or dairy and or eggs.
For myself the symptoms are obvious when I have eaten something I shouldn’t (people sometimes lie and feed me foods I cannot tolerate). I become bloated, sinuses congest, earache starts, followed by a urinary tract infection, migraine and then candida (thrush).
For my mother who doesn’t consume a lot of foods which can cause a reaction, simply because she eats so little– she becomes anxious and tired and (although she would never admit it) brain fog – muddled.
My daughter’s symptoms are also quite mild when consumed infrequently – when frequent – she gets severe acne.
Acne is often caused due to food intolerances – and sugar consumption. Yes- you are more susceptible as a teenager because your hormones are changing. This is also because your hormones have overloaded your liver which was already struggling to process a unhealthy diet. I have yet to see a healthy, clean whole food eating teenager with acne.
Please note – acne is not 1 or 2 or even 3 pimples – it’s a face full of them – but that’s another post!
Getting back to dark circles, puffiness, or dryness under eyes – there are a few things you can do to fix this issue.
- Ensure you drink 2 – 3 litres filtered water daily. Add liquid chlorophyll for extra detoxification.
- Use an oil cleanser to cleanse around your eyes such as the Everything Skin Oil. The skin around your eyes doesn’t produce any oil even if you have oily skin, so using a normal cleanser or a drying cleanser will dry out the skin even further. ( If you suffer from oily eyelids – this is not because your eyelids are oily it is because the oil is running from your stripped dehydrated oily skin onto your eyelids – or your body temperature runs so hot that your eyelids are actually too hot to hold makeup on them).
- Always apply a good eye cream or creamy moisturiser such as the Everything Skin Cream to your eye area even if you have oily skin (did you know that oil cleansing is the best way to eliminate blackheads?)
- Avoid known allergy foods or those you are intolerant to.
- If you don’t know which foods are causing you issues – listen to your body after you have a meal. For example, if you have a sandwich – how does your stomach feel? Comfortable same as if you have had a bowl of salad? Or do you feel bloated, gassy, or uncomfortable?
How do you feel if you eat cheese, bread or milk, or sugar, or eggs, or nuts or shellfish? Do you break out when you eat chocolate or ice-cream, or cheese, or other foods?
You may in actually not notice you are having any unpleasant reactions to any of these issues – but you may find that (if you are a woman) you break out badly every period. That you have PCOS, or endometriosis – these are both signs that your diet isn’t working for you – all health issues relate back to your diet.
- Do you suffer from migraines, constipation, runny bowels, eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, acne – anything which is just not pure health? You will definitely suffer from some form of food intolerance.
- Coffee, tea, and alcohol are all dehydrating – if you must consume these things (which I do – must have my morning coffee and afternoon tea!) ensure you have a large glass or water with each one. When drinking alcohol same rule applies – ensure you drink extra water before bedtime as you body detoxifies itself at night – highly recommend chlorophyll again before bed (just be aware you may end up with a slightly overactive rear end the next morning – but that’s not a problem – better out than in!)
If you cannot solve your dark undereye issue with the advice above – you can always book in a glowing skin consultation with me! We can look at your diet, skincare, and what you need to do to deal with the puffiness or dark circles.
Yvette xx
Thank you for reading my blog!
Hi!
I am Yvette van Schie, I am a holistic beauty therapist, skin nutritionist, skincare developer and makeup artist. I am passionate about sharing real beauty advice with a whack of reality.
For over 30 years I have worked with the best in the beauty and health industry as a trainer, educator and product formulator and I still do – so my knowledge is diverse – I am not blinkered when sharing my information with you because everyone I speak to shares what they know, and I turn it into easy to digest information because I want my readers to feel empowered to make their own decisions and to feel that they are fully in control of their beauty and well being.
