The Fashion Set Swear By This Simple De-Puffing Massage to Help Tired Eyes

You don’t have to be a beauty whizz to know that when you’re tired. It shows in your face. Whether it’s dullness or puffiness that you suffer from, our energy levels have a rather unsightly way of letting the world know when they’re in the red. And the most likely place to experience puffiness? Our eyes, of course. 

Luckily, there are some methods that help to reduce eye puffiness and add some definition back into a tired complexion. However, unlike other skin concerns, the secret for de-puffing doesn’t require having to go out and buy the latest miracle product—it can be done in a matter of minutes in the comfort of your own home, for free. All you need is some sort of moisturising cream or oil and your very own hands.

Facial massages have been used by skin experts and facialists for decades as a way to inject some life and definition into lacklustre, puffy faces. Now, however, thanks to the power of social media, the insider secret is out and it’s taking the fashion and beauty world by storm. In fact, some of our favourite fashion girls all swear by one quick and easy technique to restore vitality and depuff.

To get the insider gossip on exactly what the technique entails, we caught up with Alexis Foreman, who swears by the simple daily facial massage. Keep scrolling to discover exactly what it is, how to do it yourself and to shop the very best de-puffing eye creams.

What Does It Do?

In general, a facial massage is used to relieve muscle tension, increase blood circulation and encourage lymphatic drainage. In less technical words, a facial massage is commonly used to boost glow, reduce swelling and puffiness and improve lift and definition.

"Around three years ago, I saw facialist Abigail James give a demonstration at a skincare event. She said that she performed a facial massage on herself daily. She looks so much younger than her age so I knew from then onwards that I had to try it,” reveals Alexis.

So what exactly is this specific technique that has the fashion set talking? Championed by Alexis on a recent IGTV, the easy-to-follow massage has had real success. "I start by waking up the glands in my face, then I use some upwards sweeping motions, finishing off with a series of sculpting techniques and lymphatic drainage,” says Alexis. "A few friends (including Monikh Dale, Lizzy Hadfield, Katherine Ormerod and Lucy Alston) have tried it after I showed them in the back of a taxi at Copenhagen Fashion Week last month! I’ve since had lots of comments saying people have tried it and it’s making a difference.”

How Do You Do It?

While Alexis’s routine does entail a full face massage, it’s the eye massage technique that really piqued our interest. Due to the delicate nature of the eye area, often different techniques are used around the eyes to cater to their specific needs. To help reduce puffiness and improve lymphatic drainage, Alexis uses this simple three-step routine:

Step 1: After prepping the face and eye area with moisturiser or oil to provide sufficient slip, form an "L” shape with your hands and thumb and, with your chin resting on your thumbs, pull your hands up and along the sides of the face to "lift” around the eye area.

Step 2: Taking the thumbs to the sides of your nose, push along firmly underneath the cheekbones and up to the ear creating a "W” shape.

Step 3: Finally, using two fingers underneath each eye, sweep the outside fingers to the sides of the face and follow with the other to join it. Be sure to really push up into the hairline.

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