Puffy Eyes? Try This Gua Sha Routine

Born from Chinese medicine, gua sha is a traditional healing technique that, in recent years, has risen in popularity for its face-sculpting benefits. The aim of gua sha is to stimulate your skin with a small stone – also known as a gua sha tool – to boost blood flow, enhance radiance, alleviate puffiness, and aid lymphatic drainage. But, did you know? As well as treating your whole face, the right gua sha tool can also soothe the delicate eye area, making puffy eyes appear smooth, bright, and reawakened.

Here, we reveal the gua sha routine designed to sculpt, lift and illuminate your eyes, using IRÄYE’s mushroom-shaped gua sha tool for the gentlest care…

First, what causes puffy eyes?

There are a number of reasons puffy eyes can happen, from dehydration to lack of sleep, but one of the most common causes is a build-up of excess fluid. In the day, when you're moving and blinking, lymphatic fluid is able to flow more freely, meaning your puffy eyes may start to improve as the hours tick by. But the reason they're most prominent in the morning is because excess fluid can build up while you sleep. When this happens, gua sha comes in useful for quickly and gently promoting natural drainage. 

What are the benefits of gua sha for eyes?

As we mentioned above, gua sha is believed to lightly sculpt your skin and reduce puffy eyes, as it promotes lymph drainage around the delicate eye area. Because the ancient technique also works to stimulate healthy circulation, it's also thought to ease dark circles and dullness for a brighter, more radiant look. What's more, gua sha is deeply relaxing, so if you hold muscular tension around your eyes and eyebrows, the skin scraping ritual can unclench tight muscles – one of many reasons to use it on your jawline and forehead, too.

How to use gua sha for eyes

1. Prime with an eye cream

To help your gua sha tool glide and ensure no tugging on the delicate skin around your eyes, begin with clean skin and apply your favourite eye cream as a primer. Eye Revive Cream is ideal, as not only does its velvety texture allow your gua sha tool to move lightly over your skin, but it’s also infused with the LYMPHACTIVE Complex™ to give extra support to your lymphatic system. Meanwhile, vitamin C, caffeine and Bio-Retinol brighten dark circles, smooth fine lines, and target crow’s feet for a more youthful look.

2. Wake up the lymphatic fluid

After completing your skin prep step, take a few deep breaths to relax your body, and use fingertips to 'wake up' the stagnant fluid around your eyes. Gently tap all around the eye area as you slowly breathe in and out. This is also a good time to 'open' the lymph nodes just above your collarbone by lightly massaging them with your fingertips.

3. Support the nose area

Choose one side of your face to begin. In this example, you are starting with the left side of your face, which means you will hold the gua sha tool and perform your massage with your left hand first. With your free, right hand, very lightly grasp the skin on the left side of your nose, so you're holding it taut and supporting it to prevent dragging during your massage.

4. Glide the gua sha tool underneath your eyes

Now, you’re ready to use the gua sha tool. Hold it by its handle – the rounded ‘button’ with the logo on top – and glide it from the inner corner of your eye, along the under-eye area, and out to the temples. Do this in a fluid motion using light pressure. When you reach the temples, give the tool a gentle wiggle. Repeat 5-10 times. 

Remember: If you feel like the tool is dragging on your skin, try even gentler pressure or add a little more of your eye cream for added slip. 

5. Support the eyebrow area

Now you're going to depute the brow bone, but before you do, hold your eyebrow in place with your right hand. To do this, your palm should be resting on your forehead so your fingertips can lightly grasp your eyebrow.

6. Depuff the eyelid and brow bone area

Place the gua sha tool on the inner corner of your upper eyelid, and glide it up and outwards, so it traces the shape of your eyebrow, moves across your brow bone and, again, goes out to the temples. Repeat 5-10 times.

7. Sweep down to the collarbone

To sweep lymphatic fluid away, apply Radiance Firming Serum to your face and neck, and then glide your gua sha tool from the temples, down the side of your face and onto your neck. Move fluidly until you reach just above the collarbone, and then wiggle the tool before repeating 5-10 times. You've now completed your massage on one side of your face. Follow the same steps on the other side before moving on to the next, final step.

8. Boost the depuffing power with under-eye patches

Once you've performed the gua sha routine on both sides of your face, enhance its depuffing effects. Apply another pump of Eye Revive Cream (half a pump for each eye) and place the Reusable Eye Patches over the top. The plush, pillowy masks drive the sculpting benefits of Eye Revive Cream even deeper, helping to depuff eyes in 15 minutes.

Should I gua sha in the morning or at night?

You can gua sha at any time that suits your routine, morning or night. Just make sure you follow the steps daily for best results, and choose the timing that matches up with your goals.

Gua sha in the morning if:

• Reducing puffy eyes for the day ahead is your main aim.

• You find it hard to wake up tired eyes – the soothing yellow topaz can help.

• You clench your jaw in your sleep and need a tension release.

Gua sha at night if:

• You tend to have more time for your skincare routine at the end of your day.

• You want to introduce a relaxing ritual to your night-time regimen.

• You find puffiness is at its most noticeable in the evening.

Looking for more ways to dial down puffiness? Discover how to do a skin detox in five simple steps.