I'm back, my lovelies! And I've found a way to turn my pain into something useful (well, kind of). Like the title of this post states, when life hands you lemons, you can either drown yourself in the sourness and the sting, or you can try to do something constructive with those darn lemons. I've gotta be honest--a part of me wanted to keep "drowning in the sourness and the sting", but the other part of me said, "OK G. It's time to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and push through." So I found a way to make the most of my puffy, tear-soaked eyes (which I'll show you in a second).
But first, I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you for the loving, encouraging and supportive comments, tweets, and emails you've sent me over the last few days. This outpouring of support caught me completely off-guard and it had such a profound impact on me. I've been reading your comments and emails constantly, and every time I read them, I start to cry (tears of joy this time!) because what you've written has touched me in a way I can't even express. You've sent me kisses from your kitty cats, beautiful, inspirational quotes, and everything in between, and your words have done more to lift my spirits in the last few days than you will ever know.
I know I always say it, but darnit, I HAVE THE BEST READERS IN THE WORLD. I brag about you to my family and friends all the time, and now I have even more to brag about. I love each and every one of you, and I hope you know that if you're ever going through a rough time, I'm there for YOU as well.
I may not be completely back to my normal self just yet, but I'm pushing through and I hope you'll have patience with me as I try my best to get back into the groove of blogging. Which brings me to this little experiment. I'm so sick of looking at my puffy eyes this week that I decided to do something about it, and document my experiment so that I can share it with you.
I don't know about you, but I've reading in magazines for years and years that holding cold spoons up to your eyes for a few minutes will immediately decrease the puffiness. I never actually tried it until this morning, so let's see if it worked, shall we?
You've GOT to know how much I love you all after watching that video. I mean, who else would go on camera looking like THAT, just to test out a beauty trick, right? That video is enough to scare young children! But hey, there's nothing I won't do for this blog (well, in terms of embarrassing myself, that is). So let's see if it worked:
For the record, I held two cold spoons against my closed eyes for about 10 minutes, and then I immediately shot the second video. Looking back on it now, I do think it helped decrease the puffiness by a LITTLE bit, but definitely not enough to walk out the house feeling confident. So...I'm afraid the cold spoons beauty trick doesn't work if your eyes are very puffy from crying or allergies, but if your eyes aren't as puffy or swollen as mine, it could do the trick. Who knows. All I know is that it didn't quite work for me.
So, do any of you have any tricks for decreasing puffiness in your eyes? I'd love it if you'd share your tricks with us--lord knows I could use 'em!
dear G- um, WOW. you are a courageous woman. not just for posting that video (very gutsy) but for posting during this difficult time for you. i hope that you do not feel pressured to keep up your schedule online for fear of losing readers.
ReplyDeletei've tried the cold spoon trick as well, and other than turning my eyelids purple, it's never done much but make me laugh at myself. i think it would be more effective for veils or hats to be used once again, don't you? those are the days i wish i could wear a bag over my head.
beautifulmonday: Thank you! No, I definitely didn't feel any pressure to start blogging again--if anything, I felt an enormous weight lifted off my shoulders because so many of you told me to take my time, and that you would be here when I got back. :) I really wanted to start blogging again for my own sanity, if that makes sense. I need a return to normalcy and it's just so normal for me to blog. It makes me feel better, and it definitely gets my mind off things. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd YES, my goodness, I wish veils and hats were back in vogue! That would make things so darn easy! xoxo
girl, good to see you're pulling through. take all the time and space you need to come back on your tracks, we'll be here :)
ReplyDeleteIf I may share a trick i learned from grandma, caffeine also helps de-puff the eyes, what she taught me is steep a bag of black tea in a bit of water and then add ice (so it cools down) then take two cotton pads and soak them in the tea, press out the excess (so it doesn't drip all over your face) and press them to your closed eyes. repeat a couple of times and let them sit on your eyelids a while each time. works like a charm ;)
awww honey bee, i'm sooooo in awe of your strength in posting when you're going through a hard time! even though sometimes i know posting helps me get out of a funk, when it's a super hard time, all i want to do is forget about extra responsibilities and focus on myself :P
ReplyDeletei love hearing bloggers' voices in vids! it was fun to hear yours :) and thanks for being brave and showing us your puffy eyes, aww i was sad for them! i use the walgreens brand of de-puff roll on serum that seems to help a little.
love you and keep your chin up charlie!
Yay, you're back! I missed your posts, but hope that you've taken enough time for yourself! I hope that whatever the "lemons" were that you have and will continue to find a sense of peace and know that we are all here for you! You have been in my thoughts and prayers. I tried to post a comment on your Short Break post, but it wouldn't work so, I'm doing it here. =)
ReplyDeleteAs far as puffy eyes go, ice seems to work for me. A shower and a cold cloth. Moving around and getting the blood flowing. 10 mins on the elliptical helps me a lot. LOL A cup of coffee or soda helps too. If all else fails I just slap my regular makeup on and a nice line of liquid liner and say oh well! Everyone goes thru these things. =)
Love you G! Take care of yourself!
My eyes look exactly the same when I cry, so I can totally relate! I haven't really found anything other than time to make them look and feel any better (sorry!) I think it just takes awhile for the puffiness to recede. I'm sorry that you are going through a hard time. Please know that you have lots of love and support from "us", your readers out here. Glad to see you feel up to blogging; sometimes sticking to what's normal makes us feel a bit better. I will be praying for you.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry G! Everything will work out (even though you might not think so now!) I do think crying is a good stress reliever :) I also think that in time of crisis, nothing is better than the support of others. Your readers love and support you! Lots of luck!
ReplyDeleteI've been trying a Barielle "anti-swelling" or puffy serum for my eyes recently. Granted they have not truly been puffy... but I have learned that WHATEVER is in the serum/cream that it's making my nerves under my eye ball flip out...
ReplyDeleteSo, with that said, if you want to watch your lower eye do a jiggle like mine, hook yourself up a cheap bottle at a TJMaxx/Marshalls and enjoy some perverted fun. I had to stop using it because the "eye twitching" was so severe it was making me have issues focusing!
Though, to think, I probably should only put it ON my lid... not under it :)
I back up the tea remedy. Also, sounds kinda stupid, but if you while you are crying, try to drink plenty of fluids. Hard to do when you are hurting but that helps the puffiness, too...and that weird headache you get after a good, hard cry
ReplyDeletePau: Thank you so much, honey. And I am TOTALLY trying your grandma's method! Thank you, thank you! xo
ReplyDeleteKellie: Thank you so much for the kind words. You know how much I love and adore you, right? xo
Cynthia: Thank you so much, sweetheart. And thanks for all the good tips (I don't know about the elliptical though--I am SO not in the mood for working out, even for two minutes! Haha!). xo
pinkcamellia: Awww, thank you SO much for that honey. I can't tell you how much your comment means to me. xo
ndoodles: Thank you so much, honey! And you are totally right about crying being a good stress reliever. It always feels a bit better after a good cry, doesn't it? Love you!
Bunny: Yikes about that serum! I'm sorry it had that weird effect on you! :(
YesIShould: That settles it. I'm trying the tea method! :) And yes, I know exactly what you mean about keeping hydrated. I HATE that weird headache you get after crying, and water does seem to help. xo
Aww, G. I immediately felt for you when I heard your voice in the video. You just sound upset. But like you're upset and trying to be positive for the vid. :( It sucks that the spoons thing doesn't work, though. But I really hope things turn out better for you soon. I'm sure they will, but until then, here's an e-hug. *hug*
ReplyDeleteSo much love to you!! <3 I hope everything starts looking up in your life soon. I went through a really hard period in my life a few years ago (when my first transplanted kidney failed) but eventually things did work out and are actually better because I went through all of that. I hope things get better for you.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, to decrease puffiness: 1st off, if you cry in the evening your eyes will be max puffy in the morning. If you sleep with your head elevated the puffiness will be reduced but I know not everyone can sleep sitting up. Also, a cold compress can help.
Spoons heat up too quickly to be of any help really. <3
Like I just told you on twitter :
ReplyDelete"awwwww sweetie, I don't know what's wrong and I'm not gonna ask, because I don't wanna be indiscreet, but I don't want to see your beautiful eyes red and swollen like that! unless it's from tears of joy! I hope everything goes well *hug* xxx !"
I'm glad you're back and you're so right, when life gives you lemons, make a lemonade! Don't let anybody/anything get you down, you got some people that love you and are here for you! :)
And what can I say about you posting this video? You're brave!!
Hey, I know how you feel with those puffy eyes. When I cry...boy its bad! It looks like I'm smuggling macaroni in my eyelids or something lol. I usually try to avoid leaving the house when my eyes are like that, but recently I've been using First Aid Beauty's Detox Eye Roller. It's for dark circles and puffy eyes. I'm not gonna lie, its a bit pricey at $24 but it really works for puffiness. After one night of crying I used it the next morning then reapplied like an hour later. If anything, I only looked a bit tired, but not like I was bawling my eyes out (which I kind of was). But I'm thinking maybe you could use an eye roller like that, maybe even an affordable drugstore one? Good luck girl : )
ReplyDeleteA few years back, I got into a big fight (and cried a lot) right before I had to head out for the graduation dinner with my classmates. Boy, wish I knew how to help the puffy eyes. Still do now. Hugs
ReplyDeleteGlad your back and hope your starting to feel a little better. They say time heals all wounds and hopefully as each day goes by you'll feel stronger and better each day. :)
ReplyDeleteBest tip I have..
ReplyDeleteTake 2 q-tips and wet them, place in the freezer for 5-10 minutes and then roll them over your eye area. Works like a charm and feels fantab!
Welcome back G! And remember sweetie, sometimes you do have to walk through hell to get to a better place. XOXOXOX
G.- I'm so glad you're back! I hope you're feeling better. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to back up the black tea remedy---it's great. Another thing you can try is putting Preparation H under your eyes. I know it sounds weird, but it totally works.
I've heard that slices of cucumber work great for swelling, but any time I've been crying, I don't have any cucumber in the house to try it!
ReplyDeleteWhat I do is decide it's smokey eye time. Wearing dark eyeshadow and dark eyeliner does make my eyes appear more normal, it disguises the puffiness. You don't have to do really dark, like going out to the club dark, but a wash of a medium shade instead of a pale or light shade on your lids will make the swelling appear to recede.
Hey, I was so happy when I checked in here and saw you were back. I don't want to come off like a stalker but I really did think of you over the past week or so. I really like your blog and I was worried for you. I hope you're starting to feel better, G!
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