I wrote this a while back on the the Makeup thread almost a year ago. I STILL think of this as my NUMBER ONE favorite cosmetic/beauty item. I don't know what I will do if Garnier stops making this:
I tried the
Garnier Skin Renew Anti-Puff Eye Roller yesterday, (almost a year ago now,) and I LOVE it!
It was the perfect time to try it. I had worked a double for two days, plus got no sleep and ate a salty bag of chips. My eyes were pufferoos.
They had been puffy for a while and I've been wanting to get something. Walgreens had a Garnier sale last week. I actually forgot to check the MakeupAlley.com reviews and I'm glad I did. I actually like the Garnier moisturizers. So it didn't occur to me to check the reviews. The Skin Renew is my normal moisturizer as it really does even out my skin tone and minimize my sunspots. It's the ONLY moisturizer that is not too thick, and does not make me break out or get all those tiny white milia bumps the way Oil of Olay or Loreal products do.
I also use a tiny dab of the Garnier anti-wrinkle moisturizer as an under eye cream as it has an SPF sunblock, whereas most eye creams/lotions don't. Not sure why not, since that's such an important area.
It's also not as thick as real eye creams and lotions are. Again, I get white milia bumps if something is too thick.
So I tried the Anti-puff Roller. There is a learning curve and some experimenting to be done. According to the MakeupAlley.com reviews, it worked best when people rolled it on quite a few times and did multiple applications.
So I did that. I applied it to clean skin. Instead of the 1-2 swipes the directions say, I literally painted it on about 6-7 times. I really saturated the under-eye area with the gel. What I found that is
really important is to follow the directions to take my finger and PAT IT INTO THE SKIN. I strongly suspect that the majority of the bad reviews were because people just rolled it on a couple times and that was it.
It
has to be PATTED into the skin until it's absorbed deeply into the puffy layers. (I strongly suspect that what ever is in it is actually an anti-
inflammatory ingredient that shrinks down puffy cells.) I let it sit for about 15 minutes while I had my morning coffee. I could see it had already firmed my under-eye area a bit, so I rolled on some more and patted it in. I also did a little bit on the upper eye area. That had started getting hooded over the last year as my skin started to sag and the corners of my eyes have started to droop.
I had the day off and was home. About an hour later, I noticed it really seemed to work.
The puffiness really went down. But the under-eye area was getting dried out now. So I rinsed of the anti-puff and applied some of the Garnier anti-wrinkle moisturizer to get rid of the drying wrinkles.
I also applied the Anti-puff to my puffy checks right above my frown lines. The salty chips had really made that area puffy. So I figured it couldn't hurt to try.
After about another 45 minutes, since the wrinkles went down and seemed sufficiently moisturized, I rinsed that off and decided to play with the Anti-puff roller again. I applied a thick coat again and patted it in. Top and bottom. And also more above the frown lines.
4 hours later: The puffiness was almost completely gone.
What was really incredible to me was that the hooding I was getting over my eyes that I thought was sagging & droopy skin was actually PUFFY skin. For the first time in
ages that puffy/saggy top upper eye area was GONE!!!
I actually looked
awake and a bit younger, for the first time in ages. The droopy corner was tightened up quite a bit.
The frown lines were less noticeable.
It's not a cure all. There still is a bit of puff under the eye (maybe a wrinkle
) that won't go completely away. But, the area is so much flatter and better than before. Doing it again on Day Two and I'm still looking great.
I have NOT tried putting moisturizer on top of it. It is sticky, since I put a lot on. I'm also too afraid my skin would break out. So I've been alternating the anti-puff for a few hours, washing it off, then moisturizer alone.
For my cheeks, I'm thinking of getting the Garnier Ultra-Lift Pro Wrinkle Roller for the frown lines the next time there is a sale at Rite Aid. Walgreens doesn't have the 100% makeup guarantee that Rite Aid has, so I would have been screwed if the Anti-puff Roller didn't work. At least, at Rite Aid, if I don't like a product I can return any item and get my money back.
UPDATE: I still love & use the eye roller. I still have not gotten the one for checks. I just roll on the eye roller instead. This way, I can use it for under eyes or my cheeks.
You can try sleeping with your head elevated to prevent liquid from pooling under the eyes, try something cool against your eyes in the morning, avoid allergens, or try a cream with vitamin K and retinol (the two ingredients shown to have an effect on under eye circles). Good luck! If you find a miracle product, let me know!!
