How to Get Rid of Puffy Under-Eyes: A Melbourne Aesthetician's Protocol

Puffy under-eyes are the concern I get asked about more than any other. And half the time, the client is trying to solve the wrong type. Because there are three genuinely different kinds of undereye puffiness, and each responds to a different treatment. Get the type right and the fix is fast.

Type 1: Morning puffiness

This is fluid retention overnight, usually from salt, alcohol, or sleeping flat. It resolves by 11am on its own. If you want to speed it up: cold compress five minutes, gentle lymphatic tapping outward from the inner corner, drink 500ml of water. Long-term fix: elevate the head of your bed 5cm.

Type 2: Persistent bags that don't resolve

These are structural — the fat pad under the eye has slipped forward, usually genetic or age-related. Eye creams won't fix this; only surgery genuinely will. What eye creams CAN do is minimise the appearance by firming and brightening the skin around them so the shadow reads less prominent.

Type 3: Dark, thin, hollow-looking under-eyes

Actually not puffiness at all — it's the tear trough shadowing. The fix is layering: peptide-rich eye cream, then a light-reflecting eye concealer, plus retinol to gradually thicken the skin. The Murad Retinol Youth Renewal Eye Serum is our clinic favourite.

The in-studio treatment that shifts all three

We finish almost every facial with a cold-hammer treatment around the eyes. Sub-zero stainless steel over the orbital area for 3-4 minutes constricts vessels, drains lymph, and reduces both real puffiness and the appearance of fatigue. Clients tell us this is the single most visible effect of our facials.

Products we use and recommend

[Murad Renewing Eye Cream](/shop) for daily use — peptides + retinol + niacinamide. [Vita-C Eyes Dark Circle Corrector](/shop) for brightening the tear trough. Store your eye cream in the fridge in summer — the cold applied gently morning and evening compounds the effect.

The lifestyle piece nobody wants to hear

Alcohol dehydrates the tissue around the eye. Salty dinner leaves you puffy. Poor sleep collapses the lymphatic drainage. Bad allergies inflame the under-eye area continuously. Even the best eye cream fights uphill against a lifestyle that keeps re-triggering the puffiness.

When to book professional help

If you've been consistent with a peptide + retinol eye cream for 12 weeks and there's no visible change, you're likely dealing with structural or medical puffiness. Book a consultation and we'll assess whether in-studio cold-hammer + LED protocols can shift it, or whether it's a case for a dermatologist referral.

The Signature Facial (75 min, $220) includes a full eye treatment sequence and is our most-requested option for clients focused on the eye area.