Beauty Skin-Care Tips

3 Must-Haves That Will Fight Salt-Induced Facial Puffiness, According to Derms

Zoe Weiner

June 6, 2019

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Photo: Getty Images/ PeopleImages

Last night, I celebrated my 28th birthday in the best possible way: with dinner at the Olive Garden. I treated myself to unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks, an unfathomable amount of pasta, plus something called an "Italian margarita" that I will think of fondly for the rest of my life. There was also a "chocolate lasagna" with a candle in it, of course, because when you're there, you're family. It was truly one of the most wonderful culinary experiences I have ever had. I went to bed with visions of mozzarella sticks dancing in my head.

But this morning, I awoke to a slightly puffier face than usual as the consequences of consuming a lifetime's worth of garlic salt in the span of a single meal (I will neither confirm nor deny how many of those breadsticks I actually ate). While it was 100,000,000 percent worth it, I wondered how to deal with facial bloating after a night spent indulging at my favorite restaurant.

And so: I immediately placed a call to my network of dermatologists for how to banish facial bloating. According to board-certified dermatologist Michelle Henry, MD, a puffy complexion can be caused by too much salt (check) and alcohol (check), and can be compounded by too little sleep (check, check, check). She suggests using a cream with caffeine in it, like The Inkey List Caffeine Eye Cream ($10), to calm things down.

Another way to help the situation is by applying something cold to the surface. Earlier this week, we discovered the "ice cube facial," which quite literally involves rubbing an ice cube all over your face for an instant de-puffing effect. The coldness helps to dilate the underlying blood vessels of the skin, and the rubbing motion helps to re-distribute lymphatic build-up. One Well+Good staffer swears by dunking her face into a full-on bowl of ice water to relieve any evidence of a night out with friends named "tequila" and "late night pizza."

And of course, what can't your trusty jade roller do? Try whoosing it up and out all over your face to "get those fluids to your lymphatics," says board-certified dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD. If you want a real treat, put it in the freezer and go to town. While I will be spending the rest of the afternoon treating my face to a caffeine, ice, and jade roller cocktail (...very different than the tequila-and-amaretto-liqueur cocktail I enjoyed last night, but equally as wonderful), please let this photo of my sheer breadstick-induced joy serve to prove that it was all worth it.

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If your body is feeling bloated AF too, not to worry: This full body jade roller, plus these RD tried-and-tested bloat remedies, can help .