De-Puffing Your Face for Allergy Season: Tips from the Pros

Mackenzie Wagoner


Photographed by Arthur Elgort, Vogue, May 2008
Photographed by Arthur Elgort, Vogue, May 2008

Around the same time the neighborhood squirrels get that come-hither look in their eyes each spring, I simultaneously wake to find that my unsexy seasonal allergy symptoms have manifested very visibly on my face. It's a sort of bee-stung effect that has left me, for decades, merely surviving the month of April. I figured it was high time I learned to live with allergies, and make my visage none the wiser. Leaving no stone unturned, I talked with a nutritionist, a facialist, a dermatologist, and an Ayurvedic practioner for every necessary trick to de-puffing and refreshing in even the highest of pollen counts. Here is everything I learned about getting your face and head back in working order:

Start your day with a shower to not only wash away the allergens that have settled on your body overnight, but to also break up the mucus that has likely taken up occupancy in your sinuses with a good steam. According to the New York City-based facialist Georgia Louise, you can do a full body rinse as many times a day as you please, which I prefer to interpret as the perfect excuse for booking an afternoon at my local bathhouse, Aire Ancient Baths in Tribeca.

The same logic applies to washing your face. Try switching to an extra gentle cleanser-like Eve Lom's essential oil-based formula or Louise's Hydrating Rose Water-that have moisturizing ingredients to avoid over-drying. Afterward, with your sinuses warmed up, give your face a lymphatic drainage massage by applying light pressure with your fingertips to sweep in upward and outward motions, focused on the sinuses. It will feel extra relieving when done using Louise's own rose quartz Lift + Sculpt Butterfly Stone, which can be cooled in the refrigerator (or freezer) in between uses and comes with illustrations for replicating her sought-after technique. "Two to three minutes of facial massage will make all the difference in de-puffing your skin and working toxins out of your face morning and night," she says. "You can even do it while you rub in your moisturizer." While you're in front of the mirror, the New York City-based Ayurvedic practitioner Pratima Raichur recommends massaging the inside of your nostrils with sesame oil to cleanse your sinuses and nourish your body.


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Next, zero in on the eyes. Louise recommends making a batch of green-tea ice cubes that can be massaged onto your closed eyelids to soothe itchiness and inflammation. Follow this with redness and itch-relieving eye drops, which should remain on your person at all times. I prefer Rohto's Cool drops, because its formula features menthol that cools on contact. Once you've tried them, there is no going back.

The New York City-based dermatologist Ellen Marmur, MD prescribes 20 to 40 minutes of aerobic exercise a day to her patients complaining of puffiness during allergy season. "Going to a spin class or using the elliptical will improve your circulation to draw any pooled fluid back into the blood vessels, and then out of the body," Marmur says. For obvious reasons, try to work up a sweat indoors.


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To boost your immune system, Raichur suggests a cup of ginger and basil tea. "Ayurveda doesn't use the word allergy," explains Raichur. "Your body is reacting because it is not able to cope with the environmental change. We always take a step back and look at the root cause, rather than treating a specific symptom. It's about improving your overall health."

When it comes to diet, the usual suspects-gluten, dairy, sugar, and alcohol-are the first on New York City-based nutritionist Frank Lipman, MD's chopping block. "Allergy season is a great time to do a cleanse. I always tell people to avoid the foods that they're sensitive to. There's often an imbalance of good and bad bacteria in the gut, such as an overgrowth of yeast that will worsen your histamine reactions. If you can correct that balance through diet, you will mitigate sneezing, mucus, headaches, puffiness, and fatigue." Anti-inflammatory foods rich in vitamins A, E, and D will also help steer you clear of allergy-caused acne and bloating, says Marmur. And, whenever possible, try to increase your water intake, because, according to Louise, "it will flush away the inflammation and excess salt in your body."


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Honey, in its freshest local form, is an across-the-board panacea. "Local bees are making honey with local pollen," explains Lipman, "which will help your body build up a tolerance to the pollen in the air." After a few weeks of consuming a teaspoon a day, you're likely to see an improvement. Additionally, you can soothe your skin by employing it as an anti-inflammatory mask, per Louise's suggestion.

In my experience, and at Marmur's recommendation, your non-sedating 24-hour antihistamine is best taken before bedtime, so that it reaches peak performance just as you're starting your day, and winds down when you do, too. Sleep, these days, is of utmost importance. The cleaner your sheets, pajamas, and body, the fewer allergens to provoke a snooze-interrupting sneeze. "Close your window, get a humidifier, change your pillowcase, and get some rest," says Louise. Those eight hours (try for at least seven a night) will be made all the more effective if you sleep on your back, to relieve any additional pressure on your face.

At the very least, focusing on the antihistamine, daily shower, and the quick morning face massage should make you feel altogether human again. Whenever possible, do not stop and smell the flowers.


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