When reading articles and information on how to achieve healthy skin, the word, “stress,” is often mentioned. I remember always breezing over any mention of stress, like “lalalalala,” because it just wasn’t my reality. Plus, I thought it was just a talking point.

I, myself, was rarely stressed and I just couldn’t understand how stress could affect the skin. Like, what would that look like?

Well, my ignorance and probably even a bit of arrogance, was thrown out the window, in two separate incidents.

The first “stressful” incident has more to do with vanity then anything else.

My skin was breaking out and a dermatologist suggested I get a Fraxel laser treatment. I was told that my skin would never break out again. Yes, this very “responsible” dermatologist told me this and my fantastical self believed him. Ha!

Not only did I continue breaking out, but I developed deep under eye lines that stressed me the heck out. As I’m sure you’re aware, the skin under our eyes is extremely thin and delicate and in my case, this treatment seemed to further thin that section and accelerate aging there.

For several months, I tried every eye cream available to hydrate my under eye lines, to no avail. It wasn’t until I started taking hyaluronic acid and other supplements that my skin, in that area, recovered.

The second stressful incident (no quotes around stressful here) was more of a legit stressful time. Not too long ago, I had a job that, at one time, I loved, but eventually, it became beyond boring, unchallenging and felt like a chore going to each day.

I didn’t really notice the stress building, but I guess it was slowly creeping up on me and the next thing I knew, it attacked, like a ravenous hunger, trying to consume me. That job and my life seemed unbearable. I had never really understood depression like I understood it during this time.

I literally cried every day I got to work. Thankfully I had my own office, but unfortunately, it had large glass windows for one of the walls, so when the coast was clear, I would hide under my desk and cry on my own. Then, I’d call my mom and cry to her. I think, not understanding the gravity of the situation initially, she would tell me that my eyes would stay puffy if I didn’t stop crying everyday.

At that time, it’s true, I had noticed that my eyes were constantly puffy and the lines underneath had returned, but I couldn’t be concerned with those trivialities at the time. I was in a deep hole and I was trying to figure out a way to escape. Stress had showed up in the form of puffy eyes and a tight and clenched jaw that caused my entire face to look aged.

Eventually, with the help of God, family, friends, prayer, writing, acupuncture, quitting that job, riding my bike and grad school, I was able to climb out of this hole.

Once out, I was able to take inventory of my looks and start taking action. I was back to my normal happy self, but my looks didn’t readily mirror my happiness. My eyes still were a bit weathered underneath and definitely puffy. Really puffy.

So before this goes longer than it should, here are the things that helped get my eyes back in shape.

1. A year before this depressed time, my friend Eleanor had introduced me to Arbonne and their anti-aging line, RE9. She gave me samples of the Corrective Eye Cream and I never looked back. It produced visible results and quickly, I’d say like 3 days. The puffiness reduced and the under eye lines were not as pronounced. This cream alone is why I became an Independent Distributor with Arbonne.  I’m passionate about this eye cream and Arbonne in general, because I feel it helped to get me back to a comfortable place with my looks and become more self-sufficient when it comes to business.
2. Sometimes throughout the day, depending on what I ate, or if I wasn’t drinking enough water, I could feel and see my eyes getting puffy. I started taking an organic diuretic for water retention that helped reduce the bloating in my eyes. I can’t think of the name, but I’d take one or two a day to release the water well in my eyes. I don’t really take them at all anymore, but have them on hand in the rare moment I need them.
3. Maxi-Skin Collagen + C&A by Country Life. I love this supplement. Together with the Arbonne Corrective Eye Cream, the lines under my eyes have diminished greatly, to not even be noticeable. Even though the Arbonne Corrective Eye Cream worked extremely well, I knew that I needed a good collagen supplement to combat the hands of time, especially since we lose collagen as we age.

Arbonne’s eye cream helped to protect the collagen I already had and this Maxi-Skin supplement helped me to build collagen as well as further decrease the eye wrinkles. What struck me about the brochure that came with it, as well as stated on the box, is that it says this supplement “significantly reduces depth of eye wrinkles.” You know I jumped all over that.

I didn’t mean to get too introspective in this post and also, in no way did I mean to minimize depression in light of vanity or superficial beauty, so I hope it didn’t come across that way. Depression is a very serious condition. Anyone dealing with it, I urge you/them to seek professional help and to rely on God or whatever spiritual tools make sense for you; family and friends, and if family and friends are not an option, hold onto the small things, no matter how silly they may seem, hold onto them and let them start healing you. Riding my bike was a small thing for me that helped to move happiness back into my life (as well as professional and holistic help).