How to Get Rid of Dark Circles Under the Eyes with Parsley

Dark circles under the eyes and not a great thing to wake up to in the mirror in the morning. Most people have some discoloration of the delicate skin under their eyes to varying degrees, particularly after a big night out. But for many of us this is a more persistent problem.

There are many potential causes of dark circles under the eyes. While some people may have a genetic disposition, more commonly they are caused by lack of sleep, stress, eating unhealthy junk food, excess alcohol, menstruation for women, smoking, sinusitis and poor circulation to this area of the face.

Crushed parsley is a simple home remedy for getting rid of dark circles under the eyes. There are several nutrients in parsley such as vitamin C, chlorophyll and vitamin K that may be responsible for its skin lightening and puffiness reducing qualities. But it’s also likely to be a combination of the many other active compounds in parsley that make it work so well for reducing dark circles and eye bags.

How to Use Parsley for Dark Circles Under the Eyes

All you’ll need for this treatment for dark circles under the eyes is a mortar and pestle, hot water, cotton wool and fresh parsley. I think the curly leaf variety may be slightly better since it’s usually a darker green, possibly indicating a higher chlorophyll content. But I’ve used both varieties effectively so use whatever you have.

Organic parsley is definitely preferable as the herb can be sprayed with pesticides (if you can’t find organic, soaking in aluminium-free sodium bicarbonate and lemon juice can help to remove pesticides, though rinse well afterwards). Even better, buy a couple of your own plants for the windowsill and use them for parsley juice for kidney cleansing and in recipes like parsley pesto.

To start, take a branch of parsley (one medium-size one should be enough), wash it and chop it up finely into your mortar. Using the pestle, grind it up into a rough paste. It doesn’t need to be too thorough. You just want the leaves well bruised and the juice out of the stems.

Next pour just two teaspoons of hot but not boiling water over the pestle and into the mortar. Gently stir and press the crushed parsley down into the small amount of liquid then put the mortar in the fridge to cool. If you’re in a rush you can put it in the freezer but it’s best to give it at least a couple of minutes.

Once the parsley eye treatment is cool, make two oval balls of cotton wool, around eye bags shape and size, and place them side by side in the mortar at the same time to soak up the juice.

Take the mortar to your bedside table, put down a towel on the pillow and lie down ready to get rid of those dark circles under your eyes.

The parsley infused cotton wool should be reasonably moist without dripping when you put them over the skin under your eyes. If you don’t feel them as moist enough you could add a touch more cold water. If they’re too wet you can gently press them against the mortar to squeeze a little of the infusion out.

Make sure you keep your eyes shut while you have the cotton wool on your eye bags. As long as you’re head is on a pillow any drips should roll down the cheek rather than into your eyes, but it’s better to keep them away from the corner of your eyes just in case.

Lie with these over the skin under your eyes for 10 to 15 minutes. There may be a slight tingling, but stop immediately and rinse the area with cool water if the area begins to sting or hurt in any way.

Twice a week seems to be a good frequency for significantly reducing the appearance of dark circles under the eyes over several weeks. For faster results or very noticeably discolored skin under the eyes, you could use them every second day.

If you try this under eye treatment I’d appreciate hearing how it goes for you. Based on my own results and feedback from friends the effect isn’t always immediate, but it becomes more and more noticeable the more often you do it.

Parsley Tea Bag Eye Treatment

There is a quicker way to use parsley for dark circles and eye bags. I don’t think it’s quite as effective as the method above but worth mentioning for those with little time.

To start, put two parsley tea bags (Alvita parsley tea bags seem to be of good strength for this) in a cup and add boiling water to just half way up the tea bags. We just want them moistened, not too drained of their nutrients.

Put them in the fridge or freezer and leave until well cooled. Drink the small amount of parsley tea and take the cold teabags to your bedroom. With a towel over your pillow, place the moist but not dripping teabags over the skin under your eyes (but not on the eyes themselves) for at least 10 minutes.

This is another simple way to use parsley to get rid of dark circles under the eyes. Afterwards you could use the same teabags to make a strong tea for some internal parsley nutrition.

Next is a look at a great herbal combination for better health – Parsley and Garlic Oil.

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Photo 1 credit with thanks: Wolf32at
Photo 2 credit with thanks: Benutzer:Kulac