8 Ways to Reduce a Puffy Face

January 15, 2026

By: Truly Beauty

Discover how to get rid of a puffy face in eight easy ways.

Woke up with a puffy face and no idea why? Don't panic. To get rid of a puffy face quickly, apply a cold compress or wash your face with cold water to constrict blood vessels and perform a gentle lymphatic massage in upward circular motions to drain excess fluid. 

Here are all the best ways to reduce face puffiness at home. 

Why is My Face Puffy?

Waking up with a pillowy face can be frustrating, but it’s usually your body’s way of sending a signal. The most common culprit is fluid retention. When you sleep, gravity allows lymphatic fluid to pool in the soft tissues of your face, especially if you lie flat on your stomach.

Beyond gravity, your lifestyle choices play a massive role. A high-sodium dinner (like sushi or pizza) causes your body to hold onto extra water to dilute the salt. Dehydration, allergies, and hormonal shifts can also cause your tissues to swell. Essentially, when your system is inflamed or dehydrated, your face is often the first place to show the "bloat."

How to Get Rid of a Puffy Face 

1. Chill Your Skin

The fastest way to constrict blood vessels and reduce swelling is cold therapy. If you're brave, submerge your face in a bowl of ice water for 10–15 seconds. Otherwise, apply a cold washcloth or a chilled gel mask for quick relief. 

For puffy eyes, chilled cucumber slices are a classic choice. Thanks to their high water content, cucumber retains the cold perfectly, while their natural antioxidants help soothe skin irritation.

2. Do the "Lion’s Breath" Stretch

Believe it or not, stretching your facial muscles can help move stagnant fluid. Try the "Lion’s Breath" yoga technique: open your mouth wide, stick your tongue out as far as it goes, and roll your eyes upward while exhaling forcefully.

This increases blood flow to the face and stretches the facial muscles, helping to "wake up" your expression and shift fluid buildup.

3. Firm & Sculpt with Peptides

While cold water fixes the surface, peptides work deeper to reinforce your skin’s architecture. Using a peptide-rich formula helps improve skin elasticity and "tightness," which prevents that heavy, saggy feeling that often accompanies morning bloat.

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Pro-Tip: For the ultimate de-puffing effect, put Truly's Cloud Cream Pro Peptide Moisturizer in your skincare fridge. Applying chilled peptides to your face first thing in the morning provides the dual benefit of cold-induced vasoconstriction and long-term peptide firming.

4. Lymphatic Drainage Massage

Using your fingers or a Gua Sha tool, gently massage your face in upward and outward motions. This moves excess fluid away from the center of your face and down toward the lymph nodes in your neck.

5. Use a Jade Roller 

A chilled jade or quartz roller provides the perfect combination of cold therapy and gentle pressure. It’s less messy than ice and helps your morning serums absorb deeper into the skin.

6. Try a Teatox

Teatoxes offer a slew of benefits, including cleansing your digestive tract, speeding up your metabolism, and reducing bloating. There are even reports that suggest teatoxes can aid in weight loss.

A teatox is basically drinking teas infused with natural diuretics, laxatives and stimulants such as caffeine to reduce bloat, boost energy, and help you lose weight. The most common ingredients found in a detox tea include dandelion root, cinnamon, peppermint, fennel, ginger, milk thistle, or licorice.

7. Tug Your Ear for 30 Seconds

This is an old lymphatic drainage secret: gently grab your earlobes and pull them outward and downward, then massage the area right behind your ears. This is where your primary lymph nodes are located. Stimulating this "drainage point" helps clear the path for facial fluids to move down and out of the face.

8. Optimize Your Diet (Watch the FODMAPs)

As delicious as carbohydrates are, carbohydrate molecules bind with water, causing your body to hang on to more water and ultimately leave you looking more puffy. To beat the bloat, cut down on carbohydrates for a day or so and load up on fruits, veggies, and protein.

Just make sure you choose your fruits and veggies wisely, as some can leave you feeling even more puffy. Some foods to avoid include brussel sprouts, cauliflower, leeks, onions, watermelon, sweet potatoes, and apples.

Studies show that limiting certain carbs called fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols (FODMAPs) can help limit bloating. The foods are above are high in FODMAPs.

You’ll also want to cut down on salty foods, processed foods, sweeteners, sugar alcohols, gluten, and fiber-rich foods — which can often be the cause of bloating. Alongside this, avoid overeating in general which is known to bloat you up.

Facial Puffiness FAQs

How Can I Reduce Face Puffiness Naturally?

The most effective natural way to reduce puffiness is to stimulate lymphatic drainage. You can do this by staying upright, drinking plenty of water to flush out excess sodium, and performing a manual massage. Moving your fingers from the center of your face toward your ears helps "push" the trapped fluid toward your lymph nodes, where it can be processed and removed by the body.

How Do You Depuff Your Face in 5 Minutes?

When you're on a tight schedule, temperature and pressure are your best friends. Spend one minute splashing your face with ice-cold water to constrict blood vessels. Follow this with three minutes of firm, upward massage using the Truly Cloud Cream Pro-Peptide Facial Moisturizer to lubricate the skin and provide a lifting effect. Finish with a quick sweep of bronzer along the jawline to create the illusion of a more sculpted face.

Does Alcohol Cause a Puffy Face?

Yes, alcohol is a major trigger for facial bloating. It is a natural diuretic that causes systemic dehydration. When your body is dehydrated, your skin and organs try to hang onto as much water as possible, leading to visible puffiness and redness. To prevent "wine face," try to drink one glass of water for every alcoholic beverage consumed.

What Foods Help Reduce Facial Swelling?

To combat swelling, reach for foods high in potassium, such as bananas, avocados, and spinach. Potassium helps balance sodium levels and regulates water retention. Anti-inflammatory foods like cucumber, ginger, and turmeric can also help calm systemic inflammation from the inside out.

Why Is My Face Puffy Only in the Morning?

Morning puffiness is usually caused by a combination of horizontal sleeping positions and nighttime habits. Because the lymphatic system doesn't have a "pump" like the heart, it relies on movement and gravity. When you're still for eight hours, fluid settles. This usually dissipates within an hour of standing up and moving around as gravity helps the fluid drain naturally.

Waking up with a puffy face is a common frustration, but it does not have to ruin your morning. By combining quick fixes like cold therapy and lymphatic massage with high-performance skincare like the Truly Cloud Cream you can effectively "snatch" your features in just a few minutes.

Photo by Marcus Aurelius

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