When I Wake Up Puffy, This $14 Skincare Tool Is My Saving Grace

If there’s one thing I can count on, it’s that every Monday morning, I will, unfortunately, wake up puffy. I’ll also wake up puffy if I eat too much salt, if I have a drink or two, or if I don’t get enough sleep. So basically, I can expect to wake up with a puffy face most days of the week.  

While skincare products are able to do many things, most of them won’t solve puffiness. After trying many caffeine-infused products to no avail, I was ready to give up. Last year, however, I discovered a simple solution: ice. While you could just use plain old ice cubes if you want to, I recommend reaching for an ice roller or ice globe, which stays cold and help evenly distribute the chill across your face. Before I dive into some of my favorites, I talked to celebrity esthetician Candace Marino for the lowdown on all things ice globes and rollers.

“Cold rollers, cryo sticks, and ice globes all have a cryotherapeutic effect on the skin, meaning it lowers the temperature of the skin,” says Marino. “Cold therapy tools are also noted for reducing inflammation, redness, and puffiness, stimulating circulation, and helping to sculpt the face.”

Ice globes are good at reducing inflammation. “Think about when you have an injury or swelling in the body and your doctor instructs you to ice it,” says Marino. “It’s the same concept, but now we’re using it for aesthetic purposes,” Marino explains. Anti-inflammation can help conditions like acne and rosacea, as it calms the skin.   

For anti-aging, Marino explains that any kind of stimulation is helpful. “Stimulating the skin with your hands or tools will help improve circulation, which delivers oxygen-rich blood cells to the face, bringing life to the skin.” The results are almost instantaneous—just make sure to keep the tool moving so that you don’t give yourself an ice burn.

Yes! While using an ice globe or roller isn’t going to give you the same effects as say, getting Botox, it’s still a quick fix to make your face feel tighter, more sculpted, and lifted. To give you an idea of how these rollers work in real-time, I used an ice globe and ice roller on one side of my face, leaving the other untouched. Hint: I always go in an upward motion to encourage lifting.

Immediately after rolling, my face was a bit red, but you could still tell how much more lifted and sculpted my skin looked. After letting my face adjust (and finding a more forgiving light source), you can tell how much more lifted and toned the left side of my face looks after using ice-rolling techniques.