Skincare can be an expensive habit to keep up with, so anytime a new trend comes around that doesn’t require forking out on a bunch of new products, I’m keen to test it out. And as someone who is terrible at drinking enough water everyday, which can lead to fluid retention, my face often appears puffy.
But there’s plenty of other reasons our faces might look puffy, from changes in our hormones to a lack of sleep. While I try to get eight hours of sleep every night, the reality is that it ends up being closer to six. An easy fix would obviously be to increase how much water I drink day to day, and get to bed earlier, but that would mean I’d no longer have an excuse to splurge on skincare and try out all sorts of strange methods that promise to change my appearance.
So when I saw the latest beauty hack from Korea that claims to depuff your face in just 10 minutes, I had to try it. Plus, it seemed a lot less work than the current gua sha method I try and keep up with in an effort to keep my face from appearing puffy, and reduce fluid retention by scraping the tool along my face.
Instead all this method requires is to tie a pair of elastic bands around each ear for 10 minutes. In the now viral TikTok posted by Dr David Kim, a dermatologist based in New York, he demonstrates how he ties two small knots in each plastic band before placing them over the length of his ears.
Proponents of the trend claim the hack helps with lymphatic drainage, while others say that as the bands are placed tightly around the ears, it simply creates a temporary lifting effect on the face.
I tried the method using elastic bands brought in from a local pharmacy, but I think I could have gone for something stronger, like the ones used to hold piles of envelopes together, as the kind I used were quite loose.
I didn’t really notice much difference in my face, but it did feel oddly relaxing, but that could just be down to the fact I took 10 minutes out of my day to do something supposedly good for myself.
If anything, the sensation of scrunching my ears up in a tight elastic band felt more similar to acupressure, which is the act of placing pressure on parts of the body to relieve tension. Massaging the ears is a great way to relieve stress, especially with tension that can build up around the jaw and in our face.
As a typical Gen Z, I’m rarely without headphones, which could be another reason this felt relaxing after being plugged into a device for hours on end, and I’d probably try it again for that reason.
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