It's going to happen at some point: You're sitting there, having yourself a good cry due to (insert emotional drama here), and you have to compose yourself to meet with someone who you'd prefer not to know you've been crying. While you've collected yourself enough to stop crying, you still have those red and puffy marks on your cheeks as evidence of your sorrows. Luckily, there's a few ways to hide those marks.
Wash your face with cold water. This will cause the swelling in your face to go down. The more cold water you can apply, the better.
If your eyes are really puffy, put some ice in a paper towel and lightly dab your cheeks. This will also cause the swelling to do down.
Anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen will also lower the swelling; however you should take them immediately after crying to be the most effective.
To get rid of eye redness after crying, apply eye drops to the affected area. They will constrict the blood vessels and lower the amount of redness.
No matter how much you want to, don't rub the affected area. That will only increase the redness and make your face more puffy, undoing all of your hard work.
Tip
Placing a cold tea bag or cucumber slice on the eyes has also been known to constrict the blood vessels and remove redness.
If you were crying with makeup on, removing your makeup and starting over can be less trouble than fixing stand-alone makeup smears.
References
Writer Bio
Rick Paulas is a freelance writer based out of Los Angeles. He has been writing professionally since 2005. He has previously written for "McSweeney's," ESPN.com, "Vice Magazine" and "Radar Magazine," and has worked as an editor for "The Coming," "Duct Tape & Rouge," and "TSB Magazine." Paulas holds a Bachelor of Arts in telecommunications and advertising from Michigan State University.