Pulled an all-nighter? Haven’t gotten your recommended eight hours since you were a little tyke? Here are some tips to wipe the sleepiness off your face.
1. Start with a clean slate. This is especially important if you went to bed without washing your face last night and remnants of yesterday’s makeup are sticking around. A gentle cleanser is ideal, Follow up with your regular daily moisturizer.
2. Smooth on tinted moisturizer. It will blend in nicely and even your skin tone, leaving skin looking sun kissed. In summer, a little illumination is a nice touch.
3. Target under-eye circles. One of the key areas to focus on when you’re tired is your under-eye bags. To prep the skin, use an eye cream to battle puffiness. Next you will want to hide the appearance of dark circles. Take a concealer two shades lighter than your skin tone and apply this in a triangular shape under your eyes.
4. Set your concealer. To prevent creasing and to keep your concealer in place all day, set this area with a loose setting powder. To set, apply a generous amount of powder with a brush or damp beauty blender and let it “bake” in for a few minutes. Once the powder has started to sink into the skin, take a brush and dust the remaining powder off.
5. Add color to eyes. Swipe a goldy-pink or champagne color on lids. Focusing this brightening shade on the inner corner makes the eye appear wider and more awake. Finish the eyes by lining the waterline with a nude liner, curling your lashes, and applying a volumizing mascara. Lastly, fill in your brows with whatever product works best for you.
6. Dip into bronzer. Dust on a bronzer that has—you guessed it—a subtle shimmer to it. Apply to areas that the sun naturally touches your face: apples of cheeks, tip of nose, and along your hairline. Use a light hand. Bronzer should kiss your face—not look like a mask, which will backfire and make you appear dull and tired.
7. Add color to cheeks. Making your skin glow with a shimmery blush and highlight is key to faking well-rested, fresh skin. Dust a shimmery blush onto the apples of cheeks to add some color back into your face. Add highlighting powder to the tops of cheekbones, down the nose, across the cupid’s bow, and on the chin to enhance your skin’s appearance.
8. Bring focus to lips. Coat lips in a natural looking lip gloss/stain to add a nice, but subtle, pop of color without looking overdone The finished look gives the illusion of a well-awake, fresh face!
SOURCES: Emma Kapotes, photo editor/designer and makeup artist; Rich Campbell, director of education at Dermaflash.