'The 5 easy beauty tricks making me look less tired this winter'
'All my mornings are Mondays stuck in an endless February,' once sang Taylor Swift. I relate. Do you? The worst part is that the feeling of those endless Mondays are etched all over my face. I could swear those dark circles that stain the inner corners of my eyes are more prominent. My skin is looking sallow. My eyes have lost some brightness, for sure...
I'm not sure what's caused it. A lack of vitamin D? Burnout? Too much Diet Coke, not enough water? Whatever. It's when a dear colleague tells me I look exhausted – despite getting a full eight hours – that I take action. I approach this the best way I know how: delving into excellent makeup and skincare. With that, I've found five ways that I'm sure have perked up my face to no end. Want to look brighter and bushier-tailed, too? Here's where to start:
Use a champagne-toned eyeliner in your lower waterline
I love how instantly transformative this is. Using a shade any lighter than champagne can look stark and garish; a fleshier tone seems to be the sweet spot on both me and my darker-skinned friends. I'll line my lower waterline with a kohl pencil and watch how it counteracts any redness in my eyes, making the whites look brighter and sparklier. I've found that there's something in the white/lighter pigments used in kohl textures that make it feel crumbly, but such isn't the case with Chantecaille's Brightening Eye Kajal, below.
Brightening Eye Kajal
Level up your eye cream
I have never cared much for eye cream, often being skeptical of their efficacy. Trust Tatcha to have the one that got me hooked. Dry, dehydrated skin can make eyes look tired, but for me, there was more at play (darkness and puffiness, anyone?). Tatcha uses a slow release vitamin C here that gets to work on lightening this area up, making it appear fresher over time. I love its salmon-pink colour, too; it's opposite blue and green on the colour wheel, so knocks back the appearance of darkness on application.
The Brightening Eye Cream
Choose glow at every step
I'm yet to meet a makeup artist who doesn't have a MAC Strobe Cream in their kit. The ultimate perk up primer, makeup artists use this backstage in between shows on models whose skin has really been put through the mill. It's essentially a priming moisturiser with the most subtle, tinted sheen, which makes skin look brighter and healthier right off the bat. I put it on bare skin on no makeup days, to make me look a bit more put together; under foundation, to prime; mixed in with my base makeup for amped up radiance. It's healthy skin in a tube.
Strobe Cream
Do an ice plunge...
... on just your face. For me, puffiness and tiredness come hand in hand; my cheekbones hide and eyes become invisible. If this is you, when you wake up, fill a bowl of ice water, tie your hair up and dunk your face in. It's not comfortable at first, but it does make skin appear tauter and fresher. Outdoorsy and a bit pink. After, I'll do a facial massage or use my NuFace, to keep the sculpted effects for longer.
Wear some colour
This is in no way groundbreaking, but I can't not mention the effect that adding some colour has on making me look better. For me, it's a red lipstick or a pink blusher. Wearing red lipstick alone (or with eyebrows that are slightly brushed up) pulls the attention away from dark eyes and skin, while a pink, creamy blusher gives a pinched-cheek glow that looks youthful. Try Rare Beauty's lip for a colour that's rich and satiny, and Hourglass for the prettiest, glassiest glow.
Kind Words Lipstick in Devoted
Unreal Liquid Blush
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