Too-little sleep can leave you cranky – a feeling that can only worsen when you look in the mirror to see dull skin, bloodshot eyes, and dark circles. But with these skin and makeup tricks, you can fake the glowing look of a full eight hours, and maybe even improve your mood.
1. If your eyes and face look puffy, a cool compress will reduce the swelling since the cold acts as a vasoconstrictor. (In a time crunch, just splash your face a few times with cold water.)
2. Exfoliate with a scrub containing round microbeads, which will remove any dead skin cells and bring an immediate pretty pinkness to sallow cheeks.
3. Dab on an undereye gel with caffeine, which will temporarily constrict the blood vessels to make puff and dark circles look less noticeable. Then apply a moisturizer with light-reflecting particles or a tint of color.
4. The right eye makeup is key to camouflaging the signs of too few ZZZs. Start with an opaque yellow-based concealer dotted under the inner corners of eyes, where circles are darkest, and choose an eye shadow that matches the tone of your lids to cover discoloration. Along lower lashes, apply a liner in a shade that’s close to your skin tone (icy pink or cream for fair skin; bronze or copper for darker complexions); this will help neutralize a bloodshot gaze by making the whites of the eyes brighter. Curl your lashes to open up droopy eyes, and brush two coats of black mascara over top lashes only.
5. Finish with a rosy cream blush on the apples of the cheeks and a sheer lip gloss or balm in light pink or peach.
