Don’t you wish you could wake up looking like you got a full night of sleep, even when you’re ready to hit the snooze button again?
Not all of us can get a good seven hours of uninterrupted beauty sleep and when we don’t, we spend the rest of the day listening to others tell us how tired we look. When a good night’s rest just isn’t going to happen, take comfort in knowing that there are some great beauty tips to help you look wide awake even when you’re not!
Look Awake…Naturally!
Celebrity makeup artist Taylor Babaian told TotalBeauty he’s noticed that stars who stay well hydrated during their long work days and limit their salt and sugar intake tend to have healthier appearances. While it won’t cure your skin woes, drinking water and avoiding dehydration is important for your overall health, and your skin might benefit, too.{relatedarticles}
A 2007 study from the MU Sinclair School of Nursing at the University of Missouri-Columbia found that mid-life to older adults who drank about two cups (500 mL) of water experienced increased blood flow to the skin in the short-term. While the study doesn’t mention any changes to the skin’s appearance, the suggestion that drinking water could improve blood flow to the skin is encouraging.
But water may give you a boost from the outside, too. The moment you wake up you generally know if it’s going to be one of those extra-tired days. Begin your day with a refreshing splash of cold water. Cold water can help reduce swelling to relieve puffy, under-eye bags that can steal some of the life from your eyes.
Along those same lines, another natural way to decrease the swelling that causes puffy eyes is to place a slice of cold cucumber over each eye for about 5 minutes. Some claim the astringent properties of cucumbers help reduce under-eye swelling, but it’s the cold temperature of the cucumber that’s responsible. Just make sure these slices go in the garbage and not in your salad!
Your breakfast can also help improve your appearance. Coffee isn’t the only way to be more alert and awake in the morning; if you eat a balanced breakfast your food can help energize your look as well. Go for a balanced, healthy meal that doesn’t emphasize on heavy carbs or too much caffeine. Fresh fruits provide natural sugars and vitamins that provide energy, and lean proteins like egg white omelets with spinach and low-fat cheese provide nutrient-rich fuel to burn for the day.{relatedarticles}
Wake Up with Makeup!
When it’s time to apply your makeup for the day, there are several tricks to perk up your face. Let’s go back to dark circles for a moment. If you wake up with under-eye bags, break out the concealer. Go with a concealer that matches your natural skin tone and use sparingly - only where it’s needed.
Look for makeup shades and bronzers that give your face a glowing look. Try colors like light golds, ambers, and pinks depending on your overall complexion. The highlights will help create a natural emphasis on your cheeks and brighten up your face for that perky look.
Eye accents like mascara and eyeliner can help highlight your eyes and give them a bigger, wide-awake appearance. Use lighter shades of eyeliner, even white, around the lower rim of your lash line. Thick, luscious lashes accented with mascara can make your eyes pop even if you want nothing more than to shut them for a quick nap.
When the time does come to close your eyes for the night, make sure you’ve gone through your nightly facial cleansing routine. Remove all of your makeup with a cleanser labeled as gentle or for sensitive skin. This helps eliminate the dead skin and old makeup that can weigh your face down in the morning.{relatedarticles}
Lift Your Eyes without Lifting a Scalpel
Look up from your eyes to your eyebrows, because they’re one of the most important features of your face. Your eyebrows express emotion and if they’re not well defined they could be making you look more tired than you really are.
Cosmetologist Jodie Michalak praises a well-kept brow in an article for LovetoKnow.com, “Framing the face is a necessary step in making the eyes appear larger. If eyebrows are left bushy and overgrown, the entire eye area begins to shrink.” Tiny eyes equal tired eyes, so a regular visit to the salon for a wax or regular tweezing may be necessary to keep your eyebrows in shape.{relatedarticles}
As you can see, you don’t need cosmetic surgery or injections to bring your eyes out from hiding. There are plenty of makeup tricks, medicinal cures, and natural beauty boosts that can help combat that tired-eye look in the morning. Just remember that the best way to look wide awake is to BE wide awake - get some rest!
