Moms are the strongest people on the planet with the toughest jobs. Throw in a global pandemic, and things have gotten even harder.
Your kids are home all day and you’re either, a.) an essential worker, running all day just to come home and have to take care of your family; b.) working from home, taking phone calls and video meetings while trying to homeschool, feed, entertain and keep your kids from harming themselves and their siblings, and sometimes having to check in or care for an aging parent; or c.) doing a mix of the above.
It’s uncharted territory, and you’re facing more stress and less sleep than ever before. I wish I could grant you the beauty sleep you so deserve, but I can do you one better.
Here are a few tricks that will help you fake a full eight hours and look as chic and powerful on the outside as you are on the inside.
Get ahead of it
If you know it’s going to be a late night, the best thing you can do to prep your skin for the next day is to slather it in a nourishing oil. I love something like Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate to deeply hydrate, which is exactly what parched, sleep-deprived skin needs. Packed with botanicals, it also works to restore the skin’s appearance while you sleep, no matter how short your night may be. If you can, please take the few minutes for yourself to massage this into your face. Its calming lavender scent may help you drift off to dreamland more easily.
Instant facial
You don’t have a lot of time so you want an all-in-one kind of product.
Peach and Lily Glass Skin Serum delivers on its promise of poreless, luminous, translucent-looking skin aka glass skin. It combines niacinamide, peptides, hyaluronic acid and extracts to create clear, smooth and healthy skin.
Made for the dry, tired skin jet lag causes, Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask is the perfect antidote for short sleeps and early mornings. All of its ingredients work together to plump, brighten and smooth your skin as well as boosts moisture.
Frank Body Glow Mask is the perfect all-in-one treatment for glowy hydration. It contains shea and cocoa butters, coffee seed oil, and goji berry extract to wake up tired skin and deliver it a much-needed drink.
If you’re going to invest in a skin care product, make it this one of these.
Brighten eyes
This may seem like a no-brainer, but eye drops (such as Visine Original Redness Relief) will instantly refresh you. Use the drops before applying any skin care products so nothing gets into your eyes and irritates them, defeating the purpose.
Applying a rich eye cream such as OleHenriksen Banana Bright Eye Crème, which contains tiny pigments to reflect the light, will instantly brighten undereyes. Store all eye creams in the refrigerator for de-puffing effects.
Bump up hydration
Lack of ZZZs can disrupt your skin’s moisture barrier, leaving you looking rough since dehydration accentuates fine lines and wrinkles. A hyaluronic acid serum will help draw moisture into your skin and plump it up, giving it a really good drink. Some serums, such as Glossier Super Bounce Serum, also contain B vitamins, which help skin to better soak up that moisture and retain it.
Just make sure to always layer a moisturizer over your hyaluronic acid serums. Without this layer of moisturizer to act as a barrier, hyaluronic acid can backfire and actually make your skin drier. Any moisturizer will do the job, but I’m a big fan of using one with peptides, such as The Inkey List Peptide Moisturizer, which helps support skin’s strength over time to keep it looking firm and healthy.
Makeup to wake up
Time is precious, and many of you may not have more than 10 minutes to spend on your face. Here are the basics.
- Prep well. Moisturizer makes skin look better and everything go on smoother. Make sure yours also has an SPF.
- Use only a concealer on the center of your face (where we need the most help) and work outward to cover any redness or dark spots. Don’t forget your eyelids, too.
- Curl your lashes to look bright and awake, and swipe on mascara.
- If you’re oily, only powder your T-zone. Too matte of a face makes you look more tired.
- Don’t skip blush. Brush on some on in an upward motion toward your hairline to wake up your face.
- In a time of masks, lip color is optional, but if it makes you feel better, swipe it on. The best color and hydrator under $3? Lip Smackers Dr. Pepper Lip Balm.
Gia Mazur is an award-winning staff writer and beauty obsessive who joined The Times-Tribune’s Lifestyles department in 2015. She’s a product enthusiast who can’t live without an eyelash curler. A proud Virgo, Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick in Pillow Talk is her go-to. Contact: gmazur@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9127; @gmazurTT
