There’s nothing like waking up the night after a long night out and not only feeling awful, but looking worse for wear as well.

It seemed like a good idea at the time…

Although I don’t go out as much as I used to, I have had many a morning where waking up and seeing the hot mess reflection of yourself in the mirror makes me just as sick as the amount of shots I had last night.  You looked fab many hours ago; at this moment, not so much.

Although you may feel horrible, you don’t have to look it.  With a few simple steps, you can be looking great on the outside, although not so much on the inside.

Prior to these steps, the most important thing is making sure that your makeup is removed when you get home the night before.  No matter how drunk or tired I am, I always remove my makeup.  Okay, I may not be the most sober to do my regular skincare routine (no time for the Clarisonic), but I will always remove my eye makeup and then clean my face with a makeup-removing cleanser.  After, I always use a toner, eye cream, and moisturizer.  This step is the most important!

1. Wash your face and then tone down red bags under your eyes by apply a de-puffing serum.  I like Clinique All About Eyes Serum De-puffing Eye Massage, which reduces the appearance of dark circles and fatigue.

From there, apply your favourite eye cream.  I have two different ones, Clinique’s All About Eyes and Benefit It’s Potent!  Both are really good, it’s just more about personal preference.  It’s Potent is just that, more potent and a thicker cream, whereas the Clinique All About Eyes is thinner and more gel-like.  Eye cream is incredibly important because that area of your face is very tender and you want to treat it well.

2. Now onto makeup.  If you have large pores, apply a pore-hiding primer, like Benefit’s The POREfessional, which minimizes the appearance of pores and creates a smooth canvas for your foundation.  Apply this to your T-zone — along your nose and up towards your forehead.

3. Since we want to keep the look fresh, minimal, and airy, apply a BB Cream, which not only will smooth your complexion, but add an SPF, moisture, correct and add minerals to your skin. I have been loving Dior Diorskin Nude BB Creme, but if you want a more affordable option try Garnier’s Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream.

4. Now to conceal.  Since we want to hide those red circles and treat any swelling, Benefit’s Fake Up Concealer is perfect.  Fake Up has a ring of vitamin E and apple seed extract which hides dark circles and provides coverage.  A star product for this situation in my opinion.

5. Fill in your brows using either a pencil or eyeshadow.  I used It Cosmetics Brow Power.

6. After your eyebrows are filled in, apply a pearl eyeshadow along your brow bone to open up the area and bring some light to your face.  I used the pearl side of It Cosmetics Brow Power Lift.

7. Curl your lashes and apply your favourite lash-plumping mascara.  I used a Shu Uemura lash curler and It Cosmetics Hello Lashes because the brush gets every single lash and adds lift and volume.  Another great mascara which has a similar wand is Benefit They’re Real!.

8. With a black pencil liner, line your lower lash line, keeping it as close to your bottom lashes as possible and then smudge it a touch.  From there, add a nude-coloured liner on your waterline to open up the eyes.  I used Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes in black and It Cosmetics Brow Power Lift (the matte side) on my waterline.

9. With a shimmery white eyeshadow or shadow stick, apply this to the inner corners of your eyes to open them up even more.  I used Rimmel London ScandalEyes Eyeshadow Stick in Witness White.

10. To add some colour to your face, apply a pink or mauve blush to your cheeks. I used MAC Coy Girl.

11. Add some highlight to your complexion with Benefit’s High Beam and blend it in.

Finally, pop on some pink lipstick, comb out that rat’s nest of a hair, and fake it!

Have a great week and for my fellow Canadians, don’t get too crazy on Monday for Canada Day ;).

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