BEAUTY Tricks to make you look wide awake

BAGS ON BAGS?Cold tea bags can help to remedy puffy, tired under eyes.

Tricks to make you look wide awake


Beauty
Maggie Gibbons

Is there anything worse than being told you look tired, especially if you’ve had a great night’s sleep and actually thought you looked okay? You know the kind of day I’m talking about, you’re all dressed up in your finery, feeling good and then someone says ‘you look tired!’.
What’s the cause? Well, usually it’s the eye area that lets us down.
Under-eye bags can make you look exhausted no matter how well-rested you are. To prevent them, you could try sleeping on an extra pillow – this helps drain the fluid that settles around the eyes when you’re lying down. A teaspoon cooled in iced water and held to the under-eye area first thing in the morning also helps alleviate the problem. And there’s always the traditional cucumber slices and cold tea bags.
To hide them, pat a bit of concealer under the bags, but not on them. Putting it directly on the bags will only accentuate them. Remember though, concealer is not a miracle worker – it won’t make you look as if you’ve had eight hours in the cot – but there are some other simple fixes to open up those peepers.

Vibrant eye liner
Lining your upper lid with a vibrant colour will counteract shadows and make the whites look brighter. Blacks and browns may make eyes appear smaller and more tired. Try deep blues and greens for instant ‘pop’.

Curl your lashes
Upturned lashes make your eyes look more open. You can use a lash curler to do the job and finish off with a lengthening mascara. Check out your local chemist, I got mine in Stauntons Louisburgh. Infinity for €4.99.

Define your brows
Nicely arched brows give eyes a ‘lifted’ appearance. Fill in your brows with a pencil (a taupe or blonde shade is best for light hair and skin. Rimmel do a great one for €4.65.

Complexion
A soft dewy complexion will work wonders in giving you a fresh look. Steer clear of heavy matte creams as they tend to settle in the wrinkes. I really am a huge fan of CC (Complexion Corrector) creams. My favourite is Olay CC (€18.50), a three-in-one serum, foundation and moisturiser. The three elements all have different functions. It totally evens out the skin tone without looking made up.
 
Blusher
A touch of color on your cheekbones brightens your face and distracts from shadows underneath your eyes. Bourjois Crème Blush at €9.99 blends easily on the skin. The really cool thing about this particular one is that it subtly changes on your skin to adapt to your own particular skin tone.

Concealer
Maybelline’s Instant Anti-Age The Eraser Eye Perfect & Cover Concealer (€11.99) comes in three shades; light, medium and nude. It’s brilliant for
lightening the under-eye area.
Of course you probably already know YSL Touche Eclat. It’s great, but I think of is as more of an illuminator with light-diffusing particles than a concealer.
It also comes with a price tag of about€30. But some women wouldn’t be without it!

Maggie Gibbons is an Image/Style Consultant based in Louisburgh. She can be contacted at living@mayonews.ie.