herbeautymark: HANGOVER MAKEOVER

In the spirit of the release of the Hangover II I've decided to post the HANGOVER MAKEOVER. It happens to the best of us... we all know waking up the morning after an epic night reminicing and laughing about what adventures happened is fun. But waking up to a reminder of that heavy mascera you wore last that started out looking fantastic and has now moved it's way south on your face area isn't so sexy. This is for those days when you just can't call in sick, but can't go into the office looking like a zombie-raccoon. While there is no magical remedy to hide the tell tale puffy bags and dark circles there are a couple things you can do to make it more tolerable for those looking at your for the rest of your day. Before we begin, if any of your are reading this while you have a hangover, just to make things easier on yourself go pour yourself a big glass of ice water and pop two ibuprofen or tylenol..... Now, back to the make-up!

- First, You will need to calm the puffiness and bags beneath your eyes. You can achieve this by using a cold compress. The idea behind cold compresses is that because of the low temperature applied to your normally hot skin your blood vessels will constrict, reducing blood flow, and thus reducing and redness and swelling. I would also recommend using an under-eye roller infused with caffeine or some other de-swelling ingredient. Like this

one.

- Now it's time to prep your skin. Alcohol causes dehydration to just about everywhere in your body (fun fact: including your brain, ever wonder why people make those oh-so-wise choices when intoxicated?) including your face. Your skin is likely to be colorless, lifeless, and dry. Use a moisturizer with SPF to prevent any further damages. Don't forget to also apply a primer so that your make-up doesn't come off during the day to reveal what you actually look like (; I suggest this and this.

- Our main concern: Those bags and under eye circles! These are the tell tale signs of a hangover, so our focus is to eliminate any reminisce of them. You can achieve this by applying an orange based concealer like Almay's Bright Eyes. The orange will counteract the purple / blue dark circles that have appeared on your face uninvited. Be sure to use a concealer that is appropriate to your skin tone, it should be one shade lighter than your foundation. I like to apply this around my entire eye just to make sure everything is even and one color.

-Time to liven up the face. Apply a cream blush, like MAC's Cream Colour Base in Pearl to the apples of your cheeks and on your cheek bones. This will bring some light onto your skin. Next apply your foundation as you normally would over the cream blush. This will give the illusion you are glowing from the inside. After my foundation, I used Bare Minerals Fresh as a contour and MAC's Cheek as a blush, to just add some nice color. I also threw a highlighter (Bare Mineral's Well Lit) on to my cheek and brow bones for some extra glow.

- Widen the eyes. Our goal here is to look as awake a fresh as possible. This being said skip any eye shadows with sparkles as they can fall into fine lines and make wrinkles more visible, also avoid dark shadows. These make it seem that your eyes are sunken in, something you definitely want to stay away from when diagnosed with a hangover. Stick with neutral colors, maybe something with a little shimmer on your top and bottom lash lines like Victoria's Secret Luminous Shadow in Nude Glow (here) to brighten things up even more. Opt for a lengthening mascara, this will open your eyes more than a volumizing one would, these can sometimes cast shadows and make dark circles more prominent. The final step: apply a lip color that's close to that of your natural lips, throw on some gloss and you're out the door. I used Clinique Long Last Glosswear with SPF 15 in Air Kiss

There it is friends, a complete de-hangovering guide. Hope this comes in handy, but you don't have to use it too often (:

Before and After: HANGOVER MAKEOVER