When you wake up (almost certainly the most painful part), your face will look like the back end of a bus and you’ve probably given yourself about an hour to get ready. However, help is at hand – and there are a few tips and tricks to get your visage looking halfway to normal again.
Lay the foundations:
After a decent scrub in the shower and applying your moisturiser, make sure you use a thin layer of serum to ensure your make-up stays put, and to give your skin as much help as possible. Boots’ No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum is a brilliant buy (it lasts for ages as I only ever use it for hangover emergencies), and I also rate Merumaya’s Iconic Youth Serum, which also lasts for aeons. You only need a little bit. Add a tiny bit of Epionce’s Renewal Eye Cream to the skin around your eyes, and finish off with a few dots of Benefit’s the POREfessional. Lovely stuff.
In terms of foundations that will keep you looking semi-decent, I tend to bring in the big guns and use my Clarins Ever Matte, as my skin freaks out and goes all blotchy when I’ve had a few hours’ kip. I use Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream too; it just depends on whether I’m totally dehydrated or not. If I’ve danced all the water out of my body, I’ll plump for a BB cream any day.
If you have the time, a little dot of Rimmel’s Wake Me Up cream blush is always a good look – just a tiny bit, though. Try not to cry at the ironic name of this product as you struggle to keep your eyes open and focused on the job in hand.
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Eyes right
If your eyes are attractively red and puffy, blue-tinted eye drops always help. If you want to buy the cheaper ones, do so at your own peril (they always make my eyes twice as bloodshot), but I’ve always found Optrex Dazzling eyedrops does the trick in just a few minutes.
If you have a few minutes to spare, Eyesential under eye enhancer is a good bet (it allows you to mask bags, wrinkles and dark shadows – handy), but it takes time to dry.
It’s best to stay away from make-up that’s overly ornate or heavy today so I always make do with a tiny bit of L’Oreal’s liquid eyeliner and a touch of mascara – don’t be tempted to do anything that takes too long or involves the use of bright colour or glitter. Clinique’s High Lengths mascara is all you need now. Oh, by the way – if you’ve got the shakes, lay off the liquid eyeliner, as it will result in poked eyes and frustration. Just use an eyeliner pencil. Mac’s Eye Kohl is a dear friend of mine in times of trouble.
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The finishing touches
Add a dab of Benefit’s Girl Meets Pearl across your cheekbones and, if the hangover sweats have started to complicate matters, using a brush, apply a thin layer of pressed powder to your ravaged face. I’ve always gone for Boots’ Seventeen pressed powder, as a) it’s under a fiver, b) it’s very, very good and c) most powders fall apart and break in my bag after getting dragged around town.
Add a generous slick of lip balm before you head out the door – everyone, male and female, should be carrying Carmex around with them at all times – and off you go. Just try not to drink at lunch – and don’t forget to reapply those eye drops at regular intervals…