How to Fake a Good Night’s Sleep

We’ve all been there—you get up in the morning after not sleeping well the night before, look in the mirror and there is your tired-looking face staring back at you. Not good!  Luckily, there are some things we can do quickly and easily that can help improve our appearance.

Wash your face with cold water.

First of all, there is little else that will wake you up faster than splashing cold water on your face.  Second, the cold water helps reduce facial swelling and has a temporary tightening effect on skin because it constricts blood flow.

De-puff eyes.

Fatigue really shows in and around the eyes. There are a couple of different things you can do.  Tea bags—using tea bags isn’t an old wive’s tale—it actually works. Wet two tea bags with water, making sure they are thoroughly saturated. Place the bags on a small plate and put them in the freezer. After a couple of minutes take them out, lay back and place them on closed eyelids for 5 to 10 minutes. Cucumbers—also not a myth. Cucumbers contain photochemicals that tighten collagen in skin which de-puffs eyes. Place two slices of cucumber in a plastic baggie and place in the freezer until frozen. Take out, lay back, and place over eyes for about ten minutes.  Cold Spoon. Don’t have tea bags or cucumbers in the house? No problem! Place a spoon in very cold water for about three minutes and use the same way you would the cucumbers and tea bags.  Anti-puff eye rollers, which you can buy in any drugstore, mimic the effects of all of these, as well.

Fake it with makeup.

Use foundation as you normally would and then apply concealer underneath your eyes. Make sure to use a shade—but no more than that—lighter than your skin.  Curl eyelashes and apply mascara to top lashes only. This is an important step—curled lashes make the eyes appear more open and awake. Visually, they pull the eyes up. If you have a nude-colored eye pencil, apply it to the inside rim of your lower lid to counteract redness.

We all wake up with eyes that look tired.  Paying a little extra attention to the eye area can you make it through the morning a little more bright-eyed.