You have a very important zoom date booked in the diary, which is set to be the highlight of your week. There’s half an hour to go, you’ve grappled with app and found your ‘best light’ all to realise you have a frustrating beauty emergency to contend with! Thankfully, solving these dilemmas can be a lot easier than you think and with the help of a few cheeky tips and tricks the show shall go on!
Emergency 1 – Out Damned Spot!
I get them, you get them and even Victoria Beckham gets them (we hope). You can pretty much guarantee it will be in the middle of your chin and practically have its own postcode! Now, the golden rule with these fateful friends of ours is to LEAVE THEM ALONE. Do not squeeze unless it’s absolutely ready, fully formed and complete with a whitehead at the surface (yuk). When it reaches this point you should take a clean tissue, place it on either side of the spot and gently squeeze. This stops any bacteria from your hands infecting the open wound and eliminates the risk of scarring your delicate skin with your pincers. Use ice to cool the area and finish off with a blob of antiseptic. If you’ve left yourself a little red roar, apply a tiny amount of concealer such as Bye Bye Redness by It cosmetics.
Emergency 2 – Mascara Mishaps
Why is it always the way? Your whole face looks perfect, practically glowing, only for one slip of the hand to blob it all over your eyelids. If this sounds like you then have no fear! I use a handy little product from Simple, it’s an eye makeup corrector pen and it’s my absolute friend in times of peril. It cleans up mascara spots, neatens up eyeliner and fits perfectly in your makeup bag. If you don’t have something like this in your day to day kit then a pointed cue tip and some make up remover can be just as effective.
If clumpy lashes are your kryptonite then use an old mascara wand to comb through the lashes and remove any clumps. If they are fairly well caked then dip the brush in a little makeup remover first and be gentle, those luscious lashes are delicate.
Emergency 3 – Puffy Eyes
Making sure you get a solid eight hours of sleep a night and committing to drink two litres of water a day may be boring but it does effectively wipe out those tired and puffy eyes. However, if like me during lockdown, you are drinking a little more than you would like like, this maybe a bit tricky.
If you don’t currently have the luxury of a full-nights sleep, then keep some used teabags in the fridge over night, ready to pop onto those dark circles first thing in the morning. Tea helps reduce puffiness around the eye due to its diuretic properties that combats swelling from fluids. An easy 5 – 6 minutes will be enough to reduce any redness of the skin and experiment with different types of herbal teas to find the one that best suits you.
It might be a bit of a cliché but using cold cucumber straight from the fridge is a great way of cooling and calming the under eye area. It is a commonly used anti-oxidant in beauty products that treats stubborn skin problems such as acne and wrinkles. Leave them on for 4-5 minutes then rinse with cold water.
So there you have it, simple solutions when life, or your face, throws a curve ball.
