How To Fake Eight Hours' Sleep
Been up all night juggling feeds and fending off toddler nightmares? Look and feel like you’ve had your full eight hours (when you totally haven’t) with these brilliant beauty buys no mum should be without.
Emma Calder
Cleanse and brighten
When you’ve been up all night juggling feeds and nappies, your natural glow is the first thing to go. Give your complexion a boost by exfoliating and cleansing in one. A muslin cloth used with your cleanser is all you need to scrub away dead skin cells. Just douse it in warm water, squeeze out the excess and use it to wipe off a brightening cleanser from your skin. We love Emma Hardie’s Amazing Face Moringa Foaming Cleansing Wash (£34, emmahardie.com), which is packed with energising bergamot and sweet orange essential oils, or Simple Kind To Skin Vital Vitamin Foaming Cleanser (£4.49, boots.com).
Super-charge with a serum
Quench thirsty skin deep down with a radiance restoring serum. Massage a few drops over cleansed skin using tapping motions around your eye bone and jaw to help reduce puffiness. Try Darphin Vitalskin Anti-fatigue Dynamizing Serum £49 - lightweight and cooling, this caffeine and vitamin c packed skin recharger is vitality in a bottle.
The triple espresso for eyes
If you’ve spent more time doing ‘shhh and pat’ than snoozing, your eyes will give the game away, so try this trick. ‘Dab a gold highlighter near your tear duct – it bounces light off the darkest area of your face and adds brightness,’ says celebrity make-up artist Caroline Barnes. Try Max Factor Masterpiece Colour Precision Eye Shadow in Pearl Biege (£6.99, maxfactor.co.uk). Finish by sweeping a flesh-toned pencil along the inside of your lower lashline to diffuse redness and fake a wide-awake look. We like Nars Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Rue Bonaparte (£19, narscosmetics.co.uk).
Inject a burst of colour
‘A bright pop of pink on your lips and cheeks is an instant easy brightener,’ says Caroline. ‘Use a creamy texture that melts into the apples of your cheeks, then dab the same shade on your lips.’ Try Bobbi Brown Sheer Colour Cheek Tint in Sheer Pink (£18, bobbibrown.co.uk).
Treat and disguise tired skin
Brush your way to perfect, luminous skin in seconds with a skincare-loaded foundation, such as By Terry Light Expert (£45, uk.spacenk.com). Like a brightening mask and glowy base in one, this giant brush ‘pen’ instantly hides imperfections, whilst plumping out fine lines with hyaluronic acid and strengthening antioxidants. Plus the clever applicator means you can perfect skin on the go or even holding your baby!
Don’t forget your brows
Brushing brows up and out will open up your whole face and make you looked groomed in seconds. Try a coloured brow gel, such as Mac Brow Set (£12.50, maccosmetics.co.uk), E.L.F Eyebrow Treat & Tame (£3.75, eyeslipsface.co.uk) or Pixi Natural Brow Duo (£12.50, pixibeauty.co.uk). The tinted pigments will instantly define the shape and the gel base will set brows in place in seconds.
Have a power shower
Make your morning shower even more invigorating with uplifting essential oils to energise mind, body and soul. Aromatherapy Associates Inner Strength Bath & Shower Oil (£39, aromatherapyassociates.com) will instantly wake you up with energising geranium and rosemary.
Get a fragrance high
Citrus scents are perfect for giving you an uplifting boost. Try Miller Harris Tangerine Vert (£65, millerharris.com) a mix of Sicilian green tangerines with grapefruit and lemon, it’s ‘zing’ in a bottle.
Roll away sleepless nights
Eyes hitting the floor by mid-morning? Perk up your lids with a clever rollerball eye cream, such as Garnier BB Eye Cream Roll On (£7.49, boots.com). The cooling, silvery applicator gently massages away tired eyes and puffiness, delivers fast-acting peptides to firm and smooth away wrinkles and blurs out dark circles with soft-focus mineral pigments.
Mask it
Nothing says ‘tired’ more than dry skin, so treat yourself to an intensive face mask. Pop it on after you’ve brushed your teeth and let it sink in and hydrate while you stack the dishwasher. Radiant skin in five minutes flat. Try Clarins HydraQuench Cream Mask (£33, clarins.co.uk)
Add a golden glow
Fake tanning is great for creating a healthy ‘two week holiday’ radiance. James Read Sleep Mask Tan £25, jamesreadtan.com) develops overnight and contains skin-loving aloe vera, red algae and cucumber.
