Christmas is defiantly the time of year where everyone over indulges, to many chocolate treats, to many alcoholic drinks and to many late nights. All of these can really take a toll on your body, it can make you look and feel tired, and if you are anything like my your skin becomes one giant pimple. So here are a few tips ,tricks and things that might give you a little pick me up during this time of year.
So first of all I will start with the lip products, nudes are a perfect colour for all occasions, especially if you are running late or just going out spontaneously and have not planned what to wear or what make up to use, they are just a good colour to chuck on. But sometimes you want to add a little colour to your look and reds are ideal for that. It Starts With a Kiss lip stain by Lush is a very festive red that is moisturising and not to bold, so don't be put off if you are someone who usually wears a more natural shades. I also find the key to lips during this time of year is moisture. Lack of sleep, cold weather and to much alcohol can really dry out your skin and lips, so keeping them well moisturise will really help.
The next thing follows on from that and is skincare, when your body is run down and you are not sleeping enough, not eating enough nutrient dense foods (I'm looking at anyone who eats their chocolate celebration boxes for breakfast....which I secretly do) and drinking to many mulled wines, your body will start to neglect your skin. It will aim to repair the more important parts of the body such as the liver first and will thus ignore the skin. That's why after a big night out your skin can look really dull, and combine that with dehydration from the alcohol and you have a recipe for horrible skin. Now I'm not saying don't have fun, or don't drink or don't ever eat chocolate, because we all do it and I'm defiantly guilty of doing all of them probably a lot more than I should. But take a little extra time to care for your skin, be that through skincare or just drinking a lot more water, because that does really help. I would recommend products that give high levels of hydration or moisture boosts such as the Origins Drink Up Intensive Mask that I have previously talked about here, and also products designed to remove all the dead and dull looking skin such as acid exfoliants, salicylic acid, Glycolic peels and anything of that sort. The Clearasil Superfruits Refreshing Pad are an affordable product that can help your skin move in the right direction, towards less dull and more youthful looking skin.
Not only does your facial skin dry out but so does your body and hair, so spending time applying a good body moisturiser such as any body butters from The Body shop, and also a hair oil will vastly improve the appearance of your skin and hair. While on the topic of hair, we all know dry shampoo is a god send and is ideal for busy people who may not have time between parties to wash their hair, so great for this time of year.
Finally, just like with the lips a nude nail polish will take you from party to party, and day to night, without clashing with your outfits or looking horrific if it starts to chip off. Just like a good shimmery gold/ bronze eye shadow will. The Maxfactor nail polish in the photo above I have previously spoke about in more depth here. The last two things I feel may be two of the more important things, because nothing gives tiredness away like puffy dark circles under the eyes. I enjoy eye creams with a roller ball applicator because it is cooling but also helps to drain puffy eyes, While a good quality concealer can help hide the fact you have only had 3 hours sleep and spent the rest of your night either out partying or staying up to the early hours watching Christmas films and stuffing your face haha (guilty!)
A few added extras I would recommend are lots and lots of water which can help plump the skin and bring shine back to the hair, some kind of sleep spray or roll on such as This Works Breathe In, which will help you relax. Also waxing! which I know everyone cringes at just the idea of this, but going for one all over wax will save you about 2-6 weeks of shaving, giving you extra time to sleep in the mornings, and lastly I would recommend Green Tea, which helps repair your liver and is generally great for you, I have done a full post of the benefits here.
Take a little extra time to care for your self and you will be looking fantastic in all your Christmas Photos.....anyway I'm off to stuff my face with Quality Streets and mince pies haha.
xox
