We all know that mornings can be rough. It’s hard to capture that “morning glow” when you roll out of bed ten minutes before your 8 a.m. (…or 10 a.m.). Unfortunately, the victims of this early-morning grogginess are usually our eyes.
Puffy eyelids and dark under-eye circles do not exactly give off the vibe that you are ready to take on the day. But, tired girls, do not fret. Kelly McMurtrie, hairdresser at Looks Hair Design, sat down with Valley to give some helpful tips on how to make your eyes appear awake – even if you really aren’t.
Before You’re In Front of the Mirror…
Most of the time, avoiding those tired eyes in the morning starts before we’re standing in front of the mirror.
“Drink lots of water and get proper rest,” says McMurtrie. “It seems obvious, but it is something that we forget about.”
It’s true- with our hectic schedules we tend to forget about the small but vital beauty necessities; necessities that, when lacking, take a toll on our appearance the next day. One major necessity that we are often too lazy to do late at night is remove our makeup.
“Never, never, ever sleep in your make up,” McMurtrie says. “It’s not good for your skin, and it’s not good for your eye area.”
If you’re just too tired to wash your face completely, McMurtrie suggests at least using makeup remover wipes on your eyes and splashing your face with cold water before you crash.
The Morning After…
The first step to quickly covering up those under-eye circles in the morning is choosing the right concealer.
“It depends on what kind of under-eye circles you have – if they are purple, you want to selected a concealer with a yellow base to it,” says McMurtrie. “The complementary color to yellow is purple, so they will cancel each other out.”
The same goes for red circles; green is the complimentary color, so a green-based concealer will neutralize the red-color.
“I tend to do foundation first, put concealer overtop of it, and then apply the powder,” she says. “If you’re doing the concealer after the foundation then you are just pushing the concealer around.”
To make the best use out of your concealer and for full coverage, McMurtrie suggests warming up the concealer before use.
“Warm the concealer up on the top of your hand first – you will have a little bit more malleability,” says McMurtrie. “Then very lightly dot on the concealer before blending it in.”
Finally, to brighten the eyes, McMurtrie suggests using a matte white, champagne or shell eye shadow as a base for your entire lid.
“I tend to do it from brow to lash line,” says McMurtrie. “Then take a contrast color and create an arch over the lid to create the presence of the lid.”
Photo by Coco Cheng
