Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Tips on Tuesday: How to look like you've gotten your 8 hours of sleep!

This is my first installment of my new blog series: "Tips on Tuesdays" so I'd love some feedback!

Note: this includes tips for either gender (except for the makeup aspects...unless you like wearing makeup in which case: rock it!)
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Though I am trying very very hard to make my sleep schedule more regular, there have been times when I haven't been able to sleep at all. Needless to say the next morning I look fan-flipping-tastic (sarcasm). So on those days, being the nerd that I am, I researched ways to make myself look as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as I don't feel! 

Some of the suggestion I've read work, but most of the suggestions out there are repetitive and not all that helpful. So...I've decided to share my plethora of tips and tricks to looking like you've gotten your 8 hours:

In my opinion, two major areas tend to scream "I pulled an all-nighter": the eyes (and the surrounding area) and the skin

*The eyes
If you’re anything like me then when you haven’t gotten your beauty sleep your eyes probably look like a pot head’s on 4/20 and you probably also have some gorgeous dark circles under your eyes. What a great look…not! Through hours of research and good ol’ trial and error, I have discovered some awesome solutions!

    1)Rock the RoHto!
  If you have Visine or Clear Eyes in your medicine cabinet or what-
  have-you, do yourself a favor and toss it in the trash! Your eyes will 
  thank you! For those of you who don’t research every little thing like I
  do (who knows, maybe you have a life) I’m going to let you in on a 
  little secret: both Visine and Clear Eyes cause rebound redness in your
  eyes! So while they may make your eyes temporarily less red, when
  the product quits working, your eyes will be redder than they were to
  begin with (thanks to the preservatives in them). 
  Besides, RoHto is soo much better! It’s a Japanese eye drop that  
  contains astringent and it makes your eyes feel awake and refreshed!
  Plus it makes your eyes look super white! I recommend using RoHto
  Cool (the one with the green cap) just because it feels and works the
  best. You can get it at CVS, Walgreens and, yes, Amazon!


2) Eyeliner
     If you’re a gal, or a make-up wearing guy, eyeliner is one of your best friends if you’ve missed your ZZZs! But skip the harsh black eyeliner; instead use navy blue, which will help counteract the redness in your eyes! Right now I’m obsessed with Rimmel’s Exaggerate Waterproof Eyeliner in Deep Ocean (230). I typically use that on my top waterline and to line my upper and lower lashes; then I use a white (makes your eyes look bigger) waterproof eyeliner for the lower waterline (remove the navy first) and then I put some of it on the inner corners of my eyes and POW! I look awake!!!

3) Concealer
I consider myself a connoisseur of concealer; unlike most people my age, no matter how much sleep I get, I still wake up looking like a raccoon thanks to some ghastly undereye circles. I swear I have tried every concealer known to man and none of them have worked…except Clinique’s All About Eyes Undereye Concealer. I flippin love this stuff! It actually works!! Make sure to apply it with a concealer brush though (and set it with undereye powder!)

*The Skin
If you haven’t gotten any sleep, chances are your skin is lackluster and pale (and not in a hot vampire way).

1)Exfoliate
Yes exfoliate! While you sleep your skin naturally does this for you (yummay) but since you skipped your sleep, your skin is going to need some help! I use baking soda to exfoliate. Why? It’s cheap and super effective because it’s both a physical and chemical exfoliant. Just sprinkle about a tablespoon into your hand and then apply to your face...but don’t scrub too hard (yikes)! Then wash it off to reveal softer more vibrant skin!

2)Moisturize
Make sure to slather on plenty of lotion! If your skin is suuuper dry (as mine sometime gets thanks to Retin-A) put Aquaphor (or Vaseline) on your face for 10-15 minutes then wash it off and apply your normal face lotion!

3)Hydrate!
Your body is probably dehydrated so make sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day!


Hope these tips help! And be sure to get your sleep! In my opinion, nothing is more important than sleep, not even studying. It’s crucial to not only your appearance but more importantly to your survival. Without sleep you die. (Fun fact: you can survive longer without food than without sleep)

Now I better get to bed!

Keep reading!
-RRR



8 comments:

  1. probably not for me! :P
    PS, my skin is super rough! lol! :)

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  2. I LOVE this! I was an insomniac for about a year... am... I still am. I just take sleeping pills now. I need to try the baking soda thing. I normally use st. ives and then I use mary kay face wash, concealer, lotion and powder (not in that order). I adore that stuff. Thank God my aunt sells it so it's not so expensive, but it's the best I've found (as long as I remember to exfoliate, it doesn't exfoliate enough). This is a great list; everyone could use a brighter complexion.

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  3. Oooooo, I really want to try washing my face with baking soda. It brightens your teeth a bit so why not your face as well? Good idea!

    (pssst... you've got some formatting issues. I see code)

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  4. @Psyche...if you're not the makeup rocking kinda guy...the makeup tips are prolly of no use to you

    @Denise: glad you like it! Insomniacs unite!!
    @whitney (and Denise): baking soda is less than a dollar at target and sooo useful!!! You can use it for everything (removing stains from tupperware etc). Plus baking soda is more effective than St.Ives and other brand name exfoliants thanks to the small particle size and the chemical properties!
    Whitney: thanks for pointing out the issue with formatting...yikes!!

    Thanks to all of you for reading and taking the time to comment

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  5. I love the nnew blog look! When I first read the title I thought it. Said tipsy on Tuesday lol. I know random. But eyeliner n a little shadow is always good for the hide the sleepy look!
    -tiffanie

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  6. Thanks Tiffanie! According to my mom, the old blog design made it to hard for old people to read it. I'm still not quite sure if I like it or if it's too bright to be legible and such but...we'll see what "the people" say haha!

    Yeah I don't usually get Tipsy on Tuesday...in fact I don't think I've ever been Tipsy on Tuesday lol. What do you think of the blog series?

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  7. P.S. to all: sorry about the weird color-thing going on--I've tried to fix it and it was not a fruitful endeavor.

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  8. Rohto = the best. Feels like glaciers moving on my eyeballs. Kinda weird & cool.

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