Self

5 Beauty Hacks Guaranteed To Save Your Life

beauty hacks

By Stephanie Maida.

Sure, we all can't walk around with a hair and makeup team at the ready, but even (especially) supermodels have rough nights. But just because you were up all night crying with T-Swift - no judgment - doesn't mean your smeared mascara has to reflect that in the AM.

Whether you were sobbing, dancing, or binge-watching your favorite show the night before, start the morning with a fresh face and some beauty tips to hide all of your sins. Hint: hickey solutions included.

1. Sin: You stayed up all night crying - to Taylor Swift.

Solution: Step one, don't tell anyone who you were up all night listening to OR who you were up all night crying about. Some things are better left a mystery. What won't be a mystery though, are those teeny-tiny post-crying eyes we all have after a full on sob sesh.

First thing's first, get rid of the redness and puffiness with some super strong eye drops courtesy of the drugstore. Washing your face in cold water will help de-puff and adding on a bold lip will distract from the fact that your eyes are pretty much pinholes. Add on some under-eye serum and you're ready to go.

Avoid any non-waterproof mascara in case you have another fit on the subway or in the back of a cab. Although that is pretty glamorous, TBH.

2. Sin: You stayed up all night partying.

Solution: Speaking of Tay Swift, sometimes you just have to go out all night and shake it off. Even if you have somewhere to be in the morning. If you're rolling into bed at 5 am, no worries, you'll just need a little beauty magic to keep you on your A-game.

Step one? Forget sleep. If you're going all the way, go all the way. If you have time, take a shower, wash your hair. It's refreshing and can give you a blank slate to work with.

Have work in an hour? Here's the new plan: chug, chug, chug water. Use a drugstore brand oil-absorber sheet to take off all that dance floor sweat, and as for those dark circles? Just pile on the eye makeup. In the colder months, smokey eyes are totally acceptable during the day. Just clean it up a bit and throw your hair under a chic beanie.

3. Sin: You slept 48 hours... in 48 hours.

Solution: Contrary to popular belief, you can not, we repeat can NOT catch up on beauty sleep. You miss 12 hours at the beginning of the week, and we're sad to say you're f*cked for the next few days. Whatever, it happens.

Now when the weekend comes along and you decide to ignore all your friends and plans in favor of some quality catch-up time with your cat and your bed, be our guest. Just don't expect to look like sleeping beauty in the morning. Besides aches akin to bedsores, you may pry open your eyes on Monday morning to dry skin, chapped lips, and total bedhead.

Need to get it together fast? We've got you covered. Take off your sleep mask, and after flushing your face with some cold water, moisturize with an energizing GinZing pick-me-up from Origins. Take care of chapped lips with a sweet EOS lip balm packed with antioxidant-rich vitamin E, shea butter and jojoba oil, then wake up your skin with Physician's Formula palette of glow pearls. Just a swipe across your face and you look ready to take on the day.

Don't forget the lipstick. Light and pink will keep you looking fresh.

4. Sin: You overdid it on the junk food during that Netflix binge.

Solution: Too much popcorn, too much chocolate, too much couch-sitting. It happens to all of us every once in a lazy weekend, but don't carry that salt-bloat to the office come Monday.

Start your morning with a cold brew iced coffee - it's a diuretic so it'll help release that water weight. Then pull out the big guns - some anti-aging serum your mom might use. There's nothing like a skin-tightening formula for a (temporary) snap back to get you back to reality. Put your best face forward by highlighting your cheekbones and all those Doritos will long be forgotten.

Don't forget which episode of Sons of Anarchy you were on, though.

5. You have... err, a visible mark on your neck/chest area.

Solution: Got a little too carried away on date night? Good for you! Not so good for your profesh look.

If you don't have a turtleneck handy, the tried and true hot-spoon-cold-spoon technique definitely works to make the mark less visible but when it comes down to it, you have to be smart about your cover-up. No need to cake on foundation - that'll just draw attention to the spot.

Opt for a light BB cream and all-over shimmer powder. Light reflects away from all imperfections, right?

This article was originally published at Guest of a Guest. Reprinted with permission from the author.