How To Fake A Full Night's Sleep With Eye Makeup

We all do it: Stay out partying until the wee hours, pull an all-nighter to finish a term paper or meet a deadline, then pay for it with tired, puffy eyes the next morning. This was the position I found myself in last week as I over-extended myself with too many commitments and not enough sleep. My exhausted look required a bit more than my "brush my brows and apply mascara" routine to get ready in the morning. Luckily, with the following tools and makeup tricks, I managed to look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with minimal effort as I braved another day.

1. Groomed brows make you look polished even if you don't wear any makeup, and it only takes a couple of seconds to brush unruly brows into shape. I got this Eco Tools brow and lash brush as part of my 5-brush Eco Tools set and it's become a morning necessity.



2. A pale or neutral eyeshadow brightens eyes and goes with anything. I use a Cover Girl eyeshadow palette with a pearly pink shade myself, but I would love to own Clinique's Colour Surge Eyeshadow Trio in Come Heather ($21.50) if I ever have to part with my old palette; the shades are very appealing and wearable for daytime. I use an eyeshadow brush to sweep the shadow across my lid and up to the crease for a sheer wash of colour.



3. Almay Bright Eyes Cream Shadow in Golden Gleam has been one of my makeup staples for the last couple of years in creating that bright-eyed look. I blend a bit of this shimmery creamy shadow on my brow bone just under my eyebrows and on the inner corners of my eyes for added radiance.



4. Mascara is a daily must for me. My classic standby is Cover Girl Lash Exact, but lately I've been using L'Oreal Double Extension Beauty Tubes.



5. My brother turned me on to Garnier's Anti-Puff Eye Roller when I swiped his one morning. (I love that he's into skincare products.) The caffeine content and the massaging action of the rollerball aid drainage in the eye area, decreasing darkness and puffiness and making eyes look more alert. I notice a definite difference on the mornings I use it.



All told, from putting my contacts in to putting on that final coat of mascara, this routine takes me 5 minutes tops. And now, I ask you: What are your tools, tips, and tricks for looking well-rested on days when you've had no sleep?

Update: I thought it only fair to you guys to mention it: After a week of using the L'Oreal mascara, I was forced to throw it out. The black brush was just clumping too much. I suspect this has to do with the black formula drying out after repeatedly being dredged up from the tube, exposed to the air, then scraped off and pushed back into the container. My final verdict is that although this mascara works wonders, in the long run if it dries out so easily it's kind of a waste of money.

16 comments

  1. wonderful tutorial, Lisa! Noticed your blog name changed, I'll update my links...

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  2. Great post! My only comment about it is that one sometimes has to be careful about wearing purples when tired as it can sometimes make you look like you have a very very slight black eye hahah; that being said, I love the colors of that palette!

    My tired tips are: blush on the apples of cheeks with a bit of highlighter along cheekbones, concealer, lots of mascara, and a shimmery shadow in a coppery or a neutral brown color that is easy to apply and flatters everyone.

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  3. Very valuable tricks Lisa! Thank you for sharing with us :)

    xoxo

    Mimi

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  4. thanks for this trick and please keep posting how to's!

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  5. I should probably take notes, so far my 8:00am teacher has told me I look sad, frazzled, and mean on different occasions--always with a note of concern. I'm never those in the morning, just tired!

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  6. I always make sure I wash my face with marcelle the night before and when I wake up. It really does make a huge difference. If I do that I can totally skip conditioner, and go with maybe a quick swipe of blush, a little eyeliner, mascara and chap stick. That's at a minimum

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  7. thanks for the tips--I've never tried that Bright Eye cream...I'll check it out!

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  8. I love that eyeshadow! I can't wait to try out your tips! The only thing I would add is an eye-lash curler. It makes my asian eyelashes look much more awake.

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  9. I don't have any tricks. I just look miserable.

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  10. Shay, thanks for updating your link!

    MizzJ and Trisch, fantastic tips. :)

    LaMimi and FreeTEYme, you're very welcome!

    The Clothes Horse, your comment actually made me laugh out loud at my desk.

    Tanya, the Almay cream shadow has proven to be one of my best beauty buys. It's great as a highlighter and so blendable, and it really does last.

    AsianCajuns, thanks for mentioning eyelash curlers! I don't use one because my lashes have a bit of curl to them (the Asian genes left that alone...go figure). Also, I had a very traumatic incident in my teens once where someone doing my makeup got my eyelid caught in one, and I've been wary of them ever since.

    WendyB, how can you look miserable with that "so sunshine" smile? Impossible, I say. :)

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  11. I have to try that roller thing. I always look really sleepy in the morning (because I AM sleepy), and maybe this will help!

    I usually just splash my face with cold water. Haha.

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  12. Ah, this is just what I needed to read. I've been majorly lacking sleep lately.. too much to doo, not enough time in the day to do it.

    i'd love to try that anti-puffy eye stuff!

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  13. Great post! I couldn't live without concealer in the morning. I also mix it with Terra Firma's Bright Eyes, which has light diffusers and is supposed to firm the eye area. It's great stuff!

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  14. My well rested look is...curling my eyelashes, add mascara, and under eye concealer! BINGO! I look like I've had 8 hours of sleep.
    This has to work for me since I wake up at 4:30am every morning...*yawn*

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  15. Sure all these tools are definitely useful to do best eye makeup.

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