Although Christmas is edging ever closer, the Autumnbugs/colds and ucky-ness have arrived. Always a bit of a conundrum when you want to look together and you have a stinking cold.
Here’s a bit of advice that I use myself when I am looking rough. This is only what I do and when I get poorly as my skin seems to resemble a lizard. I also don’t tend to breakout (unless I have been using it as an excuse to eat lots of rubbish), so if you’re prone to oily skin when run down and ill, not all of this will apply.
Firstly, steam. Hot water in the basin, tie hair back, throw a towel over your head and try to breath. It will be good for the skin and the nostrils.
Medication, especially cold and flu meds, will dehydrate your skin. Drink plenty of water. Exfoliate using something gentle and put a moisturising cream on. Personally, I slap Vaseline around my snout and Yu-Be cream for the face (which is amazing for dry skin).
Use eye cream that is very gentle and soothing and even wrap ice in a kitchen towel and dab it across the sinuses and eye area to de-puff.
Next, I would personally use something like Olay’s 30 Second Wrinkle filler as my wrinkles like to get all prominent when even vaguely dehydrated. The tinkers.
Use some kind of illuminating primer to get rid of sallow skin and use something light, such as a light weight foundation (I use Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua), colour corrector, or BB cream. Despite being tempted, do not pile on the makeup. It will only make you look worse because it will find the dehydrated sections and stick there shouting ‘Look at moi’. Rubbish.
I highlight rather than conceal and if I have to use concealer, I will use something like MAC’s Pro Longwear Concealer, which has a high coverage with little product. Be careful around the nose. If you have been wiping it like crazy, the product will stick to the broken and sore skin, making your eyes run and your nose look all two toned. I would double moisturise and then, lightly go over the area with the the left over product on the foundation brush to conceal the redness.
Contour to get some definition. I puff out like a chipmunk when poorly, so this gives me some features. Stick to cream products if super dry or a small amount of powder product if you have a fever. Use a coral toned blush. This tends to add warmth without enhancing the already there ‘I have a temperature and I’m sweaty’ flush.
I use a small amount of concealer on my eye. It will tone down any redness and won’t create a stark contrast between red eyes and colour of lids. Use a liquid eyeliner that is water proof. Create a thin line and a flick if possible. It just gives some shape to puffy eyes. If watering is a problem, cut the eyeliner all together or create a thin line.
Mascara - waterproof and be careful. Your eyes will be more prone to watering. Take it gently and look down and to theside rather than in the mirror. Weirdly, this seems to reduce the watering episode. Let your face be for a while before adding a setting spray. A powder might accentuate the dehydration but if clammy-ness is an issue, perhaps use some to keep everything in place.
Take a Vic stick or Balsam stick out with you to clear your nose rather than blowing it and removing half of the makeup. Bring the make up with you to touch up patches that have been removed via tissues, rubbing eyes or during a sudden sweat fest. Ewww.
Drink plenty of fluids; try not to eat lots of naughty food. It won’t actually help you feel better. I always find Barrocca is my friend but I am certainly no doctor, so consult your GP before trying any type of multi vitamin or medicine.
Hope this helps those of you who have one of the many cold bugs that are going round. The other day, a child sneezed on me, so it’s only a matter of time before I take my own advice.
