Ask a Beauty Editor: 4 Skin-Care Products to Help You Look More Awake Before Your Next Zoom Meeting
Have a burning beauty question? You've come to the right place. Every week, one of our beauty editors will answer readers' biggest skin-care, hair, and makeup questions in our new series, Ask a Beauty Editor.
Reader Question: Are there skin-care products out there to help me look more awake?
Well, well, well, reader. You've come to the right place. As someone who has been staying up a little too late these days (and then rolling out of bed after a few rounds of snooze), my skin and I are looking a little, well, tired. And that's fine — really. Being/looking/feeling sleepy is the new norm I'm riding out, but for those early mornings when I need to hop on a Zoom call or FaceTime with my therapist, I lean into a few skin-care products for help in waking up — and looking more awake.
Now, before we get to the actual products, I should point out that this brightening skin-care routine has worked for me in times where I only had a few minutes to spare before logging on. That said, this isn't a regimen that will alter someone's skin instantly (or, in my case, mere minutes in the early morning). Instead, it's a couple of refreshing steps that help me find my temporary brightness after logging too many hours under the glow of my laptop screen the night before. Hopefully, you find these help you, too.
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Face Mist
OK, listen: A soothing face mist isn't going to take you from groggy to wide-eyed in a spritz or two, but it will feel good on the skin within the first few minutes of waking up. That's why one of the first steps in my early-morning routine is to wash my face with gentle cleanser and then immediately spritz my face two, three, maybe four times with a soothing face mist for an instant hit of hydration.
Lately, I've been loving the Naturopathica Lavender Honey Balancing Mist. If lavender isn't your thing, though, check out these editor-approved mists on for size.
Undereye Patches
Got dark circles? Yeah, join the club. As if it wasn't already obvious from the theme of this column, I'm not sleeping well these days, which means my undereyes aren't quite as bright as they used to be pre-pandemic. And again, that's fine — nothing a little concealer can't...conceal. But because I'm shying away from my usual makeup routine while working from home, I've found I have more time for undereye patches instead.
My most recent pick is the Masqueology Under Eye Gold Gel Mask, a pair of gold-hued hydrogel patches that instantly cool, hydrate, and depuff sleepy eyes. Of course, virtually any undereye patch will offer the same benefits, but I happen to quite enjoy the $3 price tag. If you're willing to splurge a bit, I also like the Boscia Vegan Collagen Microcrystal Eye Mask for $28.
Eye Cream
For more of a long-term solution for my dark undereyes, I use an eye cream twice a day (morning and night). Previously, I haven't been known to be too picky when it comes to eye creams (I just needed something that hydrates), but these days I've been tapping on formulas packed with ingredients — i.e. hyaluronic acid, caffeine, and vitamin E — to target the puffiness and Crow's feet that have started to accumulate now that my Botox appointment has come and gone.
While my SkinMedica Instant Bright Eyes cream is starting to run out, I've been using the Glossier Bubblewrap Eye + Lip Cream, which, yes, if made for both eyes and lips (even if I only use it on one part of my face).
Vitamin C Serum
Perhaps one of my favorite skin-care products (aside from sunscreen, of course) is vitamin C. As someone with sensitive skin, I have a hard time dealing with active ingredients — with the exception of vitamin C. In fact, I think my skin loves it.
After pressing in a brightening and dark spot-targeting formula (I really like the Renee Rouleau Vitamin C&E Treatment), it just...glows. Obviously that's the point, but if it were any other ingredient, I'd be met with a bright red, splotchy reaction, so glowy I will happily take. To keep the glow going, I follow it up with moisturizer and sunscreen and head to the... couch for my first Zoom of the day.
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