If you’ve ever woken up with a horrible hangover, you’d know it doesn’t only affect how you feel but also how you look. A swollen and red face, puffy undereyes, dry skin — all of which doesn’t help matters especially when you need to be up and ready for an early morning meeting with your boss. You can’t possibly face your boss looking all haggard and tired, can you?
In the first part of this series, we talked about the things you should and shouldn’t do the moment you get home from your late night. From removing your makeup before going to sleep to giving yourself a lymphatic drainage massage, there are several skincare tips that will help minimise your hungover appearance.
Now, we’re going to cover a couple more ways for you to give your skin a boost to hide the telltale signs of your hangover even more.
Take a Lukewarm Shower
Whether you’re one of those people who skip morning showers or not, taking a shower in the morning when you’re hungover is a must. Imagine leaving the house in the already-tired state you’re in without refreshing yourself. Doesn’t feel too good, does it? The one thing you definitely need to do when you’re battling a hangover is to rejuvenate your mind and body as much as you can, and that means taking a lukewarm shower the moment you wake up.
An important tip: avoid hot showers as this can worsen the puffiness and redness on your skin. Make sure the water is just warm enough that it will help soothe your skin and calm down any redness.
Apply an Eye Mask
Red, puffy and tired eyes are unavoidable when you have a hangover, and especially so when you’ve only had a few hours of sleep the night before. To reduce the puffiness and darkness on your undereye area, apply an eye mask once you’ve gotten out of the shower. A bonus tip: place the eye mask in the refrigerator until they get cold. Besides feeling really good on the skin, the coldness of the eye mask will also aid in taking down the puffiness of your undereyes.
Put on Another Hydrating Mask
Yes, we know you’ve put on an overnight hydrating mask before going to sleep, but your skin can never have enough moisture when you’re dealing with a hangover. So, after taking off your eye mask, apply another hydrating mask to give your face even more of a glow. Opt for a mask with calming ingredients like chamomile and aloe vera to tame the inflammation on your skin. Hyaluronic acid is another ingredient to look out for in your mask as it is able to pull moisture from your surrounding environment. This will help increase the level of moisture on your skin, thus providing it with a naturally dewy finish.
A bonus tip: if you have the time, place your face mask in the fridge for about 10 minutes or until it cools. The cold temperature will help take down the inflammation on your face even further.
Skip the Coffee
Nothing beats the tiredness of a hangover than a steaming cup of freshly brewed coffee. It’s tempting to down a cup or two of joe when you’re hungover, but trust us, this is the last thing you want to do. Your body is already dehydrated enough with the large amount of alcohol you drank the night before, drinking coffee will just worsen the dehydration. You won’t be doing your body and skin any favours, so skip your morning coffee and opt for a glass of water instead.
If you really can’t go without coffee, then make sure to at least drink an equal amount of water after your morning joe. This will help balance out your coffee intake and ensure you remain hydrated. Coconut water will do the trick too if you’re not keen on downing big gulps of water as the electrolytes will help your body retain its level of moisture.
Slather Your Face in Moisturiser
As if we haven’t been talking about hydration enough, it’s time to talk about giving your skin even more moisture! Before moving on to your makeup to hide all those telling symptoms of your hangover, your skin needs to be prepped first. Your skin is most likely a little more on the drier side this time, so it needs the extra hydration to provide your makeup with a softer canvas to work with. There’s no point in trying to apply makeup on dry skin as it will end up looking cakey.
Reach for a moisturiser with hydrating (there’s that word again!) ingredients so your skin will remain moisturised throughout the day. If you feel like your regular moisturiser isn’t doing enough for your hungover skin, apply a serum beforehand for added hydration.