6 Quick and Easy Ways to Refresh Your Look at Work
We can’t be the only people who start out the work day pouring ourselves a cup of ambition and looking lovely, only to find our faces sliding off by 4 PM. There’s something to be said for long-wear makeup, but long-wear only goes so far when desks and fluorescent lights are involved.
But don’t despairthere’s hope for your work day beauty! We’ve put together six super-simple ways that you can refresh yourlook without leaving the office. Your 9 to 5 face will thank you, we guarantee it.
Use your fingers to run a few drops of water through your hair.
If you have a dearth of styling products within reach, scrunching your hair with damp fingers will help to refresh and reactivate any product that’s already in it. Flip your head upside down and massage your roots with your fingertips for increased volume, or use your palms to smooth down any unruly layers if frizz is your issue. If you’re going for a super smooth look, you can even try rubbing a bit of hand cream between your palms and running them over the outer layers.
Try a blotting paper pick-me-up.
If you don’t already carry blotting papers in your purse, let our recommendation be a sign that you should. They have a multitude of uses even if you don’t tend toward oiliness, like blotting down lipstick or blending foundation or concealer to perfection without applying more, but they’re especially useful for the inevitable oily T-zone after a long day. Sephora offers the fantastic SEPHORA COLLECTION Cooling Mint Blotting Papers, which are just about as refreshing as blotting papers get. Gently press them into anywhere you’re feeling slick and reap the results.
Smooth on a tinted lip balm.
We don’t need to tell you that lipstick doesn’t always hold up after a long day. Even if your color remains intact, there’s a pretty enormous chance that your lips are feeling dry as a desert underneath. Rather than layer more lipstick on top, opt for a coat of a complementary tinted lip balm insteadit’ll impart moisture as well as a touch of color for hydrated, plump-looking lips.
Reapply your blush.
Blush is key for “looking alive,” as we often say, and it’s also one of the first things to fade considerably over the course of the day. If you do one thing before you leave the office to head out into the real world, make putting some color back into your face a priority. If you don’t have blush on hand, just use your fingers to blend a bit of lipstick into the apples of your cheeks. You have lipstick with you, right? Just kidding, we know you do.
Chug some cold water.
There’s nothing quite as guaranteed to perk you up as a splash of cold water to the face, but it’s kind of out of the question if you’re wearing makeup, so down some icy water instead. Not only will it give you an instant hydration boost, but it’ll be good for you in the long run, too.
Curl your eyelashes.
Skip mascara reapplicationit often results in clumping and spidery lashesand simply give them your lashes squeeze of the curler instead. It’ll immediately open your eyes and give them a wider, more awake appearance. Just be sure to be gentle if you’re already wearing mascara so as not to pull or break your lashes.
And just in case you need an additional pick-me-up, we recommend watching this video…on repeat. Dolly is our Queen.
Now pour yourself a cup of ambition, freshen your makeup, and let’s run this Friday!
Read more: Workplace Makeup Rules it’s OK to Break.
