Hangover repairs

You wake up, you don’t know what time it is, you don’t WANT to know what time it is but you know you’ve got that thing to go to today, and you really don’t want to but you really have to and why, oh why did I have that Sambuca to finish the night... does this sound familiar?! C’mon, let’s not beat about the bush here; holidays are comin’, as are the hangovers. Dirty indulgent hangovers from all the dirty indulgent festive booze...! Here's a photo of me from over 10 years ago after a Christmas party. It is NOT pretty; but it's here to show that I know how awful you can feel (and look, let's be honest!) the morning after the night before when you did all those sambucas...!

To get back to some vague sense of normal, you’re going to need five things. I’m not going to include a shower because let’s face it, sometimes it’s just easier to have a baby wipe wash, bathe in deodorant and dry shampoo your hair into oblivion and style a ponytailed up-do. That is, until you can get home and properly cleanse your body of all the sins you’ve committed.

Before I impart my skincare advice let's start properly, and make sure your face is clean of any make-up from last night; as in the photo above, we forget to take it off sometimes and when we do, it's often half a job. Moisturise too, and apologise to the skin gods. Make a sacrificial promise to exfoliate to remove any dry skin AND do a face mask in the next couple of days, and to take your makeup off as soon as you're able to; you need to give your skin (and liver) some rest. (Read about #treatmenttuesday)

1.) Let’s get some sort of normality back and ASAP; eye cream or cooling eye masks. When you've started using either of these, you'll wonder why you've not done it earlier. The latter of the two are favourites of mine for those REALLY bad days or for special occasions. Keep them in the fridge and slap them on for 15-20 minutes while you find something clean to wear, have a drink of water, brush your teeth and stumble around for a matching pair of shoes. When you’ve taken them off, the skin under your eyes will no longer tell tales on you as they will be plumper, brighter and less sullen. Eye creams take less time to get to work and I think First Aid Beauty is a flippin' brilliant brand. Another high street brand that I have faith in is Soap & Glory's Puffy Eye Attack.

2.) Any remaining traces of tired can be hidden with a touch of concealer. Let’s not go all out for foundation because let’s face it, your skin will feel like it’s been in the tumble dryer after you’ve had a skin full. So let's give it a day off, and do what you can with concealer. NYX's Concealer Jars are fab for this; dab a tiny bit on with your ring finger and pat it around your undereye. Don't try to wipe it around to move the product; tapping is way gentler and effective. If you need a little all over coverage, how's about a BB Cream? The NYX BB cream is really good value for money and good coverage pay off. Winner!

3.) To boost your skin, use a creamy highlighter and/or blusher. Go for something with a natural glow to bring back some warmth to your face and fake that ‘I’m healthy, honest guv’ look that you so want to achieve. I've been known to mix in Soap & Glory's Hocus Pocus Illuminator into the foundation, but a dab on the cheekbones will bring a bit of life back to your face. Both Soap & Glory's Highlight and Sculp sticks and Barry M's Illuminating Strobing Cream have great twist-up strobing sticks which blend effortlessly into your skin.

4.) So let’s open up those peepers. Make sure your eyebrows are all going the same way, and at least look related even if they don't look like sisters. Slick on some mascara, and if your hands aren’t feeling shaky go for some eyeliner. A whizz of coloured eyeliner can help you look more 'presented' than you feel, but if not assess how shaky your hands are if you want to go for winged liner or smoky. My ultimate favourite mascara is Urban Decay's Perversion; it's an absolute staple in my kit bag and personal make-up bag.

5.) Grab a tinted lip balm or gloss (not Vaseline!) to perk up your lips a little and hopefully convince them that you do love them and don’t want them to split because of your boozilicious escapades.

As long as you've got your shoes on the right feet, your buttons are done up the right way, your eyes open (ish) and have brushed your teeth, you can probably make it through the day and at least fake it until you make it back to your front door and then crawl to your bed. My best advice though? No sambuca next time! Let the above photo be a reminder!