How to cure hangover skin
Some days we need to give our skin a little bit of extra love. I’m talking specifically about hangover days. Maybe we neglected to remove our makeup or a few too many drinks last night has just left us parched. These are my go-to recommendations for how to help our skin recover.
Now that’s January, 2021 and the holidays are well behind us, it’s time for a bit of recovery. Here in Ireland, Christmas tends to lean a bit towards the excess. For us, the entire month of December is one big celebration and it starts even earlier for me as I celebrate Thanksgiving as a full 4-day affair.
While it wasn’t a normal year by any standards – for example, our usual company Christmas party was replaced by a virtual one - my recycle bin was overflowing long before New Year’s Eve. And for me, excessive wine and bubble consumption can leave me feeling a little worse for ware.
If I have the luxury, I like to commit some personal time to making myself feel better the morning after. And here’s how I do it.
Step 1 – Hydrate
This is for both my insides and my outs. If you’re like me, chances are you’re a bit dehydrated. So I drink water. Lots of it. I always go to bed with a huge Yeti bottle of ice water (and a few paracetamol) so the rehydration train starts before I even get out of bed in the morning. The water is still cold so I down it and repeat.
Yeti Rambler 20 oz
But, it’s not just for drinking - a mist will be your best friend. I’m a serial mister and will spritz this puppy all day long. So not only between each of the following steps, I use it throughout the day.
LRP Toleraine Ultra 8
Step 2 - Double Cleanse
If it was a particularly good night (i.e. late one), it’s quite possible you didn’t even attempt to take off the make up before bed. Or if you did, it was probably a shite job. So your face (your pillow too!) could still be covered in a lot of nasty stuff. I’m not judging – I’ve been there. I do go to great lengths to minimize this, but I am not immune. So it’s critical to start my day removing it.
I like to start with an oil cleanser because it’s great at breaking makeup down. My favourite is DHC Cleansing Oil. I use my Wondercloth to remove the oil. Then I follow up with a cream or gel cleanser, just to make sure. Cerave’s Hydrating Cleanser is a staple in my bathroom.
DHC Cleansing Oil
Wondercloth
Cerave Hydrating Cleanser
Step 3 - Eye drops
If you wake up to red, sore, dry eyes, I find eye drops are great to soothe and help get them back on track.
Step 4 - Depuff (optional step)
If you’re feeling particularly puffy and need a little extra oomph, I use a few ice cubes around the orbital bones. It reduces swelling and really wakes you up.
Step 5 - Exfoliate
If you’ve seen my videos or read my blogs you’ll know how critical I believe this step is to skin health. It really helps to remove the dead skin and reveal soft, healthy skin underneath. It also helps products absorb better into our skin.
On these kinds of days, I like to use a physical exfoliant. But I do so with a very delicate hand. I’m not scrubbing or tugging, but use a gentle circular motion to dislodge dead skin cells. One of my favourites is Skinfood’s Black Sugar Mask Wash off. I gently massage into my face for about 20 seconds and leave it for 10 min. Super soft and happy skin is revealed.
If you don’t have the patience for this step, then you can combine with your first cleanser. I adore Your Good Skin’s Brightening Exfoliating Wash. It has tiny microbeads to exfoliant yet delivers intense hydration. It contains green tea and vitamin C.
Skinfood Sugar Mask
Your Good Skin Exfoliating Wash
Step 6 - Hydrating Masks
Now that we’ve taken everything off and have a clean slate, we can begin to feed our weary skin. Sometimes my sinuses and under eye areas feel particularly swollen, so I like to use eye patches. These deeply hydrating masks leave my skin feeling refreshed.
But if I want something for all over, I go for a sheet mask like this one from Beauty Pie. Sit back, relax and let it do its magic.
Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Concentrated Recovery Eye Mask x 4
Beauty Pie Uber Youth Hyaluronic
Step 7 – Massage
This is an indulgent step with a huge payoff. Simple massage techniques can help to get the blood flowing and reduce tension. I like to use a jade gua sha device with massage oil to give it the slip it needs to glide over the skin. The curvatures of the jade are perfect for hugging various parts of the face, hitting pressure points and relieving stress. It is absolutely worth the time.
Hayo’u Starter Kit
Step 8 – Moisturise
After my face is relaxed and well hydrated, I add a good, rich moisturiser to seal it all in. While many don’t feel an eye cream is needed – and I won’t lie, they’re not wrong – it’s something in which I choose to indulge. My go-to these days is Sunday Riley’s Auto Correct Eye cream. It’s outstanding for brightening and plumping the area.
The rest of my face gets a healthy dose of Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream. It’s perfect for sensitive, angry skin as it strengthens the moisture barrier and offers a bit of aaahhhh. Thank you Kiehl’s.
Sunday Riley Auto Correct Eye
Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream
Step 9 – Sunscreen
Last – but never least – is sunscreen. Yes, I will always forever bang this particular drum. Even if your day consists of nothing more than Netflix and multiple trips to the fridge, those cruel UV rays will find you. Unless you live in a cave, they will find you. Enough said. My every day choice is Elta MD’s tinted version that is super light, contains no white cast and plays well under makeup.
Elta MD
So if you find yourself waking one morning with a sore head and scaly, unhappy skin, maybe these simple steps can help get you back on track. I can assure you there will definitely be a few days in January I will be doing this exact routine (so you won’t be alone)!
The video below shows it all….enjoy.