Our morning rituals all vary pretty dramatically. The one thing that we are certain to do, before walking out the door to begin the day, is to look in the mirror and make sure there is nothing glaringly obvious to fix.
With a quick glance, we make sure we don’t have distracting things happening like a cowlick, food in our teeth or our shirt on accidentally inside out or backward. These moments have happened to the best of us. In this quick mirror moment, the majority of us also glance at our skin to make sure we are putting our best face forward.
morning tips and tricks
If you have clear glowing skin and bright eyes first thing in the morning, well done! If you look in the mirror and find your skin could use a boost, you probably start rummaging through your products or mentally going through articles you’ve read with beauty tips and tricks.
Place this article at the top of your how to list! Read on to learn some of my favorite morning skin tricks to look more awake.
The Tired Look Fix
Some of you might be thinking, “I look tired every day!” I could also just be thinking of myself, since I am definitely part of the sleepy morning face crew.
However, on the days I need to be especially fresh-faced for clients, go to an event or bring my best face to meet whatever is happening there are a set of basics I run through the get the freshest look possible. They might seem simple, but work every time!
TIP 1: FROZEN FIX
The power of cold to reinvigorate the skin is completely underrated.
Cold is a vasoconstrictor to the body. When the body temperature drops, your hypothalamus sends impulses that cause blood vessels to contract. These vessels supply blood to the capillaries in your skin. So, when you apply cold or are in the cold, the blood vessels in your face contract.
This contraction flushes out the stagnant blood, making space for a fresh blood flow and reducing inflammation. If you are a side or stomach sleeper, while you sleep your face is partly smashed against your pillow and the circulation suffers as a result. The following chilly options are your go-to moves for a fresh fix on those extra sleepy looking days!
Application Options:
I personally struggle with cold showers but putting cold on my face feels amazing first thing in the morning or on a hot summer day. Depending on the time I have available, here are a few different ways I get a that cool fresh face fix.
1. Single Ice Cube
Take one sheet of paper towel, wet it and ring it out. This is an important step to help it glide over your skin. Place an ice cube inside the moist paper towel like a mini dumpling.
On freshly cleaned skin gently glide the ice over your face in outward strokes starting from the forehead and ending under the jawline out by your ear. When the skin is good and moist from the melting ice you can even do little circles over your forehead and cheeks.
Pay close attention to around the eyes to help reduce the puffiness and bring fresh circulation to brighten up your eyes. Pat the skin dry, apply a serum with Vitamin C and/or Hyaluronic followed by moisturizer and SPF.
2. Frozen Wand
These can be made of jade, rose quartz, stainless steel, glass or other materials. They can be bulb, wand or roller-shaped.
I have a Jade Roller. You’ve probably seen these all over the internet. They are beautiful and I personally love mine. Note that the jade doesn’t stay cold long, so if you are a person that’s puffy or super tired looking each day, a glass or stainless one will stay colder longer, giving you better results. The jade works for a quick morning pick me up.
Store your chosen wand in the freezer so its chilled for when you need it. Use on freshly cleaned and moisturized skin with a Vitamin C or Hyaluronic Serum. It is important to roll over moisturized skin for it to glide smoothly and as an added bonus it increases the penetration of your products.
Gently glide the wand over your face in outward strokes. I like to do it in the following pattern which is classic lymphatic drainage sequence:
LYMPHATIC DRAINAGE SEQUENCE:
Start from the center of the forehead outward to hairline. 2-3 strokes each side depending on the size of the forehead.
- Between eyebrows and up across forehead to hairline.
- From the center of the brows, over brow out to temple.
- Gently glide across the undereye, out to hairline.
- From the side of the nose, down and out over your sinus’, across the under eye orbital bone, out to hairline.
- From chin out across jaw to earlobe.
- From Collarbone up along the neck to jawline.
Example of a lymphatic drainage sequence
3. Facial Ice Plunge
This is the most challenging to endure, for me personally, but it is the quickest.
Simply get a vessel of choice large enough to stick your face in – bowl, pot or even a clean sink. Place a handful of ice cubes inside a vessel, fill 1/2 way with cold water. Let sit for a moment for ice to make the water temperature drop. This is a great time to do something else like drink an antioxidant-rich green tea or cleanse your skin (if you haven’t already). Have a facial towel ready.
This one is pretty much what you imagine. Hold your breath. Submerge face in ice water for as long as you can stand. Rise and gently pat face with a towel. Repeat a minimum of 3 times. Then pat dry and apply your chosen serum, followed by moisturizer and SPF.
TIP 2: QUICK FIX
When you’re looking or feeling tired circulation is the key to making the eyes brighten up and the cheeks get a healthy glow. These are some tried and true and very quick ways to get a pick me up with little effort!
1. Go Upside Down
The quickest way to move all your circulation is to flip upside down. I like to do a quick handstand first thing in the morning, against the wall for support.
If that isn’t available for you, or balance first thing in the morning isn’t the easiest, you can do a partial inversion with a downward facing dog pose, a forward bend or simply sitting in a chair and placing your face between your knees. Note: You do not want to stay in this position for long. It is meant for a gentle quick boost of circulation to the body and face.
2. Jump!
Classic jumping jacks, jumping up and down or skipping down your hall on the way to the bathroom all create a boost in heart rate pushing your blood through your body. Skipping can be fun too! I find this really changes up the morning in a good way when I do this.
TIP 3: EXFOLIATION FIX
There are various exfoliation options. Please note that I don’t recommend exfoliating in the mornings regularly. Exfoliating is better to do in the evenings for many reasons. However, on rare occasions, when my skin is looking really dull and I haven’t exfoliated in at least a few days this can be a great way to brighten the face and make you look fresh.
There are different exfoliation options you can select from. I do suggest selecting this step with caution and going with the gentlest methods in the morning. The key here is, you don’t want to replace dull skin with irritated skin, make it more photosensitive (increased sunlight damage) or more susceptible to the daily pollutants.
how should I exfoliate?
For your ease of selecting I ordered the below exfoliants from most gentle to the deepest exfoliation. I like the silicone and enzyme options the best. I feel these are gentle and still show an effective change in the skin.
- Sponge / Cloth (ex: Konjac, Cellulose, Microfiber)
- Silicone (ex: Foreo, Pop Sonic, Silicone Face Scrubber)
- Enzyme (ex: Papaya, Pineapple, Green Apple)
- Facial Brush (ex: Clarisonic, Natural Bristle)
- Scrub (ex: diamataceous earth, bamboo fibers, soft granules)
feeling fresh?
I ordered these tricks with the one I use most, first.
However, if you are really feeling experimental and want to try all 3 different tricks, I recommend going in step order of 2, 3, 1. You want to use the cold methods after you exfoliate the skin for the best results.
Happy fresher faced mornings to you!
About the Author
Bokhara Lashi is an Esthetician, Wellness Specialist at Embody Zen and artist at Moss Art Studio.
Have you tried any of these methods? Which was your favorite? Share in the comments below!
loved this article! i enjoyed that you went into detail about your subjects so we weren’t left hanging with other questions. i use a rose quartz roller, tea tree oil, and rosehips as a nice pick me up, also for going to bed!
I began exfoliating about a month ago with a mixture of powder Vit C and Rosehip Oil. I do it gently with my hands taking care not to go around the under eye area. Leave this mixture on a few minutes and then, rinse. My skin feels like a baby’s!