Skin Care Survival Guide: Morning-After Halloween Makeup
It's November 1st, and you definitely had a great time last night on Halloween. Your costume was a huge hit, and people couldn't stop complimenting the job you did on your makeup. But it's the next day now, and no matter how many compliments you received on your makeup last night, you want to make sure that you can go back to your regular, greasepaint-free life – without a major breakout on your face.
Face Cleansing and Makeup Removal the Night Before
No matter how late it is or how early you have to get up the next morning, we cannot stress this enough: Make absolutely sure that you clean your face before you go to bed! If you don't wash your face before bed, you are risking a major breakout the next morning. Even if you are in no capacity to perform a full regime of cleansing, exfoliating and moisturizing, anything you can do to clean your face will be helpful. But what you really ought to be doing is making sure to remove every last trace of stage makeup, followed by exfoliating your skin, and then moisturizing before you lay your head on the pillow. Take off your eye makeup with a gentle remover, and take off that grease paint with an oil-based cleanser. If you have the time and energy, then taking the extra steps and giving yourself a post-Halloween mask, preferably with a purifying base like clay, can go a long way toward keeping the pimples away.
The Morning After Halloween
No matter how diligent you may have been the night before, your skin will most likely still be dehydrated on the morning of the 1st. Makeup and cleansers are generally dehydrating, as are adult beverages of any kind. You may wake up looking more ghoulish than you did at that party last night, but never fear! This is because as your skin dries out, the layer of fat underneath dries up as well, leaving your skin looking dull and a bit sunken. If you have the time and the money, today would be a great day for a trip to the spa! A full facial or hydrating facial mask can do wonders for your tired, post-Halloween skin. Though it may be tempting to layer makeup on again to combat the visible effects of makeup and over-indulgence from the night before, don't do it. Giving the skin on your face (and particularly the thin skin beneath your eyes) the opportunity to breathe is very important. No matter how good your skin is, it needs time to recover after a late night with unusually intense makeup, not to mention indulging in booze, exposure to smoke and potential lack of sleep.
Make Sure You Stay Hydrated After Halloween!
The importance of water to your skin goes beyond merely washing the outside, as water is one of the key components of healing any part of your body. Proper hydration combats inflammation, which is one of the key factors in premature aging. No matter how much fun your Halloween night was, it probably wasn't worth looking a couple of years older. Properly hydrating your skin begins from the inside. Water helps to flush toxins away from your cells, aids in nutrient absorption and guards against inflammation.