The Graveyard Shift: Beauty Tips for the Morning After

This is a post for all of those hard working shift workers out there. As a nurse, I have worked many a night shift and most nurses have to work overnight from time to time. After returning home from a night shift, you are (hopefully) heading to sleep while the rest of the world is just starting the day. Having to drag yourself out of bed can be pure misery and making yourself presentable is often the last thing you want to do. Through much trial and error, here are some tips that have worked for me when I look and feel completely exhausted. The goal of post-night shift makeup is to look less tired and the best way to do that is use minimal products for maximum impact. Keeping it simple with perky skin, flushed cheeks, black mascara and strategically placed glowiness will help fake that eight hour sleep look that we all long for. Here are my top tips for a post night shift refresh:

• Moisturize- Working in a hospital setting often caused dehydrated skin from air conditioning and dry air. Before you apply makeup, it is critical to moisturize to prevent the dreaded cake face. 
• Deflating Puffy Eyes- This is the time where refrigerated eye cream, eye rollerballs or cold metal spoons come in handy to help deflate puffy, tired eyes. 
• Light Base- The lighter the base, the better your skin will look. If you have good skin, I would highly recommend a tinted moisturizer or BB cream to mimic dewy, healthy skin. If you cannot part with foundation, I would recommend a foundation with a little bit of glowyness to it. A matte, heavy foundation will make your skin look more dragged out and tired. My favorite tinted moisturizer is the NARS Radiant Tinted Moisturizer and my favorite satin-finish foundation is the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation. 
• Glowy Primer- My favorite primer ever, the L'Oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Primer is fantastic for adding some life back into your face. Any sort of luminizer will help reflect light from your face and help make you look more awake. 
• Conceal those Bags- Using a light, but pigmented concealer is one of the best ways to disguise tired eyes. I absolutely adore the Maybelline Age Rewind Undereye Circle Eraser for covering the bluest of undereye bags. Make sure to use a thin layer to avoid looking cakey. Yellow toned concealers are best for concealing dark bags.
• Flushed Cheeks- A pretty flush of blush on the cheeks really helps to make you look more lively and less tired. I personally love pink blush to brighten up the complexion and add some color back into your face. One of my favorite blushes for this is the Joe Fresh Cream Blush in Blossom. 
• Go Easy on the Powder- I would recommend using powder sparingly. An overpowdered face makes you look cakey and more tired. If possible, stick to applying powder to the T-zone. 
• Simple Eye Makeup- A shimmery gold or champagne eyeshadow is bascially all you need to brighten up the eye area. Applying a nude eye liner to the waterline will help combat red eyes. A coat of black mascara also helps to open up the eyes. If you cannot go without eyeliner, stick to lining just the upper lid. 
• Lip Balm- Keep your lips moisturized with a simple lip balm. Tinted balms (such as the Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm) help to keep your lips moisturized and add a sheer pop of color to the lips. 

What are your tips to look more lively after a night shift? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading.