How to avoid looking like the walking dead

Fake it until you make it. Keep your make-up looking top-notch
Fake it until you make it. Keep your make-up looking top-notch

photo by Nathan SiemersThere are many different fields in which one can practise law, and they seem to all have one thing in common: long hours.

One particularly extended period of sleep deprivation for me was spring 2009, when I was assisting on a month-long trial. Not having the time to get a proper night’s sleep for a month meant that I was not looking my best. However, I knew that this was all part of the job, so I was fine with it.

But then, towards the end of the trial, Toronto Fashion Week began. The venue? Nathan Phillips Square. So now, not only was I looking as worn out as I felt, but some of the most beautiful women from all over the world were hanging out literally in my path between the court house and the office. Predictably, these circumstances encouraged me to step up my makeup routine just a touch.

In that vein, here are some tips for the next time you are suffering through a long period with little sleep and you want to look your best — whether it be because you are facing down a pack of international models, or you just finished that big trial/deal/whatever and you would like to go for a celebratory drink without someone running away from you screaming “Oh no, a zombie!”

Use Camouflaging Colours

HDStress and lack of sleep tend to bring out skin problems, or worsen existing ones —  like redness from pimples or rosacea. Luckily, redness can be countered with green makeup products. Use a green primer, such as Make Up For Ever HD Microperfecting Primer in green ($32, Sephora) to counter overall redness. Use a green concealer, such as that found in Quo’s Camouflage Concealer kit ($19, Shoppers Drug Mart) to cover red spots such as pimples or broken capillaries.

Mauve or lavender shades brighten skin. Try Make Up For Ever HD Microperfecting Primer in mauve to brighten skin overall, or in blue if you are pale.

Fight under-eye bags and dark circles

QuoOdd as it may sound, you can eliminate under-eye bags caused by excess fluid by sleeping with medical tape ($2, drugstores) on the area for a week or two. However, this tip will not work on under-eye bags caused by extra fat deposits.

For dark circles, Quo’s Camouflage Concealer kit comes in handy again. Cover the area with the yellow concealer to lighten the darkness, then tap the lavender concealer along the darkest part to make the last traces disappear through brightening.

Use these tips sparingly of course; camouflage makeup works pretty well, and you don’t want anyone accusing you of being a slacker because you look so good!

 


Donna Wilson is a Toronto-based commercial litigator at Affleck Greene McMurtry LLP. Her style and beauty column appears every second Wednesday.

 

Zombie photo by Nathan Siemers