By Andi Douglas, nwaMotherlode.com beauty editor
Thanks to a bad head cold, a persistent cough and an ever-expanding pregnant tummy, I had to spend 3 nights last week sleeping upright in a chair. Of course, you can imagine, it was not the best rest I ever had and then I had to spend my days dealing with hyperactive kids who had cabin fever. By the time Saturday came around and we had to attend a birthday party my appearance was a little more frightening than a Tim Burton movie.
I only had to appear life-like for a couple of hours so I turned to my make-up bag for a little camo.
Bronzer was my best friend as I put some color back into my sickly pallor. The trick to making bronzer a natural glow and not an orange mask is to apply it on the same places you get sun kissed during the summer. For me, that is my forehead, cheeks and a little across my nose. Since I needed a little extra help, I used a big powder brush to dust all over, under my chin and down my neck and collarbone, so I wouldn’t have an obvious makeup line.
Unfortunately, my exhausted eyes required me to wear my glasses, which I rarely wear out of the house. My eyes always look really small behind my super thick lenses, so as tempting as it is, I can’t skip eye makeup. To help minimize the redness of my eyes, I used navy blue eyeliner and a brown shadow, and, of course, a little concealer under my eyes to cover the dark circles. I skipped my mascara for two reasons: I am prone to eye infections, especially when sick and a mascara tube is a like a bacteria incubator and when I wear mascara and my eyes water, my lashes hit my glasses and leave annoying smudges.
If you can’t go without and glasses aren’t an issue, try using a small sample tube of mascara that you won’t mind throwing away when you feel better.
Finally, because I had blown my nose nonstop for a week, my lips and nose were red and chapped. Extra moisturizer and a little more concealer around my nose solved that problem, but my lips still looked unnaturally puffy, so I took the time to line them before using my favorite moisturizing lipstick from Origins and then a little bit of chapstick on top instead of gloss.
I made it through the party with an excellent performance as a non-zombie, mostly motivated by cupcakes, before going home and crawling into bed. I assume my husband let the kids watch non-stop cartoons to keep them quiet while I rested, but I didn’t bother to ask. Thank goodness for Nick Jr. and a hubbie that would rather watch the kids than listen to me gripe!
Have a question for Andi, beauty blogger and fellow mama? Andi welcomes your questions and feedback to Beauty Buzz. E-mail her at mamas@nwaMotherlode.com.
