3 steps to look good with a cold

The inevitable happened this Winter too, and I'm writing this post with a terrible cold. Oh well, and this year isn't being too bad! Apart from the runny eyes and nose, the next thing I hate the most about having a cold is how hard it is to look good, as the skin is suddenly lifeless and a long lasting face is incredibly hard to achieve. I've been doing my best to avoid those nasty effects, and here's the step I've been following in the last few days!

The first thing I like to do is giving my skin all the possible hydration, as having a cold makes the skin dehydrated and dull. For this I like to use an intense hydrating mask like La Roche-Posay Hydraphase Intense, that I apply in a thick layer at night and top it up with the Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Oil right before bed to seal in the moisture. This mask is intensely hydrating and soothing, and contains Hyaluronic Acid and La Roche-Posay Thermal Spring Water.
Another lifesaver is the Vichy Aqualia Thermal Dynamic Hydration Serum, that is concentrated in Thermal Spa Water and enriched with Hyaluronic Acid too. It's a lightweight serum that is instantly absorbed and leaves the skin looking instantly brighter and suppler. It's intensely soothing too and works great on skin left irritated by the cold.

Makeup wise, when having a cold I take two things in mind: I need a primer and it better be an illuminating one to bring life back to my face, and the base needs to be light as a super high coverage would look terrible as it would be perfect all over and completely ruined near my nose. My latest primer addition, the Becca Backlight Priming Filter, is everything I thought it would be and better: it gives the skin a gorgeous glow and feels like velvet on the skin, blurring imperfections. Then I go in with a BB cream/tinted moisturizer, and lately I've been enjoying mixing the Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue with my tried and tested love Dior Diorskin Nude BB Creme. I started doing this for shade purposes but I really enjoy how the Complexion Rescue slightly sheers out the medium coverage of the Dior base, for a combination that's incredibly skin light and allows the luminosity of the primer to shine through.

To finish off the look I love using soft brightening hues on the eyes, and a cream eyeshadow is perfect for its lasting power. I love using pink tones on my eyes, and a cream eyeshadow favourite is the Chanel Illusion D'Ombre in Moonlight Pink from the Spring Collection. A little bit of mascara and the eyes are done. A little bit of bronzer and pink blush on the cheeks, and on the lips I stick with the comfort and glow of the aptly named Dior Addict Lip Glow in the original pink shade. It's my "I can't live without it" lip product, as it gives a gorgeous brightening pink tint to the lips, looks glossy without shimmer and it's super comfortable to wear and hydrating.

With these steps I make sure to look good and not too made up, as it would be pointless when facing a cold. Do you wear makeup when you have a cold? Do you go for a full face or a few brightening steps like me?

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