Monday, August 27, 2012

Do You Get Allergy Face? See How I Avoid It!

Last week I was invited by Zyrtec to the London Hotel here in NYC to get top tips from fashion and beauty expert Rebekah George on how to combat Allergy Face.
The gorgeous atrium at the London Hotel
What exactly is Allergy Face? It's the red eyes, puffiness and swelling you can get from staving off allergies and with fall season upon us I was excited to learn simple ways that I can look my best despite allergies. I'm a contact lens wearer and suffer from red itchy eyes during allergy season so I tend not to wear any make-up (plus since Nia keeps me on my toes I often don't even have time to apply it anyway!). Luckily for me there were some efficient tips I used that I've already started using . . .

The highlighter, bronzer and bright eye shadow gave me a natural-looking glow.
I was a little nervous about wearing a bright pink lip because I have what I call really luscious lips (!), but Rebekah convinced me I can totally pull it off! In the end I really liked my natural look.  


My finished look. No more Allergy Face!

With fashion and beauty Rebekah George
Here are my favorite 6 tips that I learned that afternoon:
  • Store makeup brushes in a sealed bag to prevent dust from setting in or wipe them off with a tissue after each use to reduce contamination.
  • Be sure to apply your makeup next to a window. The natural light will help prevent you from applying too much makeup. You don’t need to go overboard on makeup to combat Allergy Face - the key is less is more.
  • Layer on a luminescent highlighter before your foundation to make your skin look awake and healthy.
  • Stash two spoons in the fridge at all times. Take them out and place on top of your eyes whenever your eyes are puffy. The metal from the spoons holds in coldness longer so you get better results than using cucumber slices.
  • Rim your inner lids with a white pencil to help brighten up eyes and wake up your face.
  • Avoid irritating your eyes by applying mascara just to the tips of your lashes – it gives you the look of an open and defined eye with less risk of upsetting eyes.
Carissa Black make-up bag and some of the beauty products I received

We always keep allergy medicine in our cabinet, but I always wonder if the 24 hour pills actually work. I was happy to learn that Zyrtec starts working within hour 1 of use and I was given a few samples to try this fall. In addition to these I also received the cutest Etsy-based make-up bag stuffed with products to try (my fave so far are the Visine soothing eye wipes which soothe troubled eyes and double as eye make-up remover).

I'm ready to stave off Allergy Face this fall. What about you?

What tips do you use to keep Allergy Face at bay?

Disclosure: I was invited to this event as part of Mom Central. I received a complimentary make-over and product gift-bag and was not obligated to write this post. All opinions expressed are my own.