We reveal the skincare and makeup tips and tricks you can lean on to look alive when you feel anything but.

The holiday season is in full swing, bringing cold days and festive nights. No matter how well you stick to your yoga schedule or morning meditations, the jam-packed party period can wreak havoc on your skin, leading to a dull, lacklustre complexion.  

Achieve some balance by treating your skin to some much-needed TLC so it looks glowing and healthy during this hectic, indulgent and cold festive period. The secret? Keep a few skincare and makeup tricks up your sleeve for those moments when you need to look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, even when you might not feel it.

1. Exfoliate Before Masking

During the winter, a nourishing face mask can work wonders to brighten, hydrate and re-plump your complexion. But if you exfoliate beforehand, you’ll be removing any dry, dead skin that could potentially hinder the mask’s skin-boosting effects. Use The Ritual of Namaste Skin Brightening Face Exfoliator, which has gentle scrub particles made from bamboo. Follow this with The Ritual of Namaste Glow packed with AHAs to boost radiance.

2. Mist Before Moisturising

Did you know, applying your serum or moisturiser to damp skin can help drive the active ingredients deeper down, because skin is more permeable when it’s not completely dry? Since your complexion needs all the help it can get during the winter months, leave skin slightly damp before applying your favourite serum, day or night cream.

3. Give your complexion a boost

Now is the time to up the ante when it comes to your skincare routine. Our natural boosters help you to personalise your routine to your skin’s needs. Want brighter skin? Try the Niacinamide or Vitamin C. Looking for smoother, plumper skin? Give the Bakuchiol or Peptides a go. Need hydration? The Hyaluronic Acid is for you.

4. Mix Face Oil with Foundation

If your foundation doesn’t sit quite right or you want to ramp up the glow, try mixing—on the back of your hand—a couple of drops of either the Restoring Face Oil or Anti-Aging Face Oil, into your liquid foundation. Apply with your fingers, a brush or sponge, whatever you prefer! Your makeup will look more luminous all over, then just conceal where needed.

5. Highlight with Skincare

Be strategic with your skincare application and work a little extra face oil or moisturiser into the areas where you would typically apply highlighter. When you come to layer on your foundation, blend around these areas. The finished look will be a naturally glowing and beautifully radiant-looking complexion.

6. Add a Pop of Blusher

Blusher is the fastest way to look awake. Dust a little onto cheeks blending up slightly and then up towards your temples and across the bridge of your nose—blending into these areas mimics the way we naturally flush. Want to ramp up the luminosity? Dab a little tinted lip balm onto your cheeks for added radiance—sounds odd but works like a treat!

7. Brighten Your Eyes

If your eyes are giving away the fact that you had less than the recommended eight hours sleep, then take a little highlighter or a radiant concealer and blend it into the inner corners of your eyes. You’ll look wide awake in no time.

8. Wear Lipstick as a Stain

Lipstick is another sure-fire way to give yourself a beauty boost. But if you tend to shy away from bold lip colours, try this trick. Apply a little lipstick onto your lips and then, using your finger or a small brush, buff the colour into your lips blurring it at the edges. This will give the lipstick a lived-in and more wearable finish, but you’ll still get the awakening effect of wearing a bold colour.