Tis the season for parties and socializing! That means two things, 1: we all want to look our best for these hangouts and possible holiday photos, and 2: many of us will probably be indulging in extra sweets, treats, and/or wine, and cocktails. This little bit of extra indulging can affect the radiant, fresh glow we are going for. Not to worry! I have some pro skincare and makeup tips that will allow you to indulge all you want and still show up to the family gathering looking fabulous.

scrub me secret: A fresh-faced, natural look is key to looking youthful and luminous. These tips are going to help your skin look its best (fast) and define your naturally beautiful features.

Fresh-faced skin tips from a professional esthetician:

Get rid of a pimple (or minimize it) fast:

Diet, lack of sleep, and stress are all things that can make a pimple pop up out of nowhere. To reduce redness, puffiness, and overall visibility of the breakout take these steps!

1. Do not push on it or pick at the pimple to try and extract it. This will only make it more inflamed.

2. Get a cotton pad or clean washcloth and run it under cold water. Apply to your pimple and apply light pressure. If you by chance have a calming CBD toner, put it in the refrigerator for 10+ minutes and then put some on a cotton pad and apply it to your face.

3. Spot treat the pimple with hydrocortisone (yes the kind for bug bites!) and leave it on like a mask for 15-30 min. Remove gently with the washcloth or cotton pad.

4. Apply a soothing serum, toner, or powder. Skip this step if you don’t have anything like this.

5. Dab on a tinted moisturizer or BB cream.

De-puff & brighten eyes:

Before we get into makeup tips for bright eyes I’ve got a few great tips to share that take away puffiness around the eyes fast. You’ll need either a gua sha stone, jade roller, cool roller, or a clean spoon. Put your stone, roller, or spoon into the freezer for 10-20 minutes. Apply nourishing serum or lightweight facial oil to your skin and then go take your chilly tool out of the freezer. Using the smooth flat part of the spoon or gua sha stone or the roller slowly glide underneath your eye from the tear duct all the way out to your temple. Use light pressure for this. Repeat this motion 4 times. Flip the stone over to the colder side and repeat on the other eye. Always roll from the intter part of your eye, outward to drain puffiness.

scrub me secret: extra points if you have collagen eye masks! Toss these into the refrigerator for an hour and then apply them to your eyes and leave on for the recommended time. This is great for smoothing underneath the eyes.

Get fresh/dewy skin:

Hydration is key to having dewy/radiant looking skin. Take these steps to infuse skin with hydration:

1. Optional but important first step. Sleep with a humidifier in your room to help skin retain moisture.

2. Saturate your clean face with a hydrating toner or plain rose water. This can be done using a spritz bottle or clean hands.

3. While skin is damp apply a your moisturizer. I really like rebalance from PCA and Peach & Lily glass skin moisturizer. These are both great for all different skin types.

4. Finish off with a non-pore-clogging hydrating facial SPF.

   scrub me secret: giving yourself an at-home facial steam treatment using an at-home facial steamer or a few simple items from your kitchen is another amazing way to give your face some extra hydration plus luminosity. after you cleanse your face, steam your skin, and then continue with the hydration steps.

Easy, natural makeup tips from an expert makeup artist:

I chatted with my peers that are makeup and beauty experts and gathered a few of the most useful tips for achieving a naturally beautiful look.

Tips for touching up brows:

Use a technical brow pen like the one from Anastacia of Beverly Hills or Glossier brow flick. The pencil creates the thinnest most realistic brow hairs so they look really natural and you don’t have to use a lot of product. Just fill in your shape where brows are sparse.

Using makeup for a “glow” without looking greasy:

 Professionals suggests starting by prepping your face with a lightweight facial oil (like the scrub me nourishing serum). Once that has absorbed into your skin apply a small amount of tinted moisturizer to your face with clean fingertips. Then apply a highlight product just on the top of your cheekbones and a dash above your brows. This will give an all-over natural glow!

 A couple of easy contour tricks:

  A brown color works best as your contour color. Make sure it has no sparkle and is a matte shade. A popular one is the hoola bronzer by benefit. Use the “number 3” shape to mark your contour. Meaning sweep your brush starting in the middle of your forehead then to the cheekbone then to your lowest chin area in the shape of a three.

Makeup tips for bright-looking eyes:

 Dash a small amount of a shimmer eyeshadow or white eye liner right in the inner corner of the eyes to make them pop. Such an easy trick!

 Easy tips for longer-looking lashes:

 Curl your lashes first, then use a lash primer to coat the lashes. If you don’t have a primer you can skip this step. Then, apply your favorite mascara in an upwards motion and slowly “shimmy” the lash brush from side to side while you apply. That makes sure each lash is evenly coated.

 A lip color that looks great on everyone:

Line and fill in your lip with a warm nude liner. Once fully lined and filled in, layer it with nude pink lipgloss. I really like the fact that Suntegrity lip glosses have SPF in them, and there is the perfect nude pink shade in their line.

Voila! You should be looking great and feeling refreshed with these skin and makeup tips. Happy holidays and happy New Year!