So you forgot to sleep on your back. Or maybe you just can’t sleep on your back. Maybe you can only sleep well on your stomach. Maybe use a CPAP mask. Whatever the reason, you now have a leaf tattoo design on your not-so-rosy cheeks. The pillow was not your friend and now you look like an ultimate fighter with facial scars. And you have a meeting in an hour.
To do? Wear a full face mask overnight? Sew tennis balls on the sides of your pajamas? Fill wrinkled cannons with pancake makeup? Too late for those extreme steps? Break the botox? Exaggerated.
Try the following three steps the next time you look in the mirror in the morning and see the dreaded wrinkles on your skin.
1. Clap your hands. Yes, we have all tried it. And works. Get some stimulation. Follow a short session of patting the cheeks with alternating pats of hot and cold water. Go cold first. I found that it makes the muscles of the face strain and cold. Then when the hot water hits, something about the release of blood in those areas you just pulled from causes the cracks to swell.
2. Recrease the pleats. Now go one by one and reverse the fold on the top offenders. You may not be able to do this for all small nicks, but there will be some significant linear dents, which will be noticeable in a meeting room. Pinch the skin around them and fold them in the opposite direction. Do it carefully, if you squeeze too hard, the capillaries underneath can burst. The lines won’t go away right away, but you’ve redistributed the fleshy fluids out of the fold.
3. Apply a deep moisturizer. Humectants lubricate the skin and fill in the spaces in the skin cells. Use a water-based product. These tend to be absorbed more quickly. A good moisturizer will trap water in the outer layer of skin on your face.
Sometimes I do these steps twice on bad mornings. The lines won’t go back immediately, but I’ve found that they disappear within several minutes. So use this routine the next time you’re sulking in bed, and you’ll start your day confidently, with a nice glow on your face.