Sick Of Waking Up Looking Tired? This Is EXACTLY How To Make Your Skin Look Fresher And Younger With Only 6 Products

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So much of what Planet Beauty offers is about long-term, not immediately obvious results. And yet sometimes we don’t want some complicated, future-focused regime, we just want to see alive in the morning.

Forget stubbornness, discipline, diligence. What I crave most often is a one-stop solution for a stressed, sleep-deprived mid-life woman, something that gives instant results the morning after. Therefore, the following wonders should be on your wish list. (You’re welcome.)

1. Budget fix

If you’ve been using retinol but don’t implement it regularly, the fastest way to see life at 07.00 to give yourself a quick, slightly OTT shot of Q+A’s Gentle Retinol Facial Serum (£12 for 30ml, sainsburys.co .dk), then layer moisture on top.

I did it myself this week and no one believed I only had four hours of kip, my skin was so bright and flawless.

What I most often crave is a one-stop solution for a stressed-out, sleep-deprived midlife woman (stock image)

There is a misconception that if you use retinol products with a higher percentage, you will get better results. In fact, Q+A’s low-irritation 0.2 percent retinoid is powerful enough to make an impact without inciting your face into a rage.

The formula also contains soothing bisabolol and face-nourishing squalane to keep sensitivity at bay.

2. Luminous mask

As we limp toward the start of spring this week, our complexions look as gray and lifeless as the collective mood. Tula’s new Bedtime Bright Vita-charge Overnight Brightening Treatment (£54 for 50ml, old.tulaskincare.co.uk ) tackles this gloom in one fell swoop.

Made up of five essential vitamins and minerals, this mask locks in moisture to ensure your face wakes up radiantly blooming.

3. Plush nutrition

Athletia Phyto Sleeping Cream (£86 for 30g, selfridges.com). Potent but by no means heavy, it’s packed with plant-derived ingredients such as evening primrose, grape seed, sweet almond and olive oils, plus Athletia’s cocktail of active leaf extracts, sake and glycerin.

Its lavender and cedarwood scent encourages slumber, as does MTA Natural Oil (Athletia’s aroma derived from myrtle oil). If you hit the sack tired but threadbare, skin sore, you’ll greet the morning refreshed inside and out.

Sometimes we don’t want some elaborate, future-focused regimen, we just want to look alive in the morning (stock image)

If there’s no way on earth you can shell out £86, seek out Faace Stress Faace Moisturizer (£34 for 50g, wearefaace.com), an overnight restorer of dry, oily, dull and sensitized complexions.

Or, as the brand puts it: ‘Stress Faace AKA dry faace, overwhelmed faace, what-you-you-like-say faace, need-a-moment-of-calm face’.

4. Quash irritation

Hot new problem solver, Beauty Pie Happy Face 10% Azelaic Acid Skin-Clearing Gel-Cream (members, £19; non-members, £60, for 30ml, beautypie.com) is already a huge hit.

Fans rave about its ability to combat breakouts, rosacea and sensitivity, or what I think of as ‘the twisted midlife complexion that’s becoming my new normal’. This cured my blotchy, blotchy, post-holiday flare up overnight.

I want something that gives instant results the morning after (stock image)

5. Redness dishes

There’s nothing like Dr Brandt’s iD-Stress Icy Gel Moisturizer (now £49 for 50ml, drbrandtskincare.uk) to banish redness. It is run by Dr. B’s proprietary ‘Energlow Complex’, a blend of lipopeptides and fig stem cells.

Lipopeptides improve radiance by improving microcirculation and oxygenation, the stem cells fight adrenaline cascade while protecting against oxidative stress. The result: goodbye fatigue, which is why celebs love it to eliminate jet lag.

6. Beauty boost

You’re supposed to apply Guerlain’s Midnight Secret Late-night Recovery Treatment (£26 for 15ml, cultbeauty.co.uk) before you hit the pillow. However, I have used as a pre-photo or pre-party primer under foundation for 25 years.

Its nourishing soup of active ingredients plump and perfect until I could pass for a human.

Run to it!

One TikTok trend I can totally get behind is Garnier’s new Vitamin C Daily UV Fluid SPF50+ Glow (now £8.66, boots.com). A tube now sells every minute. Gen Z clearly knows that more than three quarters of UV exposure occurs in daily life, not just in summer as many Brits think.

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Cosmetic urge

Charlotte Tilbury’s ad campaigns are always epic. But the new Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Beauty Icon Lipsticks (£27, charlotte tilbury.com) really live up to the hype.

The collection consists of five KISSING Lipsticks in pink and five Matte Revolution Lipsticks in red.

I’m not a fan of any of the colors in theory, but the pinks in particular are excellent: literally brilliant in that they play tricks with the light.

Their pearly – but not pearly – shine makes lips look luscious and plump. The light shines off them. Tilbury talks about creating Hollywood architecture and this is the effect. A flattering filler that can become an essential midway.

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My icon of the week: Jamie Lee Curtis

The 65-year-old slathers on Nivea Essentially Enriched Body Lotion (£15.05 for 500ml, amazon.co.uk ), while Oscars make-up artist Grace Ahn prepped with Beauty Pie Youthbomb 360° Radiance Concentrate Serum (members £. 44; non-members £185), plus Youthbomb Biologic Collagen Peptide Cream (£44; £175, beautypie.com).