5 quick fixes for great party skin

A light peel should always be your first step: it lifts dead surface skin cells (leaving a smoother, more reflective and glowing skin surface) and helps with absorption of subsequent products – especially anything that hydrates, which is essential during the winter months. But keep it light – you want to remove just the dead top layer, not the healthy skin underneath, and the more gentle daily peel pads are perfect for this. Follow with vitamin C, which is always touted as an essential glow-giver. While it’s great to use long-term, I personally never saw the rosy-glow benefits it’s meant to give in the short-term until I tried Lixirskin Vitamin C Paste. Use it for three minutes post-peel and, when washed off, skin has an even tone, clearness and clarity that you should actually see.

The new-generation clay masks are a revelation. Forget the smile-and-they-crack versions of years ago; these are soft and creamy and will deep-clean dull, oily, post-travel or city skin. Dr Sebagh’s Skin Perfecting Mask is excellent, as is Dr. Barbara Sturm’s Face Mask. They even work perfectly on my dry skin, leaving it looking refreshed, calm and velvety.

It’s incredible how hydration alone can transform skin in minutes. There are plenty of moisture-plumping masks that work really well (Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Concentrated Recovery PowerFoil Mask, Tata Harper Hydrating Floral Mask and La Mer The Treatment Lotion Hydrating Mask are favorites), but when time is short, layering up a hyaluronic acid serum can work just as well – keep reapplying to really ‘soak’ your skin. Even better, use both; layer the serum under the sheet mask, then use a face roller over it to push the product even deeper into your skin.

End-of-day makeup can look flat and dull, but rather than starting over and re-applying it, try blending one pump of a non-oily, light-textured hydrating serum or facial mist (Dr Dennis Gross C+Collagen Perfect Skin Set + Refresh Mist is excellent) over your palms and pressing onto your face. This quickly revives your skin and makeup, leaving both looking fresh. Also, mixing a little eye cream into your concealer is a fast way to make tired eyes look bright and get rid of crepey dry lines.

The real beauty of a dry sheet mask is that it work so well over makeup. I often wear Charlotte Tilbury’s Instant Magic Facial Dry Sheet Mask on top of my makeup in the car to a party or dinner and take if off when parking – it gives the best dewy glow without messing up your makeup.