So it’s the end of fashion week here in New York and I can honestly say I had more late nights and early mornings these last two weeks than throughout all of college. Unlike during final exam week at school, looking and behaving like a zombie isn’t exactly acceptable on the runway (or backstage, where I was) so even though I felt like a walking dead person I had to take the time to keep myself looking happy and healthy. While makeup can work wonders, I’ve found that there are under-eye circles that even the best concealer can’t disguise and that’s when I decided to get serious about my pre- and post-makeup routine.

About three weeks ago I received a few samples from Lavera to try.  Since I was in the middle of moving to NYC I packed up my samples and didn’t uncover them until just before fashion week and I thought to myself “what better time to test out eye moisturizers than while I am pulling all-nighters, slathering on makeup, and stressing about every minute detail of each runwayshow?” Not only did my Lavera products get passing grades, they passed with flying colors. I think that my skin actually improved during fashion week (almost unbelievable) and here is how:

The best beauty advice I ever received was to take off my makeup before going to bed. While it was extremely tempting to fall right into bed when I got home every night (at 3:00am) I always made sure to give my skin a rest too. After washing my face every night I moisturized with the MyAge Intensive Eye Cream (never mind that it was made for the eyes, I put it all over my face). My skin has never felt so soft and I have experienced no breakouts over the last 15 days (a record for the amount of stress/lack of sleep I was enduring).

I think maybe the most telltale signs of a sleepless night are groggy eyes. After going to bed at 3:00am and waking up at 7:00am I should have had some seriously frightening eyes. I’ve tried everything from tea bags to frozen spoons and anything in between and nothing has ever really done the trick for me when it comes to getting rid of puffy eyes. Whether it’s too messy or just too much work I’ve slowly accepted that my morning-after under-eye bags will just always be a repercussion of staying up late. Not so with the MyAge Cooling Eye Roll-On. Maybe it’s the combination of ingredients like white tea and aloe vera that finally gave me what I needed, or maybe it was the ease of a little bottle I could keep on my bed stand, but this eye-roller is what got me going after a night of little shut-eye.

The best part about the Lavera products is that they are natural and organic. The eye cream and roll-on I used were even vegan. While the products do run on the expensive side ($45 for 0.5 oz of moisturizer) I have to say they are worth the price. If it weren’t for my intern budget I would be buying up the entire line! Next on my wish list: the Intensive Facial Repair Mask or the MyAge Foaming Cleanser.

Photos courtesy of Lavera