Shocker of a sight in Harvey Nicks (me!!)

[bakedbeansandtuna]

I need help and advice from you lovely people!!

I’m a long time lurker but post now and again. I look at this board a lot and you seem to give out some good advice. Well - I need help.

I’m 34 and have a HUGE problem with insomnia and I’m an academic, full time. I’ve got a lot of worries but haven’t we all. Well anyway I noticed yesterday I had big bags under my eyes and decided to get some concealer today to try and look a bit more human. Well. I ended up in Harvey Nicks to try some concealer out, I don’t know if its just me but bloody hell I looked especially haggard. They seem to have especially monster making lighting in there. Or more likely, its just me. Argh! I don’t smoke or drink, but there’s a lot of stress. Well I ended up buying a concealer (apparently it will make me look ‘radiant’…..!!) but I could do with any other suggestions skin care wise.

The insomnia problem has went on for years but basically, I imagine a lot of you are in the same boat, especially if you have kids too. So what do you use in terms of cosmetics and skin care that actually works?

Thanks a lot!

B

And as for make up I love nars and I love kiehls night oil as a facial treatment - put it on cleansed skin at night leave it on till morning and it works wonders, it smells divine too.

I'm obviously a freak, when I swapped running for HIIT I got even more hyper.

It's a shame I can't be hooked up to some sort of device that would give me free electricity for the flat, I could save a fortune.

Maudlinmaud-was it 'my perfect eyes'? If it works, I could be tempted.....

www.myperfecteyes.co.uk

I've bought the myperfecteyes
Can not perfect it, tried & tried watched YouTube video.
Less is more and still can't get it right, it leaves white mark

I will reply properly tomorrow to you all but wanted to quickly share a recommendation I received on Facebook for something called Melatonin you can find at Holland and Barratt too..!

Slim the NARS one was £23. More than I'd like to pay but I presume it will last for a long time. A lot of these suggestions here are really reasonable price wise so that's great.

Thanks all. Its nice to know I'm not alone with this. It's been a problem since 2008 for me..

B

I tried so many concealers and correctors, lots of different products aimed at reducing eye bags and firming the skin. Nothing worked. Then I had tear trough fillers. The difference was amazing. I can thoroughly recommend them if your eye bags and shadows are caused by tear troughs, which lots are.

dowser and slimline I should have added the caveat that I'm a coeliac so my digestion is all over the show, so its probably why it had such a big impact. I'd also just had a course of antibiotics, so maybe also why it helped.

there is good research that more fibre helps, I'm going to try a prebiotic when I finish the bottle of probiotics. much of the science about sleep thats happening at the moment seems to be finding a link with gut bacteria. although obviously, everyone is different.

Baked I've been on all the heavy duty ones i was addicted to diazepam for about a year but that antihistamine still works for me.

I only found out about it when my psychiatrist prescribed it. I've never found melatonin that good but i know others who have. Everyone reacts differently to meds though so it can just depend.

I really hope something works for you, I think a lack of sleep can make everything else seem 10 times worse.

www.acupuncture.org.uk/public-content/public-ask-an-expert/ask-an-expert-neuro-and-psycho-logical/ask-an-expert-insomnia/can-acupunture-definatley-help-with-sleep-problems.html

www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/toyah-willcox-on-her-battle-with-insomnia-1586599

Glamourous, I go to the gym almost daily, sadly this doesn't work for me either. It's pretty crazy. I did the Manchester 10K and I didn't sleep that well after that, either. I do think it works for a lot of people though. I wish it worked for me. I didn't have time to go to H&B today but I do have some diazepam but I prefer to keep that for when I am totally desperate.

I think I need a lifestyle overhaul, I think that's probably the case for most of us with sleep/stress problems if nothing else works. Maybe it is a wake up call. For now I will experiment with the number of options you kind people have mentioned.

Try and have a restful weekend everyone.

Hope something works for you baked

Bumble, which probiotic do you use? I'm not insomniac but am waking up every hour or two throughout the night, which is no fun.
I do find youtube sleep hypnosis recordings good for dozing off, also Buddhify. Sorry if you've tried them before op.

Thanks Unborn, same to you and all other fellow insomniacs here! At least we've got a few things to try now :)

"I think I need a lifestyle overhaul"

I've had a few retired people tell me their insomnia went as soon as they packed in work but I will have to wait a while for that!

i can guarantee that you weren't as much of a shocker of a sight as the woman I saw at lunchtime, obviously dressed up for something, in a plunge neck dress that her massive boobs were barely glued into.

Do you respond well to meditation/hypnosis? I have the type of insomnia you describe (though not as severe) - fall asleep immediately then wake at 2/3 am like clockwork (am a teacher and brain then goes into overdrive). There's an app called 'mindifi' which has a hypnosis called 'falling back to sleep' designed to get you, well, back to sleep, and it works like a dream (hehe) for me. It's one of the paid-for bits of content, but I've used it consistently for two years so it's def worth the £2.99 I paid for it!

It's got so familiar that sometimes I can just run through it in my head from memory without switching it on and it's STILL effective.

Hope you find some relief x

Lol @ pick 👍🏻😉 I don't know my undereye bags were probably bigger than her boobs and there's nothing to stuff them into!

Slim ditto. Still got a good bit to go myself 😬😬😬 although I hope to move careers...

Thank you for the app recommendation! I'll get that. I've been using relaxing piano type music which works a bit but doesn't stop you waking up again. I'll look for this on the App Store but I've never tried hypnosis.