UrbanUpdate

Daily grooming is a routine undertaking. A wash, a shave, some moisturizer on your face and product in your hair: in a perfect world, getting ready to face the day involves accomplishing a fixed set of simple tasks day in and day out, almost by muscle memory. Sure, you might mix it up occasionally—parting your hair on the opposite side, giving stubble a shot, or some other minor alteration—but for the most part, when it comes to skin, hair and general body maintenance, things should remain even keel.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a perfect world, and every once in a while life will throw you a curveball. Whether it’s a sucker-punch right in the eyeball, an unexpectedly injurious romantic encounter, or simply a long night out drinking, sometimes things get dizzyingly out of hand and you're left to deal with the corporeal consequences. For exactly those moments when life’s (literally) slapped you in the face, we’ve compiled a few simple grooming tutorials here, so that you can look your best even after you’ve been bested.

How to Manage a Black Eye

So you’ve landed yourself a shiner. We’ve got good news and bad news. Let’s start with the bad: there’s absolutely nothing you can do to get rid of it right away. Sorry about that. But the good news is that there are ways to speed along the process. First, just like in any movie you’ve ever seen, you’re going to want to cool the area to reduce swelling. (A liquid-ice pack or a bag of frozen peas will work best, since they’ll mold to the shape of your face.) Keep at this for a day or two. Then, switch to warm compresses. At the same time, massage the area around the bruise, which‘ll help to activate the lymphatic system and clear out the clot right quick. Or, you could just suck it up and apply a little foundation to hide the thing. If your ego can take it, that is.

How to Keep From Getting a Scar

Nothing’s more badass than a scar, right? That may very well be true, but it takes a wound to make one and, depending on that laceration’s location on your body and the story behind it, you may not want to be reminded of it every time you look in a mirror. So to reduce your risk for scarring, the trick is to keep vigilant with wound care. By cleaning and re-bandaging regularly, as well as using petroleum jelly to keep a cut from scabbing, you can reducing healing time and cut scars off at the pass.

Already have a scar, but want to reduce its appearance? Applying a daily SPF is key, since sun exposure can worsen their appearance, as well as using an exfoliator, meant to refresh and renew skin. Over the counter treatments like dark spot correctors can also help.

How to Hide a Nasty Hangover

Now, we’ve recently spoken volumes on this, but here’s a quick list of necessary supplies to keep yourself from looking like the hungover-or-maybe-actually-still-drunk mess that you very well might be: eye drops, mouthwash, deodorant, styling paste, handsoap and eye cream. Oh, and something to replenish all those electrolytes you’re now lacking wouldn’t hurt either.

How to Get Rid of a Hickey

Well first off, congrats on getting lucky. But if you don’t want the world to know it—say you’ve got a board meeting tomorrow, or your actual girlfriend would be angry, you scoundrel—there are a few steps you can take to minimize the visual.

Remember, a hickey is essentially a variation of a bruise, so to treat them, all the same steps apply. That is, alternating ice packs and warm compresses on the area will stimulate blood flow and help the hickey heal quicker, as will massaging the area around the hickey (but not the hickey itself). There are more drastic measures you can take here, too. Some people swear that using a new toothbrush or the edge of a coin to scrape the hickey disperses the blood in the skin, making the hickey noticeably lighter instantly. Of course, then you run the risk of actually inflicting more damage on the area, which will only make the mark more visible.

Maybe just stick to wearing a scarf.

Related Stories for GQSkincareHangoversGrooming