There is enough info out there about skin care and beauty products to keep us looking glowing and flawless and whatever other charming adjective springs to mind. But lezbihonest! Sometimes school, exams, work, and so forth just get in the way and certain habits fall by the wayside because we’d literally rather catch half an hour more of sleep than anything else. This doesn’t go away, FYI.Â
Looking back, I’m so grateful my mother constantly told me about the importance of looking after my skin before I was anywhere near my teens and it only took one really bad sunburn to ensure I never forgot my SPF again. She qualified as a beautician and worked for many years as a make-up artist, so even at the height of being an insufferable know-it-all in my late teens, I knew this was an area I was going to be schooled. Hard. Her guidance (and sometimes nagging) paid off and since it’s the beginning of a new year, let’s recap what you shouldn’t be doing.
1) Not taking your make-up off
It’s 2020 – we need to stop having to reiterate this! Not taking your makeup off properly the night before is one of the quickest ways to develop blemishes, not to mention making your skin look dull.
2) Putting more make-up over yesterday’s make-up
This pretty much follows point #1. If you haven’t taken it off the night before, you probably won’t be bothered to wash your face properly before putting it on for the day. This was a technique used by Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and she was downright terrifying.
3) Not. Wearing. Sunscreen
Again, in 2020 this shouldn’t still have to be said, yet here we are. Sunscreen decreases your risk of developing skin cancer and it helps prevent you looking older than you are.
4) Using the same brush for everything
Look, I’m as thrifty as the next person, but even I can appreciate my foundation brush is not going to work for everything else and I really should use a clean brush for blending. Imagine Picasso using just one paintbrush. Your face is a canvas too, make sure you use the right tools.
5) Never washing your make-up brushes.
We’ve covered this already!
6) Not properly removing old fake tan
This is the same as the makeup principle in #2. If you want to glow, give your fake bake the best chance of being streak free. That means thoroughly exfoliating, any necessary hair removal and keeping your skin properly moisturised. Yes, it can be inconvenient, but a flawless glow makes it totally worthwhile. This isn’t the early 2000s and orange is out.
7) Not washing your sheets
Ok, firstly… Eeew. As a follow on from point #5, if you regularly use fake tan the downside is your sheets are going to take a bit of a beating, and that’s understandable. What’s not understandable is choosing to keep sleeping in them and allowing them to get more stained. Fight the crusty student stereotype. Keep your linen clean, your skin will thank you.
8) Picking at your nail polish
Look, the occasional chip is one thing. Having nail polish missing from sections of every single nail is another thing altogether. It’s one of the quickest ways to look sloppy. If you don’t have time to touch up your manicure, rather just remove your varnish and keep your nails bare.