It’s getting to that time of year when stress, late nights, and lack of sleep have really started to take a toll on your appearance. Don’t let yourself just fall into a grooming slump. Winter months are all about natural beauty and keeping your skin in tip top shape. Cold, dry air leads to a lot of dead skin that’s lurking on your face and body, making you look dull. But, you can look bright without using make up, and often times it looks better.
Start by taking a hot shower, to soften up your skin (this is key). Then use an exfoliating product and rub into your face in circular motions to slough off all that dead skin. St. Ive’s Apricot Scrub (and its cheap!) is the best for this, other products usually are not rough enough to get that dead skin off. Don’t forget your neck….or the rest of your body for that matter. It’s amazing what exfoliating does. If you only do this once a week, it will make a HUGE HUGE HUGE difference. For many people, they don’t get pimples from oily skin, but from dry skin. How you ask? When you have dead skin cells on your face, dirt and oil gets trapped under them and causes pimples to form. YIKES. Now do you want to exfoliate?
Then its time to moisturize! After your shower is the best time to moisturize because your skin is ready to soak it all up. I moisturize with body oil because my skin is so dry—so for you dry skinned people out there this is actually a life saver. I also put oil directly on my face, it’s a product called BioOil. Who would have thought oil was the key? For the rest of you: Aveeno makes a brightening face moisturizer that I love, CVS has copied this product but the Aveeno one works better. Steer clear of acne moisturizers, they just dry out your skin. Moisturize and let it set in, and then do it again! Your face is thirstier than you’d think!
People underestimate the importance of groomed eyebrows. It changes your whole face and many people ignore them. Seriously girls who don’t pluck or wax, its one of the greatest things you can do for your face. A good arch and thickness is key. You want no stray hairs, but never ever too thin. Keep your natural shape, just clean it up. For some, like myself, I have to trim them because they are too long and go all over the place. This can be really helpful! When you are done cleaning up your brows, brush them and a little hair gel will keep them perfect all day.
This is a diagram on where to groom your brows.
(Optional) Instead of baking in a tanning bed, the right sunless tanner can give you a boost without streakiness. AFTER you exfoliate (!!!!!), use a sunless tanner on your face. Rub it in in circular motions over and over and over until it starts to feel like it has soaked in. Don’t forget your neck and chest! The right tanner is key, it evens out your skin and makes any imperfections less noticeable. I use Jergen’s Natural Glow EXPRESS in Dark, and it gives me a pretty natural look. I suggest this or Jergen’s Natural Glow for face. I usually get a very even result.
Try this and even add a bit of mascara, and you will look like you’re glowing.
DO NOT FORGET:
EXFOLIATE
MOISTURIZE
BROWS (do not skip this step)
TAN