Summer’s here, which means it’s time to update our skincare regimen and switch out those dark makeup colors to newer, fresher ones.
TLC’s What Not To Wear beauty expert Carmindy Bowyer recently launched an iTunes app (there really is an app for everything these days!) to help women determine the colors that go best on their skin. Choose an avatar with your skin tone, hair color and eye color, and test away — without the nosy salesperson brushing things on your cheeks whether you want her to or not. Color combos include signature looks like “Vacation Glow” and “Work/Day.”
Before makeup application comes excellent skincare, Carmindy stressed. “Skincare is the most important thing because you have to start with a good canvas before you swipe on lip gloss or lipstick,” she said.
So what’s this season’s must-do? Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate. For those with oily skin, Carmindy suggests exfoliating every other day. Anybody with normal or dry skin should do so only once or twice a week. As important as it is to maintain healthy skin, Carmindy says that the most expensive products are not always the best options — is this music to anybody else’s ears? Not only can drugstore brands work just as well as the products found on the counters of high-end department stores, some of the best skincare products are right in your own kitchen.Â
Free face scrub, anyone? According to Carmindy, granulated white sugar serves as an excellent scrub. Because it dissolves in water, it gently removes dead skin cells without scrubbing the skin raw, which Carmindy said that some scrubs do.
This tip isn’t just for collegiettes™, either! If your guy complains about ingrown hairs after shaving, let him in on this little secret! Gently buffing a wet face will prevent ingrown hairs by scrubbing away the top layer of skin that don’t allow hair follicles to grow straight out.
Regardless of your skincare and makeup routines, Carmindy said that how you feel is more important than the purely aesthetic part of beauty, and offered these tips to accomplish that:
- Rather than criticizing others, compliment them and treat them positively.
- Put down those gossip mags! Looking for imperfections in celebs or fawning over your fave star is not going to up your self esteem.
- Stop comparing yourself to other women — instead, focus on you.
“I don’t care about what size or shape you are or how you look, it’s all about how you feel and what you can accomplish each and every day,” Carmindy said.
What are you doing this summer to shine — inside and out?