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What girl doesn’t want a cheat sheet to looking and feeling her best — and in the shortest timeframe possible?! These life-changing beauty hacks are a start in the right direction. (Life-changing? Well, at least beauty routine-changing 😉
Whether you’re looking for ways to improve your skin’s elasticity, reduce fine lines, amp up your makeup so that it’s working for you, or want a few tips and tricks to save time getting ready in the mornings, read on!
Here are nine life-changing beauty hacks every girl needs to know:
Beauty Hack #1: Use Ice to Depuff, Promote Circulation & Fight Acne
Ice, ice baby!
This one is so crucial for those mornings when you wake up feeling a little less glamorous than normal. Whether you had a wee too much fun the night before or if you had a rough night of crying (boo!), a gentle ice massage can make a huge difference in depuffing your face.
The super-simple, old-fashioned way to do this is by keeping spoons in the fridge and pressing around the eyes (or by using cucumber slices like you’re in an old rom-com!).
Another super simple way to depuff is to wrap an ice cube in a soft microfiber face towel and gently pat the covered ice all over your face, especially around the eye area.
(That’s what I do — you can get a big pack of microfiber face towels super cheap on Amazon. They’re soooooo much more gentle on your delicate face skin compared to regular towels!!)
If you want to get a little fancy with it…
I’ve seen some trusted make-up artists use some little sphere-like tools to de-puff their models. Once, at a facial, an icy tool was used on me, too! There are apparently tons of benefits, including healing/preventing acne, preventing fine lines and calming inflammation.
Here’s a set that looks like the one used in my facial, and this tool from Amazon has amazing reviews for helping to contour and slim the face (in addition to those other de-puffing benefits):
Beauty Hack #2: Use Lip Balm and a Toothbrush to Exfoliate Your Lips
Pucker up, princess 😉
If you regularly get those annoying little bits of flaky skin on your lips, this is the perfect solution. Swipe on a bit of balm (or Vaseline), then give your lips a gentle scrub with a toothbrush. It’ll probably tingle, but that’s OK! Just don’t press too hard, and don’t attempt if you actively have irritated or chapped lips.
No need for expensive lip scrubs. Do this once a week consistently for perfectly smooch-able lips!
Alternatively, you could easily make your own sugar scrub for your lips — I have DIY sugar scrub recipes linked here.
Beauty Hack #3: Calm Irritated Skin with a Homemade Oatmeal Face Mask
Oatmeal is known widely in the world of beauty for its naturally calming effects on skin. The best part is that you likely already have everything you’ll need to make this homemade face mask waiting in your pantry!
Check out the blog post below for my favorite DIY oatmeal face mask recipe:
HOW TO CREATE THE ULTIMATE LUXURY SPA DAY AT HOME IN 10 EASY STEPS
(Bonus points for being inexpensive, too!)
Beauty Hack #4: Give Yourself a Facial Massage
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Facial massages are one of the best FREE things you can do for your face!!
Using a few drops of facial oil, pure aloe vera (not the lime green stuff!), or thick facial lotion as a barrier, simply massage your face. This is so effective in helping to prevent wrinkles, release tension and brighten your skin — and it just feels good!
Bonus massage tip: Mix a drop or two of organic lavender essential oil into your normal daily moisturizer before gently rubbing your temples, jawline and brow bone — it’s a GAME CHANGER for relaxing those muscles!
You can massage in tiny circles, by hitting tension points, or by going random — the important thing here is that you are never pulling on dry skin.
Keep a thick barrier of slippery oil or lotion in between your hands and your skin (I like using either Cereve Moisturizing Cream or Honest Beauty’s Facial Oil for this — this oil smells like HEAVEN and feels super luxurious without being ridiculously expensive!).
For a step-by-step guide on facial massages, Lisa Eldridge is my most trusted resource.
Beauty Hack #5: Put a Tiny Bit of Face Powder on Eyelashes
This is a trick I learned back in my days on the stage: A super light swipe of face powder onto your eyelashes BEFORE you apply mascara can help thicken the look of your lashes and make your mascara stay all day!
Simply dip an eyeshadow brush (or powder brush) into your face powder, lightly dust onto your eyelashes, brush off all the excess by swiping BACK over it with a clean brush, then apply your mascara. Boom. Thick lashes.
Beauty Hack #6: Use Coconut Oil for Your Hair
For an inexpensive, effective hair mask, rummage in your kitchen for coconut oil!
Apply a generous amount to the bottom half of your hair, then throw it on top of your head in a clip while you clean the house or paint your nails. There’s no real time limit on how long you should leave it in, but shoot for a minimum of 30 minutes to an hour. Then, shampoo as normal — and voila! Shiny, healthy hair can be yours.
Beauty Hack #7: Swap Your Brow Gel for Soap
Um … WHAT!?
This blew my mind. It’s a classic make-up artist trick with ties to drag queen makeup. All you need is simple bar soap and a brow brush, clean mascara wand or old toothbrush to hold your eyebrows in place!
You’ll want to lightly dampen the soap (like, ever so lightly — you don’t want it to suds!), twirl your wand into the soap, then brush your eyebrows up toward the heavens.
Cheap. Fast. Done.
Beauty Hack #8: Drink Water for Clear Skin!
If you’ve spent any time in the world of beauty bloggers, this one is a no-brainer for you. It’s so very important to stay hydrated for a MYRIAD of reasons, and the clear-skin element is just icing on the cake.
Remember: Your skin is a giant organ. And organs need water to function at their best. This article does a great job of explaining the role that water plays in ridding your body of toxins.
RELATED READ: 7 Rules Well-Rested Women Always Follow
Beauty Hack #9: Give Your Skin a Boost with Collagen Powder
This is one beauty hack that I thought was kind of a hoax, but tried it anyway and I *swear* it made my skin look more glow-y and plump.
In fact, I asked my dermatologist about it once. Her official recommendation was that there aren’t enough quality studies to definitively say it is effective, but that it cannot hurt — so I might as well give it a go.
Note: Not all collagen is created equal. Many are laced with heavy metals, such as lead, so be sure to read the label!
Here’s one of the safer ones on the market:
RELATED READ: 17 Savvy Apartment Decorating Tricks for Your Small Living Room
Well, there you have them — nine beauty hacks that every girl needs to know! Now go forth and glow 😉
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