We can all agree that there has always been a constant obsession with makeup and its ability to transform one’s appearance, but the recent pandemic came in and challenged this. The severity of the pandemic forced many countries and nations to implement several lockdown and quarantine restrictions that forced almost everyone to isolate themselves and stay in their homes.
These lockdowns also forced almost every aspect of our lives to transition online in order to mitigate the spread of the virus, and we learned how to live with this new normal for a while. During this period, people actually stopped engaging with makeup as they no longer saw a reason to invest so much time and energy on this when they weren’t even allowed to go out, but this actually led to the spotlight shifting away from makeup to shine over skincare instead.
While also a major topic of interest in beauty, skincare was never as popular as makeup until it managed to boom during the pandemic. It provided an avenue of release for many individuals in a period riddled with so much anxiety and uncertainty. When doing their skincare routines, people felt like they could calm down and focus solely on taking care of themselves, and this was what allowed skincare to take center stage.
Even when the worst of the pandemic is finally behind us, skincare continues to grow as a topic of interest for many. While the mindset before had been to simply cover up any imperfections and flaws with makeup, the belief now is that establishing a good foundation for your makeup through skincare can make the finished look much more natural and effortless, which seems to be the growing trend that most people are exploring.
Here are 3 ways to achieve that youthful glow!
1. Clean As You Go
One helpful yet underrated secret to achieving a more flawless complexion is to make sure that your skin is properly cleansed and cleaned, but this doesn’t just apply to your skin. Whether or not you use makeup or skincare tools, it’s important to make sure that everything you put on your face is cleaned regularly.
It’s no secret that most people that dabble in makeup don’t clean their brushes and sponges as much as they actually should, but this very common habit can actually be detrimental to the appearance of your skin. Dirty makeup brushes can harbor harmful bacteria overtime that can lead to severe skin infections like fungal infections, E. coli, or even staph infections.
This also applies to any skincare tools that you may be using like facial rollers or gua sha tools. While it may be easy to believe that only using these on a clean face will prevent any consequences, the oil from both your face and your skincare products can still make these susceptible to bacteria and germs that you definitely don’t want anywhere near your face.
While the best habit is to clean these after every use to build the habit of doing it, the American Academy of Dermatology recommends washing these every 7 to 10 days. Anecdotally, there have been those who have claimed that clean brushes apply makeup better, while clean facial tools help the skin to perform better, so let these be the incentives you need to actually clean these regularly.
2. A New Way to Hydrate
After thoroughly cleansing the face, we were always taught to pat dry before proceeding with the rest of our skincare routine, but this seemingly constant teaching is slowly being challenged by a new one that claims to be more effective. More and more people—influencers and experts alike—are coming out and swearing that applying skincare products on damp skin is actually the way to go.
This might sound somewhat strange and possibly uncomfortable as the idea of applying anything on anything but completely dry skin sounds like a mess waiting to happen. However, you don’t actually need to leave too much water on your skin to reap the benefits as you only need the lightest layer to cover your face. Rather than leaving your face completely dripping with water, you just need to feel like there’s a light layer of mist on your skin.
You’re probably wondering what the perks of this method are, and there are quite a few. Some skincare products like moisturizers and serums actually work better when applied to damp skin. Not only is the skin more easily penetrable when wet, allowing these to absorb more easily, but applying skincare onto damp skin also helps lock in an extra layer of hydration as the water left on your face is sealed in by your products.
3. Beauty Sleep
Whether you’re chasing a last minute deadline all the way to midnight or just want to watch one more episode of your favorite show, there are so many things that may make you want to stay up just a bit later, but this might actually not be the best thing you can do for your skin. Getting enough good quality sleep every night is critical for our overall health, including our skin.
While sleeping, the skin is given the chance to repair itself by eliminating toxins, repairing cells and DNA damage from the day, creating new skin cells to replace old ones and much more. The night is actually the best time for this because of the minimal to no movement we make. Think back to how your skin looked the last time you didn’t get as much sleep as you needed, and you’ll see why this is so important.
To get the most out of your night of rest, make sure that you wash your face before going to bed to remove any dirt, makeup or excess oil from the day. Failure to do so can make it harder for your skin to do its thing, leading to enlarged pores, dry skin, acne breakout and more. Also make sure that you eliminate and block out as much disruption from your environment as you can.
If you’re looking for more ways to achieve a brighter complexion, visit Temu for more ideas!
