Bad Beauty Habits

I write about beauty frequently, but yet have seemingly no willpower when it comes to breaking the following bad beauty habits:

1. Tearing and picking gel off once it lifts or chips. I just can’t help it! If one nail lifts, I’l try to ignore it, or I’ll go have it fixed. But come the end of the 2-3 week life span, and a few start to lift, its game over and my manicure quickly deteriorates into a scruffy situation.

2. Not applying sunscreen. Recently I learnt that everything ages you – literally everything! From your hairdryer to the air you breathe and obviously the great big burning ball of gas in the sky. I am trying to be better at this, because I know this is an absolute sin and that sunscreen is an absolute essential. When I do remember, I use Bioderma’s Photodrem SPOT SPF 50+ and I love it – its not oily and works like a charm under makeup.

3. Sleeping with my face in my pillow. I know back-sleeping is so much better in terms of not encouraging wrinkles, but when I can’t sleep, I love turning on my side. It’s like new juju: new position – new sleep. I should always use my silk pillow case, but I don’t. Naughty, naughty.

4. Breaking off spilt ends. Since my ombré do, my ends have become dehydrated and damaged (chemical colour lifters will do that to you). Once I’ve seen a split end, nothing gives me more pleasure than to break the poor, frazzled end off at the weak spot. I know you can’t fix split ends, but you can prevent them from getting worse. I use Moroccan Oil Restorative Hair Mask to help with this.

5. Enjoying a hot shower. As wonderful as a long, hot shower sounds during winter, you’re sucking moisture out of your skin while you stand under the water. If you’re fighting dry skin, this isn’t a good idea. It’s handy to remember that applying your moisturiser within 3 minutes of jumping out the shower will help to seal in any moisture.

6. Keeping my sunscreen in my car. While it seems like keeping products where you will be using them is a great idea, sometimes you should rethink where you are going to keep your sunscreen or night cream. A hot and humid bathroom or a compartment in a sweltering car are both bad options for products. Products aren’t formulated to withstand such extremes in temperature. They will start changing consistency, active ingredients will break down, and packaging can fail. Instead, store your products in a cool, dark spot.

There, I ‘fessed up. Don’t judge. You have some secret, lingering bad beauty habits too. Right?