How To Take Care of Your Skin On a Budget

     Taking care of your skin is essential to a healthy body and life overall. Skincare can range from $15 to $140 a month, but the only difference is higher quality products in a greater amount. It is possible to attain healthy and clear skin with a budget averaging only $15 monthly. 

    Here are some tips to achieve clear skin on a budget:

- Prioritize Essentials: These are the core 3, Cleanser, moisturizer, and sunscreen. 

- Purchase Targeted Treatments affordably: These are retinoids (like Panoxyl) and serums.

- Shopping Mindset: You realistically don't need 20 products if you're managing average acne breakouts or regular acne-prone skin. When you're shopping at drugstores like CVS or Walgreens, avoid multi-layering and don't overuse product.

5 Summer Glow-Up Hacks

    If you want to rebrand your look and essence, summer is the perfect time to do so. During the summer, you have more time dedicated to you and your hobbies, especially if you are in school (high school or college). During the time you most work, it is easy to neglect your personal life, which is essential for mental well-being and transcends into your overall look. 

    Here are 5 Summer Glow-up Hacks:

    1. Prioritize Daily Movement Outside. This can look like taking a walk in the morning or a run to clear your head and reset your body before the day begins. Whenever or whatever you do, make sure it is outside.

    2. Prioritize Hydration. Drink at least 2 liters of water during the day and limit caffeine so your body's temperature is regulated during a warmer season. 

    3. Prioritize Beauty Habits. Limit heavy makeup to tinted SPF and use the summer time to keep up with your skin care routine. You can also do spa days to get facials or a relaxing massage.

    4. Prioritize a Healthy Mind. Journal at the beginning and end of your day. If you are a Christian make prayer and reading the Bible apart of your day to day. Also, chose your thoughts wisely, you don't have you believe everything you think.

    5. Optional: Invest time into changing your hair color or the style of your hair. Your hair play an important role in your appearance, so changing it can drastically improve your look. I recommend going to a professional Hairdresser to find the right color and/or style for you.

7 Makeup Hacks For Beginners

     Learning how to use makeup is a challenging process, no matter where you start at. Use these 7 makeup hacks to improve your makeup routine and enjoy doing your makeup even more. These hacks are generalized to test them to see what works best for your preferences and your skin. 

    1. Use moisturizer first so your makeup doesn't crease, but has a clean finished look.

    2. Wait for your primer to completely dry so your makeup doesn't peel, and then continue your routine.

    3. Once you have the right concealer shade, don't draw a Dorito under your eyes, instead make straight lines in your outside eye crease and a slanted curve away from your nose, but directly under your eye.

    4. To get even eyeliner, find the end of your lipgloss that is completely straight, sip it in setting powder and place the eyeliner under your bottom eyelash line pointed up. Use that as your guide and dust off the powder.

    5. Apply bronzer and blush before concealer so you have more room to use concealer to brighten certain spots, and also because it looks better. 

    6. Blend out concealer creases before powder to avoid an uneven cakey look. Tap the powder excess on the back of your hand.

    7. Use bronzer to touch up your eyes if you don't want to use colored eye shadow, but want a more polished look.

    

Should I Use Concealer Or Foundation?

     You do your makeup differently throughout the year as you would switch up your skincare routine throughout the year. During the summer some people prefer a lightweight makeup look, whereas others just keep their same routine. Foundation is better to use during the winter because it protects your skin during the cold. Using only concealer is better during the summer because sweat is less likely to mess up your look.

    Using only concealer for your makeup limits the chances of your pores being clogged compared to using foundation. Overall, you get a cleaner look that is also more time manageable. Using foundation evens out your entire skin tone, but makes finding the right shade match more difficult with concealer. This type of makeup is better for special events because it gives you a polished and long-lasting look. 

    Use concealer for dark spots on your face like directly under your eyes and the high points of your face (for a more lifted look). Using concealer on these areas brighten those spots and clean up your skin. Foundation is meant to be used on your entire face. To find out the right shade, apply it on a small area of your face in natural light, if it doesn't disappear then it is not the right shade.

    In terms of skin health, concealer is better for a variety of reasons, but primarily because there is less product buildup in comparison to using foundation. Also, dirty makeup brushes can cause breakouts just as too much product can.

False Lashes V. Mascara

     The beautiful thing about makeup is that it enhances your naturally beautiful features while boosting your confidence. Whether you wore makeup recently for a special event or just for fun it's certain: Everyone who does their makeup has a specific style they like. Eyelashes play a big role in deciding how the finished product looks like. 

    On a more matte makeup look, false lashes are best because this gives off more of a bold look to your makeup. Longer lashes do that, but you don't have to use false lashes if you have naturally long lashes or grow them using a specific lash serum. Mascara is more used for a more 'glowy' type of makeup look such as the infamous "Clean Girl Makeup" look, which when the mascara is applied it primarily makes the lashes longer without altering the look. 

    Which is safer? False lashes collect more dust and damage your natural lashes if taken off improperly, which is common because they are harder to take off. Many adhesives added to lashes can cause irritation to eyes that make them swell up or directly cause a more serious allergic reaction. However, if the false lashes are taken care of properly by doing a patch test for the glue and washing them as needed and following given instruction by your lash technician they are fine, but by nature are not safe and won't protect your lashes no matter what you do. 

    Tubing mascara is safer than regular, non-tubing mascara because they are easier to take off. However, regular mascara is a bit tougher on your lashes and can cause brittleness. This is why sometimes people complain of their eyelashes hurting after wearing mascara often, which I have experienced before. Mascara hygiene experts require the mascara tube to be replaced every 3 months, but I've had one of mine for well over a year and my lashes are healthy. It all depends on how often and the amount you use your mascara and how gentle you are with the removal process.

    Do you use mascara or false lashes more? Which one do you like most?

5 Hidden Habits That Are Causing Breakouts

    Many times when after a day of radiant, beautiful skin, you may have woken up to a serious facial breakout. More often, you may have adapted a new facial routine to achieve clearer skin and days pass and your face is comepletely distorted. Many of the habits listed are extremely common and normal, however they are leading causes to breakouts.

     Here are 5 unnoticable Habits that are causing your acne to spiral: 

     1. Your Phone: When you are going about your day constantly pressing and dropping your phone on/with dirty surfaces, that bacteria and dirt stay on your phone. When you call someone and press the screen against the side of your cheek, the same bacteria is being transferred to your face. So, every so often, take the time to use anti-bacterial wipes to clean your phone screen. 

     2.Your Hair: When you wash your hair with your product without effectively rinsing out the product, the residue remains on your hairline, therefore remaining on your face. This clogs your pores especially when the product runs down the sides of your face. Take an extra couple minutes before you get out of the shower to ensure your hairline has absolutely no more product in it. 

     3.Your Pillow: Your pillow absorbs dirty skin cells, oils, and hair product every single day. Constantly using the same pillowcase and going weeks or months without washing it, just brings all of the dirt from the previous night back onto your face. To fix this you can get a silk pillowcase (which is also good for your hair), which will allow you to go longer without washing it. Or, you can just wash your pillow case at least once a week.

     4.Your Skin Care Routine: Doing too much to your face like over-washing only leads to an overproduction of oils and panicked skin. Doing this damages your skins natural barrier. You only really need to wash your face twice a day:Morning and Night p.s. check out "Morning & Evening Skin Care Routine: Combination Skin" on the blog homepage.

      5.Your Face Fidgets: Its very common and completely normal to touch your face or press upon your hairline when you are stressed or just plain bored. However, doing this is harmful to your skin because your hands tranfer all the dirt and bacteria from touching random things during your day, like a doorknob or shaking hands with someone. Try using pimple patches to discourage touching pimples, or if you just have bad anxiety use a seperate pocket-sized fidget toy that you can carry around all day.

Morning & Evening Skin Care Routine: Combination Skin.

     Combination skin occurs when your skin is both dry and oily in different areas of your face; you can find out your skin type through a skin analysis by a trusted esthetician or through a personalized test online. Combination skin is unique because most people only have oily or dry skin, this makes finding the right products and routine more difficult. 

    In the morning cleanse your face with a gentle foaming cleaner, then use a toner that's alcohol free and a serum that is lightweight. After the serum, use a water-based moisturizer and sunscreen (always). In the evening, the routine dynamic switches a bit: use a double cleanser, then apply targeted treatments like salicylic acid (if needed or prescribed for acne prone skin), hydrate your skin by using hyaluronic acid, and finally use a moisturizer that doesn't leave your skin feeling dry or patchy.

    Of course this routine is generalized, so if it does not work for your specific skin, branch out and find the routine and/or products that best suit you.

    Combination skin care focuses on a routine based on moisturizing, cleansing, and hydrating. Its is important to treat combination skin as its own, using products made for oily skin can cause build-up and using products for dry skin can cause dehydration. Protect your skin barrier by using products made for your skin.

How Often Should You Do Facials?

    Facials are a skin care practice used to nourish, exfoliate, and cleanse your skin. One of the main ways to achieve clear, healthy, and radiant skin is to get regular facials. With a bigger budget, your esthetician will take you through a skin analysis to provide you with the right care at the time you need it.

    Doing facials by yourself is budget friendly and to do it efficiently and safely, you need to understand your skin type. Here is how often each skin type should get facials according to The Facial Center:

• Dry/Sensitive Skin: Every 6 to 8 weeks that focuses on moisture and barrier strengthener. 
• Oily Skin: Every 3 to 4 weeks that focuses on deep cleaning to manage oil production.
• Combination Skin: Every 4 to 6 weeks that focus on keeping everything in balance by focusing on deep cleaning and moisture. 

    Anyone can get facials even without an esthetician. Doing facials at home is simple all you need is a consistent routine and a little patience with the process. With a safer budget you are able to steam and cleanse with a damp towel, exfoliate with a cleanser from a drugstore (like Walgreens or CVS), mask and hydrate with a clay mask. With a bigger budget around $75 to $300 you are able to book express facials, visit a local beauty school, and/or use student memberships (GoodRx).  

5 Tips to Manage Acne-prone Skin.

      Having acne is a common experience among people with a variety of skin types. Mayo Clinic says that acne is generally branched out to four main causes: Inflammation, clogged pores, excess oil, and bacteria.  

    Before knowing how to manage your acne, you need to understand your specific skin type. Here are 5 ways to manage acne-prone skin.

1.  First, wash your face twice a day (morning and night), also after an intense workout when you sweat.
2.  Secondly, prioritize moisturizer as having consistently dry skin can over-produce oils in your face.
3.  Next, use SPF or regular drugstore sunscreen daily. UV rays can make dark spots on your skin worse and dry out your skin. 
4. Fourthly, leave your face alone by restricting your hands and hair from your face. 
5. Finally, use an over the counter retinoid on your entire face rather than treating specific spots. 

    Remeber, your skin is beautiful rather it is clear or it has pimples. Do things that make you feel confident and secure, not just to fit a beauty standard.