Beauty Survival Guide

Don’t you love those best kept beauty secrets you pick up in life? I know I can’t live without my beauty intel! I’ve compiled a list of my best beauty tips, known as my “beauty survival guide.” Keep reading to find out what they are!

When washing your face or applying any type of facial product, move your hands upward across your face instead of wiping downwards where possible – this will help prevent wrinkles.
Razor burn is the result of hair follicles getting infected. To prevent, shave with a cream in warm water and rinse with cool water to close your pores. Also, shave downward in the direction of hair growth. Always, follow up with a mild lotion. Lastly, you can use an antibacterial lotion or cream to help prevent infection.
Have some stubborn eye makeup that won’t come off or you’re out of your makeup remover? Vaseline works great! Applying a little Vaseline and wiping off with a Q-tip or kleenex works like magic.
You can put a little bit of Baby Powder on your lashes before you apply mascara to make them look extremely full and voluptuous. Baby Powder can also be used on stinky shoes, just place some powder on the inside of your soles and let sit overnight.
If you’re all out of shaving cream – use conditioner, works the same if not better.
Clean your makeup brushes every week to prevent bacteria from spreading and acne breakouts. See my makeup brush cleaning post for additional tips.
If you’ve got chapped lips – the quickest fix will be to exfoliate them. Use a lip scrub to make lipstick apply effortlessly. I would recommend investing in a lip scrub, but if you need a quick fix: mix a bit of sugar and either olive oil/honey in a bowl and rub gently across lips.
Unsure of how to shape your eyebrows yourself? Invest to get them professionally waxed or threaded just once, from there you can easily maintain the shape with your tweezers and brow scissors.
If you want to avoid “flip flop” feet, keep a pumice in your shower. This will also help the build-up of a callous. Once a week after you’ve been in the shower a bit and skin has softened, pumice the bottoms of your feet.
Nail polish will last longer on clean, dry gently buffed nails. If your cuticles need pushed back, use a small stick found in most nail kits. Also apply a top coat every 2 days if your really want to prevent chipping – focus on sealing the edges of the polish.
The best type of foundation brush is flat top kabuki – not a flat, tapered one.
If you’re overwhelmed in the shampoo/conditioner with the numerous options – a safe, universal bet is to go with the moisturizing option.
Try (if possible) not to wash your hair everyday. My hair doesn’t get very oily, so I don’t struggle with this issue. However, make dry shampoo your best friend if you do.
To keep your hands looking nice, moisturize them each night before bed (it helps to keep hand lotion at your bedside).
If you have curly or wavy hair like me – when applying your styling cream, curl strands of hair around your fingers and let go. This will help your curls dry perfectly. Also, as your curls dry (let them air dry if possible), use your hands to tousle curls as they dry. This will help your hair from look too flat on the top or unnatural.
Invest in a few makeup brushes if you haven’t already – a powder, foundation, shader eye brush, small blending brush, and small angle brush are the most important.
It’s really best to use combs or specialized “wet brushes” on wet hair. If you struggle with tangly hair, bring a wide tooth comb into the shower and run it through your hair while you have conditioner in.
If you’re running late in the morning, a ballerina bun is one of your best options. If you don’t have a hair donut – cut the toes of a sock off and use to roll your hair into a bun.
Primer is your best friend before any makeup application – you need it everywhere: face and eyes (sometimes your moisturizer can serve as primer). The secret to a flawless look is a great canvas. Also, if you’re stuck between foundation colors go with the slightly darker one – it will cover imperfections better, you can also even it out with powder.
Don’t know which eye shadows are right for you? You can’t go wrong with complementary shades to your eye color.

Blue: Golds, Coppers, and Bronze colors
Green: Purples and Reddish-Browns
Brown: The most versatile color, so you can pretty much go with anything. The best are: Bronze, Purples, Navy, and Teal.

Stay tuned for the next addition of my beauty survival guide!