Beauty Tips Every Girl Should Know

Contrary to what our guys might think, girls don’t wake up from a good night’s sleep looking like they’ve stepped out of a fashion magazine. It all takes work (although fashion magazines themselves want you to believe that everyone looks like the models on their pages, every minute of the day.) To get there, the most important part of the equation is taking care of your skin. Your skin is your calling card, the first thing people notice when they see you, and you want yours to be flawless. Here’s how to get it.

1. Don’t go to bed without removing your makeup.

Most importantly, lazily leaving makeup on overnight will clog pores, potentially leading to breakouts. But that’s not the only reason why you want to lather up every night. “It’s not just makeup you want to wash off,” according to Dr. Charles Zugerman, Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Northwestern University. Washing your face nightly also whisks away the pollutants, bacteria and dirt that accumulate on our skin’s surface during the day, including toxins in the air, second-hand smoke and grime. Cleansing your face with a gentle cleansers also prepares it for moisturizers, so the ingredients soak into skin, rather than rest on the surface, unable to penetrate because of clogged pores. And to keep your skin from producing excess sebum that can also lead to breakouts, “Always use a gentle cleanser, since harsh soaps can trigger the skin to increase oil production,” Dr. April Armstrong, an assistant professor of Dermatology at the University of California, Davis, told WebMD.com.

2. Don’t forget to moisturize.

Developing a moisturizing routine as early as possible will not only protect your skin from dryness, it will provide it with key nutrients that will keep you looking young, long after your peers have succumbed to wrinkles and age spots. Using the right moisturizers now – look for all-natural products with ingredients that help protect collagen – will establish a smart skin-care routine that will benefit you throughout your lifetime. “Moisturizing your face will help you to look and feel younger, you will have softer, more elastic skin, and it will keep your skin hydrated,” say the dermatologists at Tucson’s Specialists in Dermatology. “All of these things are important if you want to make sure to look as young as you can in the years to come.” Just make sure you are using the right moisturizer for your skin type. If your skin is oily, go with lightweight moisturizers; if skin is dry, something thicker that will penetrate deeply is what you need.

3. Use a sunscreen.

While we’re thankfully past the days when girls slathered on baby oil and headed to the beach for a tan, we don’t usually think about the damage the sun can do to our skin until it shows up in the form of age spots and wrinkles. Using a daily sunscreen can prevent sun damage from the aging UVA rays (UVB rays are the ones associated with burning. UVAs go beneath the skin’s surface, revealing their damage much later.) It is, according to Dr. Lisa Garner, a Texas-based dermatologist and president of the Women’s Dermatological Society, “the best way to keep skin youthful.” The thing is, most of us usually don’t apply enough sunscreen, so we may not be getting all the benefits the product has to offer. Garner uses about a half teaspoon of a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 to coat her face, neck and ears. “I usually have to apply two coats to finish what I’ve squeezed out, but that’s how I make sure I’m covered,” she said.

4. Cut back on sugar.

While we all have a chocolate craving that we can’t resist now and then, keeping sugar to a minimum can help protect your skin for the long haul. Sugar damages the proteins that keeps skin looking healthy, and eating too much can lead to premature aging courtesy of AGEs, better known as advanced glycation end products. AGEs form when sugar that isn’t used for energy enters the blood stream and attaches to proteins, and those sugars seem to seek out the skin proteins collagen and elastin first. “When you’re younger, your body has more resources to ward off damage, and you're producing more collagen,” New York-based dermatologist Fredric Brandt told Elle magazine. “When you reach a certain age, these sugar by-products begin to build up at the same time that your threshold for damage is getting lower.” Keeping them at bay by reducing your sugar intake earlier can make a big difference later on.

5. Defer to the experts when it comes to makeup.

Now that you’ve figured out how to have flawless skin, you have the perfect canvas for makeup. But there are a few things you should know to look your best every day.

• If you have a powerful lip – say bright red or fuchsia- keep eyes simple, with just a coating of mascara, or vice versa.
• Start applying blush about two fingers away from your nose for a natural, sun-kissed look.
• When applying foundation, don’t be heavy handed. Use a sponge for a natural look, and only apply it where it’s needed. Most importantly, blend, blend, blend.
• Exfoliate regularly to prevent makeup from becoming blotchy.
• Curl your lashes before using mascara to get that wide-eyed look.
• Limit shimmer. If you’re using a frost-colored eye shadow, go with a matte lip. If you’re using a frosted lip gloss, keep eyes matte to prevent overloading on the glitter.

REFERENCES: http://www.prevention.com/beauty/16-skin-care-tips-derms-do-themselves http://www.beautystat.com/site/skincare/dermatologists-tips-why-washing-your-face-is-important-and-the-best-facial-cleansers-by-skin-type/ http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/acne/features/oily-skin http://stylecaster.com/beauty-high/beauty-tips-for-girls/