Preserving Beauty

It’s true that beauty is only skin deep - the greatest beauty is on the inside. But you want the outside of your body to the look the best that it can because it makes you feel good.

By following a few beauty routine tips, you can look as great on the outside as you feel on the inside. Both men and women can benefit from learning a beauty routine.

Body Shape

You can start with your body shape. It’s so easy to let a few pounds sneak on, but as you age, those pounds can continue to bring more pounds with them - unless you stop the weight gain.

But did you know that being out of shape is not always about being overweight? Even slender people can be out of shape if they don’t exercise. Getting in shape can firm up problem areas, can make you feel great and it can improve your overall health.

By exercising, you can lower your BMI, which in turn will lower the amount of visceral fat around your internal organs. Since habit is the number one reason that many people get out of shape, you have to break the habits that hold you back from optimal health.

That means flipping a sedentary lifestyle into an active one. Or if you have an active life now and you’re always on the go but you don’t have to deliberately exercise, then you might want to consider making some changes.

Because your health is just as important as whatever is filling your schedule. Make getting in shape fun. Sign up with friends or as part of a group at your workplace.

If there isn’t a group, think about heading one up. You’re already at work anyway, so you might as well reap some health benefits from it, too. Join a gym if you can, but if you know that’s not your style, get a pedometer and walk as much as you can.

Challenge yourself to add more steps each day. Since a lack of motivation often wipes out the desire to get in shape, find ways to keep your motivation high. Reward yourself for every “getting in shape” milestone that you reach.

Have short-term goals and break them down in easy time limits such as weekly, biweekly and monthly. When you accomplish a lot of smaller goals while working toward getting in shape, it will make you feel more productive.

Don’t compare yourself to others that are in shape. Avoid shaming or any kind of negative self-talk when it comes to getting in shape. Always give yourself the love and acceptance that you deserve.

Anti-Aging

For both men and women, your skin has a lot of work to do. It protects you against germs that would get into your body and make you very ill. Your skin helps maintain your body’s temperature, too.

When you get too hot, your skin allows you to perspire and cools you down. It carries messages to your brain whenever you touch something to protect you if it’s too hot.

Time takes a toll on this hard-working organ unless you take steps to keep your skin in good shape. What happens is that as you get older, your skin begins to sag.

You’ll start to notice fine lines around your mouth and eyes as early as in your twenties. This is because as you grow older, the elasticity in your skin changes from collagen loss.

That’s why you should look for products that fight aging. You want to keep your skin healthy and firm. You can get creams, lotions, or anti-aging gels that can slow the havoc that the passing years will do to your skin.

Look for products that regenerate your skin while minimizing wrinkles. Many of these products are serums that will hydrate your skin and blot out blotches while giving your skin that younger, healthy glow.

When you’re shopping for these products, look for anti-aging eye creams and don’t forget anti-aging products for your lips as well. Aging shows up on your lips in the form of flakes, dryness, wrinkles or a combination of the three.

There are products that you can buy to keep your lips looking smooth and soft that are more powerful than an ordinary Chapstick balm. You can also find some with built-in SPF to protect your lips from the sun’s harmful rays.

Skin Care

You don’t want to wait until you’re older and damage has shown up before you start taking care of your skin. Right now, whatever age you are, you want to follow a beauty routine for your skin.

Start by making sure that you don’t accidentally age your skin yourself. This can happen if you spend time in the sun and don’t use an appropriate sun block. The sun can age your skin and give it a wrinkled, leathery appearance when you’re older.

Keep your skin clean by using facial cleansers and don’t forget to exfoliate. Sometimes men will avoid certain skin care routines because they just don’t think about it. But your skin matters and women do notice a man with great looking skin.

Everyone gets blemishes on their face. Some people are more prone to skin problems than others, but that doesn’t mean that there’s no hope for fixing the issues.

There are products that are just right for any type of skin that can clear problems right up. One thing you may not realize is that when you shampoo and condition your hair, there is often a faint residue left on your skin.

You won’t see it - and you may not even feel it - but your skin does. And what happens is this residue stays on your face and goes to work clogging up your pores.

When that happens, you end up with blemishes or dry, irritated looking skin. That’s why it’s important to use a facial cleanser that will clear your pores and remove any acne spots.

Even if you don’t have problems with your skin, you should use a daily moisturizer. If you’re a man, you may wonder why you should moisturize. The answer is for the same reason that a woman should.

Because moisturizing protects your skin against the bad effects of weather changes - both from cold and humid weather. It hydrates your skin and it promotes new skin growth.

If you’ve noticed moisturizers before, you’ll see that there are plenty of them available both offline and online. But which moisturizer to buy depends on what’s in the product.

There are a couple of ingredients that you want to pay attention to in a moisturizer. The first ingredient is glycerin. This is what will help keep your skin hydrated.

The next ingredient that you want to look for in a moisturizer is antioxidants. These gems fight aging in the skin. Proper skin care means you adhere to a regimen of nurturing and protecting the skin that you’re in – regardless of age or gender.

Hair Removal

Hair removal is part of a beauty routine that’s followed by men and women. Unfortunately, this is an area where a lot of people cause damage and premature aging to their skin without even realizing that it’s going on.

For men, shaving can damage the skin. This happens because many shaving creams that are bought at the grocery store have a high level of alcohol as a large part of the ingredient content.

This alcohol is what dries out your skin.  Your shaving cream should be chosen according to your skin type. If you have sensitive skin, you need a shaving cream that’s made for men with sensitive skin.

There are also shaving creams you can buy that will moisturize your skin.  You want to look for shaving cream that contains natural ingredients. These products do cost more because they contain ingredients that are good for your skin - such as aloe vera and specialty oils.

In the end, the cost is worth it because you’ll have better looking skin. After you shave, you don’t want to apply an aftershave that contains alcohol. This is the reason that your skin might feel like it’s burning when you put it on. The alcohol in the aftershave is hurting your skin. Look for all-natural aftershave.

Women need to look for shaving creams that are natural, too. Just like high alcohol content in shaving cream can dry out a man’s face, it can also dry out the skin on your legs.

If you have a medical condition or genetics that make you prone to hair in unwanted places such as your face, you can use facial hair removal products. For products that are best for your skin, look for organic ones.

Having well-groomed eyebrows can make a difference in how you look. Eyebrow tweezing is a normal part of hair removal and both men and women should keep their brows in shape.

Once you shape your eyebrows, all you have to practice is watching out for hair that grows outside the shape and remove those.  Where most people run into problems with tweezing is they try to dry pluck and that can be painful.

Before you attempt to tweeze your eyebrows, you should warm the area with warm water and dry it off. The warmth relaxes the area and makes it easier to get the hair out.

Each time you use your tweezers, you need to clean them with an alcohol wipe to remove any bacteria that might be present. This will keep you from getting an infection.

Hair Care

The best way to have healthy, shiny hair is not to wash it every time you take a shower. Your body naturally produces the oil it needs to keep your hair looking luxurious.

When you wash it every day, you wash away the oil that your hair needs. For best results, don’t wash your hair more often than three to four times a week. But you can use conditioner more often.

The conditioner that you use, just like the shampoo that you use, should be a high-quality hair care product. Don’t settle for whatever you can pick up off the shelf simply because it’s inexpensive.

If you can afford to spend extra money on the better hair care products, then do it. However, if you can’t, instead of buying cheap shampoo, look for baby shampoo. This is inexpensive and yet good for your hair.

Look for shampoo and conditioners that match your hair type. If you have oily hair, then buy shampoo that’s geared toward treating oily hair. If you have dandruff, you should wash your hair in a dandruff shampoo regularly for 30 days.

Dandruff isn’t supposed to be an ongoing condition, so dandruff shampoo should clear it up. If that doesn’t work, at the end of the 30 days, you need to see your doctor about getting a prescription to treat the dandruff.

Avoid using any type of hair gels that have alcohol content because that can dry out your hair as well as cause frizz. You also want to avoid using heat appliances such as dryers and curling irons because this damages your hair.

Too much sun can damage your hair, too. If you know that you’re going to be out in the sun for a while, cover any part of your scalp not covered by hair with sunscreen.

Your lifestyle is an important part of hair care. What you eat will make a difference in how healthy your hair looks. A diet lacking in vitamins and minerals can make your hair look dull and lifeless. Reduce stress because stress can cause hair loss.

When it comes to living your best life, make sure you pamper yourself with an up-to-date hairstyle each year. You don’t want to be stuck in another decade just because it’s what you’ve always been used to.

Nails

Remember being told not to bite your nails? There’s a good reason for that. When you bite your nails, you open yourself up to the possibility of getting an infection – not to mention, it makes your hands look less beautiful.

Instead, keep your finger and toenails trimmed to the desired length. Before you trim your fingernails, soak your hands in warm, soapy water to make the nails soft and easy to cut.

Keep them clean by using a nail brush and warm, soapy water. Never use a sharp object such as a pocketknife to clean underneath your nails. Use a nail file and go in one direction only to keep your nails filed down and keep the ends strong.

Keep your cuticles pushed back with a cuticle stick and don’t rip off your cuticles. Use a cuticle trimmer to neatly trim any stray pieces of skin. When you’re working around the house or the yard, always use gloves to protect your nails.

If you run into a problem such as peeling, breaks or splits – know that these are all signs of weak nails – and you can buy nail hardener or nail creams to give them back their strength. Look for products that are free of formaldehyde.

Treat yourself to a professional manicure and pedicure periodically. And if you’re a woman, look for trendy ways to paint your nails with designs that you do yourself.

Make-Up

If you’re not comfortable putting on make-up because you’re not really sure how to do it but would like to learn, there are free tutorials you can watch online. Make-up can be used to enhance your natural beauty, conceal blemishes and scars - and make your skin look great!

Always buy makeup that’s suited for your skin tone. When you buy foundation, you can get it with or without sunscreen. Many people think foundation needs to cover the entire face, but its purpose is to even out skin tone and should only be applied in certain areas where your tone needs evening out.

If you put your finger down into the foundation bottle, you need to replace it more often due to the possibility of bacteria transfer. Instead, use disposable methods of getting foundation out of the bottle.

Face powder can keep much longer, years in many instances. But you should change your eye shadow, mascara and eyeliner four times a year. If you get some kind of eye infection, you should always toss out what you were using and get new products immediately.

Get top quality make-up brushes - but don’t forget to clean these brushes regularly to keep them free of bacteria. You can wash them with warm, soapy water and let them air dry.

In terms of beauty, women who wear make-up need to understand how their cosmetics and the application of them evolve over time. A woman who is showing signs of aging can’t recapture her youth with bright red lipstick and harsh eyeshadow.

In fact, this can age you much more. It’s better to meet with a cosmetic consultant for your favorite brand and learn about the right foundations and color pallets for your skin type and age.

Fashion

Dressing for your body type isn’t a matter of being happy or unhappy with your shape. It’s a matter of simply dressing to look your best regardless of how tall, short, slender or overweight you are.

By dressing for the type of body shape you currently have, you’ll wear clothes that flatter and enhance your body. If you’re a man or a woman and you’re short and a little overweight, wearing pleated pants will make you look bigger.

If you have wide hips or a large stomach, wearing skinny jeans will make you look oddly proportioned.  If you’re short, wearing pants with a higher waist will give you the illusion of height.

Choose clothes with vertical lines because vertical lines trick the eye into thinking there’s more height. Choose tops and bottoms that are the same. If you wear a black pair of pants, wear a black shirt. This creates the illusion of height as well. V-neck shirts make you look taller as do shorter jackets.

If you’re a larger bodied man or woman, you should make sure that you avoid clothes that are loose or that bag. These types of clothing items only add the appearance of weight to your frame.

Regardless of your size, dress in ways that flatter your figure and make you feel good.  If you carry a lot of weight in your waist, don’t wear flared jeans. If you feel that your body is too thin, you can wear clothes with horizontal stripes to create the illusion of width.

You can also layer your clothing, but don’t use baggy layers. Use well-fitting clothes with each layer. Baggy clothes almost never help any body shape – they just look sloppy.