Dry summers are especially challenging because they’re topped by not just with scorching sunlight, but dry air can leave the lips brutally chapped. Even something as small as sore lips can cause significant discomfort with the possibility of affecting your entire day and mood. Here are some easy hacks that will help you keep your lips soft and supple all day, every day.

Moisturise Your Lips

Using a good lip balm is where you can start. There are a lot of benefits of using lip balm. Moreover, they’re small and handy and can be applied as many times a day as you like. A good fruit lip balm can work wonders in the summer. Remember to use it right after you shower to lock in the moisture, before you sleep, and throughout the day. Strawberries are particularly great for skin as they’re rich in Vitamin C.

Wear A Moisturising Lipstick

Avoid lipsticks with paraben. If possible, opt for an organic one made with natural ingredients. If that’s not your thing, settle for one with moisturising elements. Glossy or creamy ones are always better than matte because they can lubricate the skin. Always, always remember to use a fruit lip balm or natural lip balm before applying your lipstick, this will help retain the moisture in your lips and won’t let the lipstick dry your skin out.

Don’t Lick Your Lips

Yes, it might sound like using your saliva to wet your lips will moisturise them, but it won’t. It will actually make it worse and dry your lips out even more. Instead, every time you feel like licking your lips, remember to use a flavoured lip balm enough times until it becomes second nature.

Scrub With A Toothbrush

Yep, we’re not kidding! Just like the skin on the rest of your body, your lips also have a layer of dead skin. Gently scrub with your toothbrush, so the bristles act as exfoliators. This will help get rid of the flakiness leaving your lips soft and supple. When you scrub your body, you apply a hydrating moisturiser to protect it from being exposed to the environment. Similarly, a strawberry flavoured lip balm after scrubbing will help keep your lips soft and healthy. Pouting for selfies with your BFFs is going to be a cakewalk!

D-I-Y Lip Mask

If you don’t know how to choose lip balm, the easiest way to make one is by mixing one teaspoon of honey and one teaspoon of lemon juice. Apply well on the lips and leave for 20 minutes. After which you should rinse thoroughly so as not to leave behind any stickiness. Do this first thing in the morning to have fabulous lips all day long.

Drink Water

Water is an underrated asset when it comes to skincare. Drink plenty of water every day to build your immune system and keep your lips from getting chapped. Very soon you’ll notice a visible change, and you won’t need products as often, though it’s always good to keep a lip balm handy.

Now that you have all the hacks handy, what are you waiting for? Go get those perfect pouty lips all you want!

Source: Skinella

Image: Pexels

The post Want Softer Lips? Try These Tips & Tricks! appeared first on NK Beauty.

Are you struggling with where to start? Do you need help choosing the right makeup for your skin tone and type? Would you like to know how to correctly apply makeup so that it flatters your features?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, this guide is for you. Below, we’ve listed beginner-friendly tips that are guaranteed to improve your makeup application.

Don’t Buy a Lot of Products

When you’re a beginner to makeup, the last thing you need to do is go out and invest in a huge assortment of products. It’s quite easy to spend hundreds of dollars on makeup, and then be miserable with everything you’ve purchased.

Instead of buying everything from eyelash primer to finishing spray, start off with the basics. Every beginner makeup kit needs mascara and lipstick. That’s pretty much it! Of course, as you get more comfortable with applying makeup, you’ll no doubt increase your selection of lipstick colors, and venture off into eyeshadows, blushes, foundations, and more. But when you’re a true beginner, start off with two products that you love and expand from there.

Don’t Apply Makeup to a Dirty Face

Applying makeup to a dirty face is asking for serious skin problems later in life. In fact, breakouts and acne may not hold off until much later. Never apply cosmetics on top of other cosmetics that have been sitting on your face for hours. The one exception to this rule is lipstick. You can reapply lipstick or gloss. However, when it comes to applying foundations or powders, be sure to clean off what you’re currently wearing first and give your pores a chance to breathe.

Don’t Use Dirty Brushes to Apply Your Makeup

It’s easy to neglect makeup brushes. Unless you schedule a time each week to clean them, you’ll never even think about your makeup brushes until it’s time to apply your products. But, using dirty makeup brushes can introduce bacteria to your skin. Eww. Instead of taking the risk, set aside time on the weekend to wash your brushes.

To clean your brushes, fill a small bowl with warm water and a couple of squirts of your shampoo. Next, gently submerge and swirl your brush in the soapy water. You can also loosen dried-on makeup with your fingers. Then, rinse the brush under warm water and lay on a clean towel to dry.

Don’t Skip Your Eyebrows

Eyebrows are an important part of your face but often overlooked. When done well and intentionally, your brows will perfectly frame your face. If you have the time (make the time, if you don’t) fill in your brows. You can use a matte eyeshadow to fill in the sparse areas of your brows. Don’t go too dark, though! It can create an unwanted cartoon villain effect. Go for a subtle color that’s the same shade as your brows or maybe a shade lighter. If your brows are a very light shade of blonde, you can go darker to define them more.

Don’t Create Fake Brows

While you shouldn’t skip your brows, you definitely don’t want to draw on dramatic fake brows. Huge, drawn on brows come across like furry caterpillars. It’s never a good look. Instead, work with the eyebrows that you have and just focus on making them a little more defined, especially if you’re wearing foundation. (Foundation can “wash out” eyebrows.)

Don’t Sleep in Your Makeup

At the end of the day, when you’re exhausted and can barely motivate yourself off of the couch, it can be pretty tempting to simply fall asleep in your makeup. But resist the temptation. Not only can sleeping in makeup clog pores, it can actually make them bigger! Makeup can stretch pores while settling into them. Sleeping with makeup on your skin can also dry it out because your skin doesn’t have the ability to rebalance itself.

Don’t Pump Your Mascara

Pumping the mascara wand is a common trick that’s thought to get more mascara out of the container. However, it’s an all-around bad idea. Pumping your mascara wand can introduce bacteria into the mascara container. It also causes the mascara to dry out faster. And, to make matters worse, it can lead to clumpy application. Instead, if you’d like to get more mascara on your wand, simply swirl the wand gently in the container first. And remember, mascara expires after three months.

Do Apply Concealer After Foundation

When you have dark circles under your eyes, minor blemishes, or redness, a concealer is your best friend. However, a common rookie mistake is to apply concealer first before applying foundation. That’s not the most effective strategy, however. When you apply foundation first, it can actually cancel out a lot of the unevenness or discoloration in your skin. Then, you can top it off with a little bit of concealer to ensure full coverage. Doing it in this order can save more of your concealer, too.

Do Blend Your Eye Shadows

If you choose to wear multiple eye shadows on your lids, be sure to blend! Having severe lines where one color stops is a no-no. Instead, grab a brush and blend the colors together to create a smoother transition.

Do Pay Attention to Your Skin

Over the course of your life, your skin often changes. Make sure that you’re paying attention to any changes in your skin, including rashes, breakouts, itchiness, or redness. These can point to possible allergies or even gluten sensitivities.

Source: redapplelipstick

Image: Pexels

The post Do’s and Dont’s for Makeup Beginners appeared first on NK Beauty.

Struggling after a lousy night’s sleep? Maybe you have little children who don’t sleep through the night, or you lost track of time binge-watching Netflix. Whatever the reason, your skin will be struggling. Puffy eyes, anyone?

This is because your body does most of its repairing at night. In fact, between around 10pm to 2am is when the magic happens.

Why does my face look dull and tired?

Another reason for losing our glow when we haven’t slept well is because a lack of sleep is stressful to your body.

Yong-Li Zhou, the founder of luxury stem cell skincare brand, Enbacci, says when you don’t sleep, your skin becomes dehydrated.

“This results from high cortisol (stress hormone) levels that impact effective collagen production, which is important for maintaining effective skin barrier function.”

So how can we combat tired, stressed skin?

Drink water and get moving

It sounds obvious, but drinking a few glasses in the morning will help combat dehydration. And if you can muster up the energy, exercise is a great way to get your circulation going and possibly bring back a little glow.

But if exercise is off the cards, there are some other things you can do to help you look less tired quickly.

How to de-puff your eyes

Puffy eyes are a big giveaway regarding how much sleep you have (or haven’t) had.

While techniques work for different people, Yong- Li says, “Blood vessels dilate from a lack of sleep, so what we are trying to do is look for ways to constrict those dilated vessels.”

And an excellent way to do that is with something cold. If you’re game enough, you can try splashing cold water on your face or placing cold spoons on your eyes.

However, Yong-Li says some people’s skin requires a little extra help.

“This is where massaging around the eyes can help to reduce puffiness,” she says. “The 24K Rose Quartz Roller we have is a great way to massage around the face and gently roll around the eye area.”

What about tea bags?

Leelah Linke, a certified Dermal Clinician and co-founder of St Skin, says tea bags work because they contain caffeine.

“The trick to tea bags is that the caffeine acts as a vasoconstrictor which visibly reduces the appearance of blood vessels and dark circles.”

If you’re after a product, Skin expert Lauren Lee, host of the Korean Beauty Show podcast, says placing hydrogels under your eyes “can make you feel better, and they can help brighten dark circles and hydrate the skin.

How to de-puff your face

Again, cold water is excellent for increasing circulation to your face and reducing puffy skin.

Otherwise, Lauren’s go-to is a Korean facial massage to drain the lymph nodes. She explains how to do that here.

What skincare ingredients help tired-looking skin?

Yong-Li says to hydrate skin, “you are looking for humectants in your ingredients list or ingredients with deep moisturising and skin conditioning properties.”

“Examples of humectants include glycerine, panthenol, sodium hyaluronate (or hyaluronic acid) and aloe vera.

“Other moisturising or skin conditioning ingredients include sunflower oil, macadamia oil and shea butter (think fruit and plant oils and butters).”

Fake it with makeup

If all else fails, there’s always makeup to help hide dark circles under your eyes.

Lauren says, “A good concealer can help. Korean beauty brand Skinfood makes a cult favourite dark circle eye concealer with Norwegian salmon oil to boost skin immunity. It also assists in concealing dark spots, under eye marks and fine lines.”

Cindy Cindy Luken, the founder of natural cosmetics brand Lük Beautifood, says a liquid highlight or luminiser can help give the illusion of fresh skin.

“Apply to the high points of the face, including the inner eye area, to help skin appear more awake and refreshed.

“If you have a long day ahead, consider carrying a hydrating facial mist with you and spritzing the skin throughout the day to replenish depleted moisture.”

The post How to look less tired: simple tips to reduce baggy eyes and puffy skin appeared first on NK Beauty.

Dry summers are especially challenging because they’re topped by not just with scorching sunlight, but dry air can leave the lips brutally chapped. Even something as small as sore lips can cause significant discomfort with the possibility of affecting your entire day and mood. Here are some easy hacks that will help you keep your lips soft and supple all day, every day.

Moisturise Your Lips

Using a good lip balm is where you can start. There are a lot of benefits of using lip balm. Moreover, they’re small and handy and can be applied as many times a day as you like. A good fruit lip balm can work wonders in the summer. Remember to use it right after you shower to lock in the moisture, before you sleep, and throughout the day. Strawberries are particularly great for skin as they’re rich in Vitamin C.

Wear A Moisturising Lipstick

Avoid lipsticks with paraben. If possible, opt for an organic one made with natural ingredients. If that’s not your thing, settle for one with moisturising elements. Glossy or creamy ones are always better than matte because they can lubricate the skin. Always, always remember to use a fruit lip balm or natural lip balm before applying your lipstick, this will help retain the moisture in your lips and won’t let the lipstick dry your skin out.

Don’t Lick Your Lips

Yes, it might sound like using your saliva to wet your lips will moisturise them, but it won’t. It will actually make it worse and dry your lips out even more. Instead, every time you feel like licking your lips, remember to use a flavoured lip balm enough times until it becomes second nature.

Scrub With A Toothbrush

Yep, we’re not kidding! Just like the skin on the rest of your body, your lips also have a layer of dead skin. Gently scrub with your toothbrush, so the bristles act as exfoliators. This will help get rid of the flakiness leaving your lips soft and supple. When you scrub your body, you apply a hydrating moisturiser to protect it from being exposed to the environment. Similarly, a strawberry flavoured lip balm after scrubbing will help keep your lips soft and healthy. Pouting for selfies with your BFFs is going to be a cakewalk!

D-I-Y Lip Mask

If you don’t know how to choose lip balm, the easiest way to make one is by mixing one teaspoon of honey and one teaspoon of lemon juice. Apply well on the lips and leave for 20 minutes. After which you should rinse thoroughly so as not to leave behind any stickiness. Do this first thing in the morning to have fabulous lips all day long.

Drink Water

Water is an underrated asset when it comes to skincare. Drink plenty of water every day to build your immune system and keep your lips from getting chapped. Very soon you’ll notice a visible change, and you won’t need products as often, though it’s always good to keep a lip balm handy.

Now that you have all the hacks handy, what are you waiting for? Go get those perfect pouty lips all you want!

Source: Skinella

Image: Pixabay

The post Easy Hacks For Soft Lips appeared first on NK Beauty.