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With winter drawing to a close, and the weather getting warmer every day remember that “spring cleaning” shouldn’t just apply to organising your home or office — it should also be a part of your spring skin care routine. The unfortunate truth is that while spring may beautify the outdoors, it tends to wreak havoc on skin. Environmental changes can irritate acne-prone skin, dry out or irritate, and tighten skin as well.

There’s quite a bit to consider when it comes to skin care in spring. Outside temperatures, environmental conditions, and how much time you spend indoors versus how much you spend outdoors can have a tremendous impact on your skin’s health. That’s why the changing seasons give you the perfect opportunity to switch up your spring skin care routine.

Remember To Moisturise!

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With more sunlight, higher temperatures, and increasingly dry air outdoors, every trip outside could pose a threat to the state of your skin. Regardless of the season, moisturising should be an essential part of your skincare routine. If you find your winter moisturiser a little too heavy for spring, consider switching to a light lotion during the day and a gel formula in the evening. Keep items like lip balm and mini hand lotions on-hand, especially if you know you’ll find yourself outdoors frequently.

Prepare For Warmer Weather

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While it’s vital to stay moisturised, increased heat and humidity can cause skin to produce more sweat, and as a result, more oil. For those with acne-prone skin, warmer weather often means clogged pores, irritation, and inflammation. You can tackle this as part of your spring skin care routine by opting for oil-free cleansers, toners, and serums. Water-based serums definitely help, as do products with lighter, natural ingredients. Also, as the seasons change and you’re outdoors for longer stretches of time, don’t forget to use broad spectrum sunscreen! If you’re going to be more active or you’re headed to the beach, consider using a water-proof sunscreen as well.

Read Your Labels - Tips On Ingredients

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There are a number of natural, nourishing ingredients that can truly make the most of your spring skin care routine. However, skin care in spring is easy with products that address conditions like free radical damage and clogged pores.

In addition to natural antibacterial qualities, neem leaf extract contains bioflavonoids, potent antioxidants that can protect skin cells and prevent discoloration or signs of ageing. For warmer, sunnier conditions, shea butter protects skin’s natural barrier function, with lupeol blocking enzymes that degrade skin proteins. This helps reduce inflammation and absorbs UV radiation, maintaining skin’s firmness.

For an ingredient that combines powerful antioxidants with antimicrobial qualities, green tea extract can’t be beaten. While its antioxidants reduce free radical damage, green tea extract is also soothing, and can help reduce bacteria on the skin, preventing blemishes.

Make The Most Of Your Spring

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Spring is about renewal. It’s a time that encourages all of us to embrace the beauty of nature with each new day. It’s also an opportunity to make the most out of your spring skin care routine as you naturally become more active. So, be sure to choose soothing, natural products that enrich your journey through self-care.

With the cold winter months fast approaching, it can sometimes be difficult getting into the swing of things, particularly when it comes to our beauty regime.

After a long summer of a light dusting of bronzer and a dab of liquid glow, it’s now time to aid our winter beauty needs to have us looking and feeling the best during the festive season.

Skincare


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The harshness of the cold weather can cause many adverse implications for our skin such as dehydration, breakouts and redness. It is important to consider that no skin is the same so treating it accordingly is key.

Although it is a common conception that oiliness only occurs in the hot summer months, this is not true. Oiliness can actually occur more during the colder months due to the body producing excessive oils to keep the skin hydrated naturally. This means that investing in a good oil balancing cleanser is essential in order to reduce shine and ensure that your makeup stays on all day.

Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser is perfect for those with Oily skin during the winter months, but also great for those who are spot-prone. Use this cleanser at night for best results as it removes excess oil, dirt and makeup leaving your skin feeling squeaky clean!

Alternatively, if you are someone that suffers from dryness as a result of the cold temperatures, then the Clinque Moisture Surge would be the perfect investment for you. This moisturiser works non-stop for 72 hours for immediate and long-term hydration.

What is great about this moisturiser is that it is a light, gel-cream that is quickly absorbed meaning it doesn’t make your makeup slide like most heavy moisturisers do.

Sparkle And Shine


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Your makeup is just as important as your outfit, particularly during the Christmas season. Christmas really wouldn’t be Christmas without some face glitter to create the ultimate festive eye. Whether you are going on a Christmas night out with work or for festive drinks with friends, or on a works Christmas night out, there is no need to hold back on the sparkle.

If you want a more subtle glitter makeup look, why not try a dramatic smokey eye using a blend of black and brown shadows, then apply a touch of glitter to the inner corner to add a pop of sparkle as well as elongating the eye shape.

Or if you want to go all out, create a cut crease using a thick concealer and then generously pat glitter onto the eyelid using a flat brush. Make sure you apply glitter glue prior to glitter application for a long-lasting sparkle.

If you are feeling extra daring this year, be sure to try a sprinkle of green or red glitter for even more of a festive look.

Bronzed Goddess

After a summer of having a natural glowing tan, the thought of having to go back to the fake tan mitt once a week is miserable. So how do we keep up our summer glow whilst avoiding the streaks of fake tan?

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Natural Bronze Body Lotion.

This genuinely is a worthwhile investment that can be used all year round. The creamy, moisturising lotion is perfect for keeping your skin beautiful and soft, whilst adding a healthy bronze colour to it for a natural looking glow, perfect during the winter months. You can gradually build a soft tan within a few days whilst deeply nourishing the skin. It also smells of chocolatey deliciousness, leaving you smelling good enough to eat!

Luscious Lips


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We all know the feeling of chapped and cracked lips that come during the colder months where it feels like nothing will make them feel moist again. It is so important to invest in a balm that will actually work.

Tip: Although Vaseline is used worldwide, it is actually just like applying a thick layer of oil on top of the lip which your pores are unable to absorb. So, while it may feel moisturising, it is in fact, doing absolutely nothing apart from clogging the pores which, if used on the skin, can cause spots. It is also extremely greasy and if worn in the sun will fry your lips like oil in a chip pan.

Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip Balm contains honey and other quality oils that that protect your lips as well as repair damage. For intense action, you can use as a lip mask by applying a thick layer to the lips before bed which will repair the lips during the night then top up in the morning to hydrate for the day.

A dark lip is the perfect way to make a seasonal statement. No Christmas makeup look would be complete without a deep red lip. If you don’t fancy doing a dramatic eye, then a dark lip is the perfect alternative. Although red is the most popular, why not try a deep plum for a super beautiful autumnal look.

MAC have a huge variety of lipsticks ranging from nudes to daring darks. They also come in three different formulas (matte, satin and creamy) to suit your style and preference. This is also great if you have dry lips, as the creamy lipstick will not dry them out further.

Hair

We can often forget about the importance of the health of our hair focusing on just our skin. With the essential expenses of Christmas presents and good skin care, the though of spending more money on hair care is understandably off-putting. No need to worry, you can make a DIY hair treatment that will work just as well.

Try a mixture of avocado and coconut oil for silky smooth hair and extra shine. The avocado contains oils and proteins that will smooth the hair and create shine, and the coconut oil is great for penetrating deep into the hair shaft for intense moisturization.

Heat the coconut oil in the microwave untill it melts into a pouring liquid. Stir in crushed avocado to create a paste and then work into the roots, through to the ends. Leave in for a few hours or overnight for extra intensity.

This treatment is sure to protect your hair from the dry winter winds.

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Minimal makeup has become a huge trend recently. Was it ever really gone? Of course, bare face with nothing on it is not the same thing. The point of minimal makeup is to enhance your strengths and hide the things you are not too happy about, such as redness, pigmentation or spots. But how do you achieve the perfect look that can deceive somebody into thinking you really have nothing on?

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Take Care of Your Skin at All Times

This should go without saying, but we’ll say it anyway because how you wash your face is important. Especially if you have an event coming up and you’ll like to do minimal makeup – there’s a lot of space for mistakes. So use a gentle soap or a wash and a flannel cloth. You don’t want to use an exfoliant at this point, as it can bring out the redness in your complexion. Other times? Yes, but don’t overdo it, as physical exfoliation can damage your skin.

Moisturise

For the minimal makeup, you want to make sure your skin is soft, supple and hydrated. So there’s a step you don’t want to miss: moisturizing. Apply just a pea-sized amount of moisturizer all over your face. Apart from feeding your skin, this step will ensure that your makeup sits right there, but it won’t make your face look greasy. Just what we need!

Use a Foundation Made For You

Okay, maybe you don’t have access to a whole team making shades for a major makeup company, but you do have access to all the shades... so all you have to do is choose the right one. This is a crucial step but so many people are missing it and end up using the wrong colour, which ends up looking funny on their faces, to say the least. Invest some time into choosing the right foundation, and not only when it comes to color but texture as well. What do you want from a foundation, perfect coverage or just a little help, glowing or matte finish? When you do end up choosing the foundation – and remember, the colour of your skin also changes from winter to summer – remember to blend well. You’re not going for the clown look, but the minimal one!

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Use Little Tricks for the Eyes

We understand if you’re a mascara lover who cannot get enough of coats, endless mascara coats! But minimal makeup is all about being... well, minimal. What you can do, though, to draw attention to your eyes, is curling your eyelashes. This can really do much more than just applying mascara, no matter how good it is. If you’re not too sure about your curling skills, or just don’t want to be doing it every morning, try looking into eyelash extension deals, as there are some really good ones that won’t take last pounds out of your wallet. By having eyelash extension, you get to keep perfect eyelashes for a long time, with no effort. Worth considering.

Conceal if Needed

If there are any problem areas after you’ve put on your foundation, reach for a good concealer. Sometimes there are no problem areas, but since the colour of our skin is not even in all the areas of the face, you might want to use it anyway. If you have any dark under-eye circles, swipe the brush under your eyes, where you’ve already applied the concealer, then pat with your finger to blend.

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Don’t Use Bronzer

This might come as a surprise to bronzer-loving girls, but even though it can look extraordinarily beautiful, you will want to skip it when trying to achieve a minimal look. Minimal makeup is all about trying to work with what you’ve got already; you don’t want to mess with the natural colours of your face, just work with them to bring out the best.

But You Can Use Blush

A lot of girls have memories of their grandmothers telling them they look amazing when they blush a little, be it from embarrassment or running. So blush is allowed in the minimal makeup (minus the sweat from working out, or the overall feeling when you feel awkward!). but try making it as soft and close to your natural blush as possible. Cream blushes work best for the soft look you are trying to achieve. Apply the blush to the apples of your cheeks – so exactly where you would blush naturally – and blend until you have a colour that’s very subtle, but still noticeable.

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Play with the Colour of Your Lips

Luckily, there is an abundance of shades that can work amazingly with the natural, minimal makeup. And a decade ago we thought nude is just one colour! You can use any nude shade you like, but you can also apply a little cream blush you just used on your cheeks to your lips – this will enhance their natural pigment, thus making them super lovely.

And Don’t Forget Your Eyebrows

Eyebrows can make it or break it – and by “it”, we mean your complete look. You don’t want them to have a very strong line. Actually, you want them to be natural, but with little help. So if your natural eyebrows are very light, blend a colour to give them a little shape. Bonus trick: use eyeshadow instead of a brow pencil. This gives you a much softer, more natural look.

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And there you have it – a natural makeup look that looks almost as if you have nothing on your face, but so much different from an actual bare face, and so much better. Enjoy the look and the compliments you will be getting!

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