Some friends of mine get up three hours before they need to leave for work. They spend this time doing their hair & make-up. One of them manages to pull off a different look nearly every day. I find this dedication extraordinary. It’s not that I’m a slob; it’s just that my priorities lie elsewhere.

Amazing Skin, Less Hassle – Skincare routines

Relaxing over breakfast, for example, or squeezing in one last game with the cat before it’s time for work. But I still want to look presentable, so I like to maintain a skincare routine that keeps my face fresh & healthy without spending hours over it.  The trick is to figure out which skincare habits will give the most benefit for the least time spent doing them. Three hours a day on hair & make-up just doesn’t feel like good value for effort, to me at any rate.

Here are some things to try:

Hot flannel facewash

Massage your facewash into your skin as usual, but don’t wash it off straight away. Instead, run a facecloth under the warm tap (not too hot), wring it out & drape it over your soapy face. Make sure the cloth sits loosely over your nose, so you can breath easily. Rest for a minute or two. This gently opens the pores & maximises the amount of grime you can remove with your facewash. Massage off the gunk with the cloth.

Forget toner…

It often contains alcohol, which ends up drying out your skin & creating more problems. Instead, splash your face with cool or lukewarm water to close your pores after washing. This is especially important if you use the hot cloth technique with your facewash.

…but never forget moisturiser, preferably with SPF

Moisturiser is important even if you have oily skin. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t usually add new moisture to the skin, but it does lock any existing moisture inside your skin for longer. Some of them also act as protection from environmental damage – find one with Sun Protection Factor (SPF) & wear it all year round to minimise wrinkles & UV damage. Silicon-based moisturisers add an extra barrier against the drying effects of wind & cold.

Self-tan moisturiser

An excellent time-saver for pale-skinned girls who feel comfortable without too much skin coverage, but feel a bit mottled or blemished. Self-tan moisturizers gradually build up a nice even glow, unlike spray-tans, which can sometimes turn out drastically darker than your normal colour, & lack the handy moisturising aspect.

Hydration

One of the most easily forgotten parts of good skincare, hydration is key to an easily maintained healthy appearance. You don’t have to drink eight glasses of water a day – that statistic was (apparently) publicized by a mineral water company – but you do need to get a good one to two litres of it into your body somehow or other, every day. Soup, stew, hotpot, herbal tea, fresh fruit & vegetables or their juices, & salad vegetables like cucumber, are all good ways to get water.

Regular tea & coffee will rehydrate you to an extent, but many people have trouble with sugar, milk & high caffeine intake. If you do love coffee, try having one cup of really good fresh coffee in the morning, with a glass of water, Italian-style, & forget instant, which has all the caffeine but none of the flavour.

Feature written for LadyM Presents by Redmudmedia