As much as I would love to sit here and tell you that I practice what I preach, the fact is: I don’t. Whilst there are a lot of things that I am fastidious about – like moisturising my entire body (every day) and washing my make-up brushes (every week), there are some bad beauty habits that I have developed over the past couple of years that I just can’t seem to break! Here are the top 8 cardinal beauty sins that I commit on a regular basis…
1. I never wear sunscreen on my face
I know, I KNOW! Especially considering the amount of time we harp on about the importance of sunscreen and how it’s vital for protecting your delicate little faces from the harsh African sun. But the fact is, I’ve never found one that was suitable for everyday wear ie: wasn’t going to break me out with prolonged use. My day cream, and some of my foundations, have SPF built-in, but if you read Caroline Hiron’s SPF Cheat Sheet you’ll quickly realise that relying on built-in sun protection is not wise because it isn’t nearly effective enough. However, it’s never too late to make a change, and to that end I am going to be investing in the Kiehl’s Ultra Light UV Defense SPF 50 as I’ve heard that it is exceptionally lightweight so is suitable for daily wear and won’t give you spots. Watch this space…
2. I file my nails with polish on
Because sometimes, the thought of removing your polish just to fix a snaggle-nail is too tedious to bear. So sue me.
3. I only floss my front teeth
This is naughty – and I really do wish I could be more dedicated about flossing all of my teeth, and not just the ones you see when I smile (love you, back teeth!). I always have floss on me because I live in perpetual fear of food getting caught in my teeth – but getting to those back molars is just such a shag. I do it maybe once every two weeks (if I remember). Tooth decay, I’m coming for you! Mmm mmm!
4. I neglect my neck
I am usually very good about looking after my face (except when I’ve been drinking – then I couldn’t care less – see point 8 below). But my neck? Nope. Not getting any skincare love from me I’m afraid. I do moisturise my body daily, so if I’m feeling generous I’ll slap on some cream/oil, but my poor neck certainly never gets treated to serums or more intensive moisturisers. My reasons are two-fold: firstly, I’m lazy and secondly, if I’m wearing my hair down it gets covered in cream/oil and ends up looking lank and greasy in a matter of minutes. I’m going to be one of those women with a smooth face and a turkey neck, I can just see it!
5. I pick, prod, squeeze EVERYTHING
I just can’t help it – it’s like an sickness. If I see a pimple, ingrown hair, any lump/bump of any sort, you better know I’m going to squeeze, pluck and prod until I’ve gotten rid of it. I like to think that this is a fairly normal affliction and that many of you share my fondness for extractions. Wait, you don’t? Why not?? I once popped a crystal out the waterline in my eye and I was so excited that I took of picture of it, sent it to Jules and she responded with “That is amazing. If I were you I would keep it so I could play with it all day”. That’s why we are best friends.
6. I touch my face constantly
And I mean constant-ly. Either I am resting my face on my hand, running my hands through my hair and then touching my face, playing my my phone and then touching my face…eeeeew. My face is a veritable breeding-ground for bacteria – so unhygenic! I am trying to make myself more aware of it in an effort to stop, but it’s such a sub-conscious thing that half the time I don’t even realise I’m doing it.
7. I use the same face cloth for a couple of days in a row
There was a time when I had a fresh face cloth for every night of the week, but then I got lazy and now I use the same one for two, three, sometimes up to four nights in a row. That’s up to four days of bacteria sitting in a damp face cloth that I am happily smearing all over my face, night after night. How revolting? As I type this I am promising myself to use a clean one every day. Sis, Camilla.
8. I never take my make-up off when I’m drunk
Saved the best until last, right? This is the worst, worst thing you can do for your skin – dehydrating it with alcohol and then aggravating it by going to sleep with old, stale make-up on. I am a repeat offender on this one, and every time I do it I vow that it’ll never happen again…that is, until the next time! It’s not my fault ok, it’s just so much easier to collapse into bed and go straight to sleep instead of swaying in front of the sink trying to swipe away that stubborn mascara. As I get older the morning-after results are worse too – my skin looks sallow, patchy and generally very unhappy, and you’d think for someone like me that would be motivation enough to clean up my act. Seems not…G&T’s win again!
Please share your bad beauty habits with me to make me feel better!
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