You don’t need much to look amazing, but there are a few things you should pay attention to. There are many women out there who don’t have elaborate beauty routines. Maybe they don’t wear makeup, they don’t do much to their hair and or they pay other people to take care of these things for them. Maybe you’re reading this article because you’re like that, but recently you’ve decided you want to learn more about beauty products and how they can help you look your best.
Perhaps you’ve recently started a job where appearance is important, or you’re going to interviews, and you want to cover all the bases in order to make a good first impression. Maybe it’s quite the opposite. You’re a beauty aficionado with drawers full of beauty goodies, but you want to cut back. Whatever your reasons may be, with so many beauty products on the market, it’s hard to figure out which ones are must-haves and which ones you can do without. Well, we’re here to help, and we’ve made a list of top four beauty essentials every woman should own.
Sunscreen
This one’s a no-brainer, and you’ve probably heard it a million times: You need sunscreen! We’re mentioning it at the top of our list because you’d be surprised at how many women tell us they’ve never used sunscreen. They say that they don’t like the way it feels on their skin. If you’re not using sunscreen for the same reason, you should know that new formulas are designed to be lightweight and pack many other benefits as well. They don’t feel greasy or heavy, and you’ll also not get that white cast that makes you look like a ghost because nowadays you can find tinted sunscreens that solve that problem.
This is great because you won’t need a BB cream. If you don’t need a lot of coverage, you can just apply your tinted sunscreen and head out. Since sun damage is one of the main causes of premature aging of the skin (alongside smoking and stress), it’s a lot better than settling for the SPF 15 that comes with many makeup products. No, aim high. Go for SPF 40. Your 60-year-old self will thank you for it.
Cleanser
Just like there are lots of women who don’t use sunscreen, there are also lots that don’t cleanse their face properly. Perhaps you’re thinking: “This is an article about beauty essentials. Why do I need a cleanser? Can’t I just wash my face with soap? What’s wrong with that?” Well, if you’re lucky enough not to have sensitive skin, you might be able to grab your standard supermarket bar of soap, lather up, and get on with your day without noticing any damage right away.
Unfortunately, there will be consequences in the long run. Maybe you haven’t noticed because you think that’s how your skin is, and it’s not related to using soap for cleansing. You shouldn’t use soap to wash your face because it changes your skin’s pH, strips away the natural oils, and kills healthy bacteria. Your skin will try to restore balance by producing more sebum, but the soap residue ensures that the pH level remains disrupted. This creates a vicious circle: you keep washing your face because it gets oily, so your skin keeps producing oil to protect itself.
Of course, you need to wash your face. Even if you don’t wear any makeup, throughout the day, you will accumulate sweat mixed with debris from the environment that will seep into your pores and clog them. So yes, a cleanser is an essential beauty product, but you have to be careful and pick the right one for your skin type. If you have oily skin, don’t buy a creamy cleanser, and if your skin is dry, don’t buy cleansers made for oily skin. A beauty product review will let you know what to choose.
Moisturizer
Moisturizing is necessary for maintaining healthy skin. Even if you use a gentle cleanser, your skin can still get dry, and a moisturizer will help you balance the oils on your skin. As we said, when your skin is dry, you start producing more sebum because dry skin is vulnerable to bacterial infections and irritation. The sebum is meant to protect it, but as you’ve noticed, you don’t produce the same amount of sebum on all areas of your face. By using the right moisturizer, you make sure that your skin is well hydrated and happy.
To pick the right one, you have to go through a similar process as with the cleanser: you look for products formulated for your skin type, read a few reviews online and try it out. It might take a few attempts to find the best one, but once you do, you can keep using it for several years. As you age, you’ll probably want to switch to products for mature skin, but even in your 20s, you’ll want to make sure you don’t neglect this important step of your beauty routine. It will keep your skin supple and youthful for much longer.
Body Lotion
You don’t have skin just on your face, so it makes sense that you need body lotion. Ok, not everyone needs to apply body lotion as frequently as a facial moisturizer. It depends on a few factors. If you tend to have dry skin, you’re probably going to feel the need to put on lotion after every shower because your skin will feel tight and itchy. Some areas like your elbows or knees are especially prone to getting dry and flaky, so if you’re in a hurry, you might want to apply lotion to these areas at least.
Hot water tends to dry skin, so if you like to take particularly hot showers or baths (you should stop), body lotion can help. It also depends on whether you live in a region with hard water. You can tell if you have hard water by looking for white scaling on your faucets or by testing it with a kit you get at most hardware stores.
If you don’t have the time or you simply don’t like applying body lotion every day, do it at least 3 or 4 times per week. You’ll notice that your skin will be less prone to irritation; it will feel smoother and look better. Another plus is that you can get a good quality scented body lotion, and you skip the perfume.
