Love Yourself: 10 Beauty Habits Women Should Never Break

Fresh faced woman

We all know how important it is to love yourself and take care of your body. Here are 10 important habits to lock down.

Skipping the occasional SPF application or falling asleep before you have the chance to floss isn’t a big deal in the short-term – but over time habits like these (or rather, a lack thereof) will contribute to health issues no woman wants anything to do with.

Show yourself some love by establishing these important beauty habits:

1. Use a gentle cleanser
Many of us tend to use harsher cleansers than necessary and exfoliate too much. We also tend to wash our faces in the morning, when we should only be washing them before bed. During beddy-by, our skin regenerates and balances itself out, which we then strip away with our morning scrub-down.

Love Yourself Tip: Only splash your face with water in the morning before applying your sunscreen and moisturizer. Choose a gentle cleanser and wash your face no more than twice a day.

2. Apply sunscreen daily
Not only does sunscreen reduce the risk of skin cancer, it also blocks out the aging effects rays can have on our skin. Too much sun exposure will lead to your skin wrinkling long before it typically would.

Love Yourself Tip: Put on sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher before applying your makeup.

3. Apply moisturizer daily
No matter your skin type, combining a mild cleanser with a quality moisturizer will make all the difference, and depending on the person, can take the place of a lot of products. When your skin is dry, wrinkles are accentuated.

Love Yourself Tip: Moisturize daily after your SPF, and use a rich night cream before bed.

4. Respect your tresses
There are so many terrible things we do to our hair: Wrapping a towel around our heads when we hop out of the shower, brushing it when it’s wet, and using too many styling wands to name a few. You should only brush your hair to detangle it using a wide-tooth comb, since over-brushing and over-styling leads to excess breakage.

Love Yourself Tip: When possible, let your hair air-dry. When blow-drying, make sure your hair has been thoroughly towel-dried first, and dry using medium to low heat.

5. Use clean makeup brushes
Makeup brushes are magnets for bacteria, which will lead to skin irritation and burning eyes. Not only that, but it will also impact the look of your makeup, leading to (gasp!) streaks.

Love Yourself Tip: Wash your brushes once a week, using water and dish soap/shampoo and lay them flat to dry. If you put them in a cup to dry, the liquid will impact the glue holding the bristles in place.

6. Maintain your smile
Oral care is about more than just clean teeth: Problems with your oral health can also lead to other health issues, such as problems with your major organs and digestive issues. No matter what, brush twice a day and floss before bed.

Love Yourself Tip: If you tend to skimp on flossing, a thorough flossing once a week is better than a half-assed daily effort.

7. Nurture your nails
During busy times, our manicures are often the first thing to go – but how you take care of your nails usually turns into a representation of how well you take care of the rest of your body.

Love Yourself Tip: At the very least, give your nails a quick shape with an emery board and a coat of clear polish.

8. Remember your neck and décolletage
We’re so focused on our face that many of us neglect our neck and décolletage, which are areas of our body that show signs of aging just as much as our face.

Love Yourself Tip: Getting into the habit of moisturizing these areas when you’re moisturizing your face will give your skin a serious boost from H2D (get it?).

9. Keep your hands to yourself
Many of us touch our faces without even knowing it, which transfers dirt and oils from your hands onto your skin and clogs your pores.

Love Yourself Tip: Even wearing light makeup helps break the habit of touching your face, since you’ll want to make your application last as long as possible.

10. Evolve your look
We all have go-to looks we turn to when we’re crunched for time or we continue to use them because they’re low-maintenance – but if you can’t remember the last time you tried a new haircut or eye shadow, it’s time to shake things up a bit. Periodically updating your look keeps you looking – and feeling – modern.

Love Yourself Tip: Let go of The Rachel and talk to your stylist about what’s new in the world of hair and makeup.

Are there other beauty habits you feel are a clear indicator of how much you love yourself and take care of your body?

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Image: Soren Rajczyk

Krissy Brady

Krissy Brady is a women’s health + lifestyle writer who’s so out of shape, it’s like she has the innards of an 80-year-old. Instead of learning how to crochet, she decided to turn her emotional baggage into a writing career (genius, no?). You can follow her shenanigans on Twitter (you know, if you want).