Your Skincare Guide

💅 DIY Nail Strengthening Oil ✨
Benefits:
💪 Fortifies Nails: A powerful blend of oils nourishes and strengthens weak, brittle nails, preventing breakage.
💧 Hydrates Cuticles: Keeps the skin around your nails soft and moisturized, reducing painful hangnails.
🌱 Promotes Growth: Healthy, hydrated nails are less prone to chipping and peeling, allowing them to grow longer.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon coconut oil (or olive oil)
1 teaspoon Vitamin E oil (from a capsule)
5 drops of lemon essential oil (optional)
Instructions:
In a small, clean glass bottle or container, combine the coconut oil, Vitamin E oil, and lemon essential oil (if using).
Secure the lid and shake well to mix all the ingredients.
To apply, use a clean fingertip or a small brush to dab a small amount onto each nail.
Gently massage the oil into your nails and cuticles until absorbed.
Tips:
Store the oil in a cool, dark place to maintain its potency.
For a deep treatment, apply the oil before bed and wear cotton gloves overnight.
Apply this oil daily for the best results, especially after washing your hands.

Heat Your Eyelash Curler for Extra Lift
For a longer-lasting curl, gently warm your eyelash curler with a blow dryer for a few seconds before using it. Make sure it’s warm, not hot, to avoid damaging your lashes. This added heat works like a mini curling iron, giving your lashes a lifted, wide-eyed look that lasts all day.

Tackle body odour with a chemical exfoliant

The exfoliating face toners you have in your skincare routine (and hopefully only use once or twice a week to prevent over-exfoliation) can be used in your underarms to tackle body odour. Give it a quick swipe to break up oil and dead skin cells.

That said, YouTube’s favourite dermatologist Andrea Suarez does caution that overuse of strong acids in the underarm area can cause sensitivity and disrupt the pH of the region. Acids can get trapped in the folds of the skin. So if you are using a chemical exfoliant for your underarms, you’ll want to keep it at a low percentage or use a gentler exfoliating ingredient like mandelic or lactic acid, rather than a strong glycolic acid.

Moisturise in the shower
By now, we know that it’s most effective to use hydrating ingredients and moisturiser while your face is slightly damp. The same principle applies to body care.
If your skin gets drier than a 3-day-old chappati in the fridge, keep your body lotion in the shower so it’s handy for when you’re done bathing. You don’t have to be sopping wet when applying it, but it does take some getting used to.

Keep the heavy stuff away from your under eyes

One of the beauty tips I picked up from my grandmother was putting castor oil on my eyelashes to keep them strong and thick. But I have also spent many years wondering what in the world those little white bumps in my undereye area were.

The small under-the-surface white bumps are milia which a doctor told me I had been aggravating with the sticky castor oil, attracting sweat and grime. Dermatologist Lindsey Zubritsky says we should avoid heavy products like oils and thick occlusives like vaseline in that region. Instead, an eye cream formulated with retinol can exfoliate the area to break up milia while keeping it moisturised.

It may not be acne but a fungal infection
If you feel tiny bumps under the skin on your forehead that always feel itchy-scratchy, then no amount of acne-fighting products will work because it’s possible that it’s not acne but a fungal infection called Malassezia folliculitis, also known as Pityrosporum folliculitis. Some refer to it as fungal acne.
An excellent way to test it yourself is by using a product you may already have in the bathroom – dandruff shampoo. These shampoos have anti-fungal ingredients that can also treat this type of ‘acne’. Replace your face wash with the dandruff shampoo and let it sit for a minute before washing it off. Follow it up with a good moisturiser because it can be a bit drying. You’ve got your confirmation if you notice a difference in the bumps. For more widespread and recurring bumps, speak to a medical professional for a more in-depth anti-fungal treatment plan.

Don’t forget the neck

I’ve picked up a lot of beauty tips from content creator Amy Chang, but one that I wish I had known sooner was to pay attention to my neck as much as my face. The skin on our neck ages faster than the skin on our face. Ageing aside, structurally, it’s thinner and gets a lot of wear and tear.

“Between sun exposure and the addition of looking at our phones repeatedly, we are seeing neck changes even earlier,” dermatologist Dendy Engelman said in an interview. So take what you’re applying to your face down to your neck too. However, because the skin is thinner, you want to be careful when exfoliating your neck.

Pigment shampoos and masks can ease the hair dye fade

I’m a simple woman; Lady Gaga’s colourist said she uses pigment shampoos, so I wanted a pigment shampoo. A purple shampoo helps tone and maintain the pop star’s platinum-blonde hair.

Aditi Vyas of Continuity Salon recommended a pigment mask for brown hair when I was getting my hair colour. It’s essentially an in-shower treatment that can extend the life span of the hair colour job by temporarily tinting or toning your hair, neutralising any unwanted undertones that show up as the colour fades.

Tackle body odour with a chemical exfoliant
The exfoliating face toners you have in your skincare routine can be used in your underarms to tackle body odour. Give it a quick swipe to break up oil and dead skin cells.
That said, YouTube’s favourite dermatologist Andrea Suarez does caution that overuse of strong acids in the underarm area can cause sensitivity and disrupt the pH of the region. Acids can get trapped in the folds of the skin. So if you are using a chemical exfoliant for your underarms, you’ll want to keep it at a low percentage or use a gentler exfoliating ingredient like mandelic or lactic acid, rather than a strong glycolic acid.

Don’t forget the neck
I’ve picked up a lot of beauty tips from content creator Amy Chang, but one that I wish I had known sooner was to pay attention to my neck as much as my face. The skin on our neck ages faster than the skin on our face. Ageing aside, structurally, it’s thinner and gets a lot of wear and tear.
“Between sun exposure and the addition of looking at our phones repeatedly, we are seeing neck changes even earlier,” dermatologist Dendy Engelman said in an interview. So take what you’re applying to your face down to your neck too. However, because the skin is thinner, you want to be careful when exfoliating your neck.

Check your stress
If your skincare goal is glowing like a firefly in Purushwadi, you might want to take up meditation. Of course, jogging and puzzles work, too – any hobby that helps you de-stress. That’s actress Cate Blanchett’s beauty secret. “I think that anything you can do to remove stress will give you a better glow. That’s the number one answer,” she said in an interview.
Stress leads to inflammation in the body which can aggravate skin conditions. Poor health shows its signs on our faces as well. If you find your skin looking dull, you may want to check your vitamin D levels. Look over your diet and gut health if you’re breaking out a lot. Talk to a doctor and get routine check-ups to see what underlying conditions could be showing up as symptoms on your skin.

Keep your razor out of the bathroom
A razor in the shower area is convenient if you need to shave your legs or arms quickly before heading out. Unfortunately, if you find yourself getting a lot more razor bumps, this could be the culprit.
Dermatologist Whitney Bowe says we should store razors in a dry place. Leaving a wet razor lying around in the often damp and warm bathroom causes rust, degrading the blade and making it dull. This, in turn, causes razor burn, and the transfer of bacteria can also lead to infections. Change your blades frequently, and wipe them dry after each use.