5 Beauty Rules for Everyone To Live By

I have been trying to take better care of my skin. I decided to write up some beauty rules that make a good solid foundation for your make and beauty routine. These are not specific beauty product tips on the lines of ‘how to put winged eyeliner’ (haha, I have absolutely no clue about that!). And definitely do not include ‘take off your makeup before bed’. These are more in the lines of general beauty tips and guides almost everyone can use. And after sharing it with Satarupa, my beauty expert, I can assure you you have not heard these before. (If she hasn’t you haven’t either. Really.)

1. Beauty Tools: Its actually quite amazing that there is so much talk about skincare and makeup and so little about good, solid, beauty tools. You definitely have your IPL and epilators and hair-dryers but beauty tools have definitely moved on from just that. For instance, I was going though this Panasonic beauty product page and was very intrigued by the facial steamer which seems to have received great reviews. I have been researching quite a bit on the various beauty tools available in the market and there is a lot. The obvious advantages of these tools are their longevity and their long-term affordability. The obvious disadvantages being that you probably need to shell out more money in the short term than on a face cream. But I am currently following the quality over quantity mantra so this is where my beauty money is going next.

2. Do Your Reading: I was going to title this post on the lines of ‘beauty hacks’. I then realised that if I am telling people to do reading and research, I cannot honestly call it a hack. But sadly, there is no substitute for some basic beauty reading and research. You spend a lot of money beauty products, you should know what you are paying for.

  To make this slightly easier I will give you some recommendations to start off.

• Catch up on the Vogue Skincare Alphabet. I love this series and you don’t have to be a chemist to understand it! It tells you about the popular ingredients found in beauty products – what it can do for you, why you should (or should not) use it and so on.

• Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes is my beauty bible. She has some good sensible advice about beauty tips, beauty products and the market backed by years of experience as the Guardian beauty journalist. I borrowed the book from the library and then realized I need my own copy to keep and refer to.

• I came across Caroline Heron’s blog and cheat sheets quite recently and I have to admit I have not tried out her tips myself. Yet. But her beauty routine and skin care tips cheat sheet intrigued me – I will be trying them out soon and maybe you could get on it too.

3. Powder: This is a definite hack. Choose the free product service and enter whatever you are looking for. For instance, I was looking for eyeliner that does not smudge. You would think this is easy in 2016 except it is not. And I have tried everything! So when I entered the required details, it gave me options at various price points. I went and got one of the products suggested. I won’t say it stays put after a swim and but its definitely the best one I have tried (and I will repeat, I have tried a lot!). So the next item I am getting is the shampoos I have been recommended. Will keep you posted.

4. Know Your Brands: This is a tip I learnt from reading Sali Hughes’ column and I swear by it. The beauty industry is very incestuous – most brands own other brands. For instance, L’oreal pretty much owns every other beauty brands from Giorgio Armani beauty to Urban Decay down to basic Garnier. But how this this effect you? Within L’oreal, the luxury brands spend quite a bit on research and experimentation. Since these brands are all owned by the same parent company, L’oreal, such research and innovation gets tricked down even to the budget brands. The only difference being the quality of ingredients used. The thought process here is that if you have a limited budget would be better off spending money on a cream from Garnier than small, stand alone budget brand without the same access to technology and innovation.

5. Use the Free Resources Around You: Most make-up brands are happy to show you some tricks. Make-up skill is not something anyone is born with – you have to learn it. I spoke to MAC recently asking if I could come over with my make-up palette and if they could show me how to use it. The amazing lady I spoke to said, we usually charge for a tutorial if you make an appointment but if you come over and are happy to wait if the counter staff is busy, they can definitely help you out. Bobbi Brown has make-up lessons you can book online. Of course, you should buy a product in return for the help but there is no obligation to do so.

So thats all for now – lecture is over! On a serious note, I hope this was even somewhat helpful and gave you some ideas. Do you have a beauty rule you live by? Let us know and we would be happy to refer to it (and you, of course!) on the blog. We have been talking about beauty quite a bit on the blog recently. We talked haircare and chose some great British products. You can also have a look at our other beauty posts.

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This post was made in collaboration with Panasonic.

– Anisha