I am BIG on high maintenance to be low maintenance–in the sense that I’d rather invest time and effort to find the perfect beauty routine that makes my daily maintenance easier and less complex in the long run.
I would take the time to research and experiment with different routines to find the perfect one for me, which makes the initial research phase high maintenance. But once you’re set on a routine, your daily beauty regimen becomes low maintenance, since you’re doing what works for you and that’s left is consistency.
In this article, we’ll be delving into micro-beauty habits that will change your life. Nothing wild; they’re tiny tweaks that will have a MAJOR impact on your beauty routine. And by beauty habits, it doesn’t just mean softer skin or nicer hair, it’s mean beauty habits that enhance your inner world, reflecting on the outside. After a ton of experimenting, I had put together the perfect girl maintenance checklist for you.
So, grab your notebook, and let’s get into micro beauty habits that are life-changing.
1. Practice straight posture
Practicing straight posture not only improves your physical health, but enhances your confidence, and presence, and makes you look more attractive overall. And since we’re not only talking about physical appearance here, maintaining a proper posture helps prevent muscle strain, and back pain, and allows you to move more freely.
It feels a bit unnatural at the beginning, but over time you’ll get used to straightening your posture every time you feel sluggish, and it’s totally worth the initial annoyance. Good posture makes you 10 times more attractive, and reflects confidence.
2. Bring your skincare down your neck and hands
All parts of your body deserve love, not just your face. We focus a lot on skincare for the face and forget other important parts that affect the way we look like hands and neck. So, whenever you’re doing skincare, make sure you take it down to your neck and massage the rest into your hands.
This easy skincare hack might not seem very important if you’re in your 20s, but when you get older and see that your neck and chest look so good because of this skincare hack, you’ll be so happy you stuck with it!
3. Five-minute journaling in the morning/ at night
I’m a HUGE advocate of small practices consistently over big ones less frequently. And since journaling has been a part of my routine forever, I understand the struggle of sticking to it, especially when you feel like there’s nothing to write about.
That’s why I highly recommend setting just 5 minutes (more if you need to) in the morning or before bed to pour your thoughts on paper. It helps you set the tone of the day before the world sets it for you.
4. Learning about yourself
We’re all unique and beautiful in our ways, that’s why we shouldn’t blindly follow trends or assume that we’d look the same in an outfit as someone else. Learning what suits you best will level up your style and appearance SO much.
Two things I found helpful to figure out your style and what colors suit you best are a Kibbie Body Type test–a test that will tell you much more about your body type than the usual pear, apple, etc… It has 13 image-based body shapes that are divided into 5 categories.
The other thing is a color analysis–this helps you identify your seasonal color palette and your dominant. It examines the value, hue, and chroma in your skin, eyes, and hair colors. I believe it’s 100% worth the hype! Learning to wear colors that suit you will level up your looks so much.
5. Lashes
Lashes, just like eyebrows, have so much power over the way you look. There are a few things you can do that will keep your lashes looking amazing every day without even having to apply mascara, such as:
- Lash extensions
- Lash lifting
- Lash curling
- Lash serum
They’re listed from the most high maintenance to the least, so you can choose what feels more comfortable for you.
6. Using body serums and body retinol
Serums and retinol are the holy grail of skincare products for the face. There’s no problem that a serum or retinol can’t fix. But, have you ever thought about using them for your body?
Of course, these small bottles are so expensive and can’t be lathered on like you’d do with a body lotion. What you can do is find a serum that addresses your skin concerns; dryness, hyperpigmentation, dullness, etc., and apply a few drops with your body lotion.
Retinol or retinoid, the holy grail ingredient that fixes any issue, functions the same no matter where you put it. You can gradually introduce retinol to the skin by applying it 2-3 times a week to problematic areas, then build usage to see how the skin responds.
If you have uneven skin tone, texture, or even loss of firmness, retinol will definitely help you with these skin concerns. Keep in mind that retinol/retinoid causes dryness to the skin and makes it photosensitive. So make sure you’re hydrating the skin and applying sunscreen before being exposed to UV rays.
7. Tint your eyebrows
Want to get that full eyebrow look every day without having to use an eyebrow pencil or microblade your eyebrows? Eyebrow tinting is the answer. It gives you the look of fuller brows, as the color-matched tin darkens the light hair. You can even choose to color match, darken, or even lighten the eyebrow color depending on the look you want to achieve.
8. Vaseline and socks
Now that’s an old hack we all know about, but I had to write it because of how good it works. It literally gives you baby feet from one night. The results will be even better if you apply Vaseline right after showering to create a sealing barrier and lock in the moisture.
9. Morning affirmations
As mentioned, this article isn’t just about outer beauty. It’s about feeling beautiful inside out, that’s why I had to bring up morning affirmations because of the power they hold over your day.
As cheesy as it sounds, they sure do work, but they won’t make things magically occur. It helps you shift your mindset and keeps you focused on what’s important to you. They’re not a magic bullet for success, you’ll still need to put in the work.
Here are some non-cheesy morning affirmations:
- I will not give in to negative thoughts
- I trust the process
- Today is my day
- I’m not a victim of circumstances
- I choose how I’m going to feel today
- I’m grateful for the beautiful life I have
- I will not stress over things I cannot control
- I won’t allow small frustrations to ruin my day
- I’m choosing to be kind today
- I choose how I’m going to feel today
What you can do if you will forget to say them, you can put some sticky notes in a visible place or on your mirror.
10. Oral hygiene
- Oral hygiene
Whenever I see someone who has white and clean teeth, I feel like they look 10x more attractive. It’s a signal of how clean you are and elevates your look, not to mention how it will prevent a lot of health problems (and horrible dentist visits).
Oral hygiene doesn’t have to be complicated. If you follow this simple routine, you’ll keep your teeth and gums healthy, and your smile beautiful.
- Brush your teeth at least two times daily (preferably one of them after coffee)
- Floss once daily
- Brush your tongue
- Use an antibacterial mouthwash
- Schedule regular dentist appointments
- Frequently change your tooth brush
11. Full exfoliation and full hydration
If there are two simple things you can do to take care of your skin, it’s to exfoliate and hydrate. As simple as that. All the other additional steps don’t matter if you’re not doing these two.
Exfoliating and hydrating afterward will solve all your skin problems since they arise from not exfoliating and hydrating properly in the first place. Dry skin? You need hydration. Texture? You need exfoliation. Uneven skin? Exfoliation. Master the basics and you’ll notice a huge difference.
There are several methods to exfoliate, here are some:
1. Physical exfoliation
- Body scrubs with products containing granules like sugar, salt, coffee grounds, or oatmeal.
- Exfoliating gloves. I prefer them over loofahs because they dry quicker which makes them more sanitary.
2. Chemical exfoliation
- AHAs such as glycolic acid or lactic acid.
- BHAs such as salicylic acid.
- Enzymes: Papain or bromelain are natural enzymes that dissolve dead skin cells.
3. Exfoliating tools
Dry brushing. It’s using a dry, natural-bristled brush before showering to not only remove dead skin cells but to stimulate circulation too. It’s my favorite pre-shower step that helps get rid of any stubborn textures on my skin.
12. Infused water
This one is especially for those who dislike the taste of plain water! And as we all know what happens on the inside reflects on the outside. So, if you’re dehydrated it will show you on your skin, nails, hair, etc.
Drinking infused water makes hydration more enjoyable while giving you a nutrient boost. You can add fruits, vegetables, and herbs which will release their vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
You can cut natural produce or you can buy powders that offer different health benefits for an easy and fast process.
13. Beauty procedures
The love/hate relationship you get with beauty procedures is surely one of a kind. They’re so good to have in the short-term but will ruin your looks long-term and are super high-maintenance.
Things like nail gel, keratin treatments, lash extensions, fillers, etc. What is even worrying about them is that there haven’t been studies conducted long enough to know the impact of these beauty procedures on our health and bodies.
The best thing you can do for yourself is to take care of what you already have. I had to accept that I couldn’t have straight hair and learned my lesson the hard way after years of keratin treatments that absolutely ruined my hair. Did I get straight hair? Yes, but it was brittle, thin, and damaged.
After I’ve started to adopt the concept of taking care of what I have, my hair looks so much better and fuller.
14. Focusing on health instead of appearance
With training, it’s easy to get consumed by aesthetics and forget about the sole purpose of the entire thing–health. I used to lift heavy 7 times a week, ignored mobility work, didn’t eat enough, and didn’t rest when my body was begging me to.
To be honest, I was satisfied with how I looked, but my body was constantly bloated, my energy levels were low, and had some injuries.
When I focused on how things make me feel instead of how they make me look, I noticed amazing results, and my routine became way easier to maintain. There is no stress around food. No bloating from stress. Generally a healthy mindset towards health and fitness.
15. Simplify your skincare routine
Simplifying your skincare routine to the bare bones while giving the products time to work is what will make the products work. We’re all using way too much product and spending way too much money on our skincare, and we truly do not need to.
You’ll hear people saying “But you need Vitamin C!!”. No, there isn’t an ingredient that you need per se. No studies have proven that every person needs vitamin C to have good skin.
Find the products that work with you. As a rule of thumb: if your skincare routine is more than 4 steps, then it’s probably too much. A basic routine would be an oil cleanser, a foam cleanser, a serum (not necessarily), and a moisturizer. Go back to the basics, stay consistent, and watch your skin get better.