09 Jun Top Beauty Tips & Tricks for a Flawless Look

We all know the golden rules of beauty – wear sunscreen every day, drink plenty of water for a clear hydrated complexion and of course, never go to bed with your makeup on! But once you’ve got those beauty basics down to an art, there are so many cool little tips and tricks of the trade, which you can use to up your beauty game and feel simply, sensationally gorgeous. Here are some of our green team’s top beauty tips to keep you looking flawless and feeling fab. Enjoy!

Brushing Up

Clean your makeup brushes regularly. This will prevent a build-up of old makeup residue, and will also keep nasty bacteria and fungi at bay. It’s so simple; just wash your brushes with a little shampoo and conditioner, then rinse as you would your own hair. Clean brushes will give you smooth, beautiful application.

Brows Behaving Badly?

Keep an old (clean!) toothbrush or a mascara wand handy to use as a brow styling tool. Use a tiny bit of castor oil or aloe gel to tame and style unruly brows, while also nourishing your skin and hair.

Tender Tweezing

Before plucking your brows, soften up the skin by washing your face with warm water. Pat your face dry, and then before tweezing, soak a cotton ball in warm water and press it against the area you want to tweeze, for about 30-40 seconds. Softer, warmer skin means a softer hair follicle, and less pain when plucking the hair. Some beauty buffs dab a little teething gel on their skin to numb the pain; but a more natural solution is to add a few drops of clove essential oil to the soaked cotton balls. Clove is a natural pain-killer and will help to make tweezing a little less arduous.

Don’t Mash your Mascara

That habit of “pumping” your mascara (moving the wand up and down quickly inside the tube) might seem like the best way to get the wand coated, but it will actually shorten your mascara’s lifespan dramatically, by allowing so much excess air into the tube and drying it out. To coat the wand fully with mascara, pull it out of the tube slowly, twisting and turning it gently as you go.

Moisturiser to Makeup

Always make sure your moisturiser has properly soaked into your skin before applying your makeup. Use warm water when cleansing, to open up your pores and make it easier for your day cream to sink into your skin. Then blend a little moisturiser into your cheeks, chin, nose and forehead, and do something else while you give it 2-5 minutes to absorb – you can use the time to floss or brush your teeth.

Close Shave

Most of us shave in the opposite direction of our hair’s growth for the smoothest finish; but if you’re prone to troublesome ingrown hairs, rather shave in the same direction as the hair growth. A super-close shave can actually make the hair slightly retract into the skin and curl back on itself, leading to ingrown hairs.

Icy Eyes

To prevent crumbly eyeliner, put your eye pencils in the fridge for about 15 minutes before using them. The chilled eyeliner should glide smoothly over your lash-line.

Flawless Fragrance

When putting on your fave natural perfume, spritz it behind your knees or your ankles. Fragrance rises, so this is an easy way to make that sensational scent last longer.

Silky Smooth

If you’re out of shaving cream, don’t reach for the soap – it will dry out your skin and leave your shave with a rough, dry finish. Instead, lather up with some of your favourite natural conditioner. This will actually soften the hair on your legs, making it easier to shave and leaving your skin soft and smooth. You might even want to ditch the shaving foam and use your conditioner as a 2-in-1 beauty tool.

Shady Business

Choosing the right shade of foundation is never an easy task! But here’s an easy way to find your perfect match. Always test a new foundation shade by swiping a streak onto your jawline; this is an accurate indicator of colour, and also helps you to make sure the foundation tone of your face won’t be too different to the natural shade of the skin on your neck.

For best results, pick the foundation you think will suit you best – then also pick up one shade lighter and one shade darker. Test all three shades on your jawline, and the one that “disappears” against your skin most effectively is the winner.

Test for yourself: We offer samples of selected natural foundation products, so you can try them out and find the shade that suits you best.

Lip Service

Here’s an easy way to exfoliate your lips without having a ready-made lip scrub handy. Just apply your usual lip balm, then use your toothbrush to gently scrub your lips. Use a tissue to wipe away the excess flakes – your lips will now be smooth and supple, the perfect canvas for your favourite shade of lipstick.

Do you have a favourite go-to grooming and beauty tip that keeps you looking oh-so-radiant? We’d love you to share your tips and tricks with us!