How to Look and Feel Your Best

March 5, 2020

Written by Alice Chen

March 5, 2020

Written by Alice Chen

Tips & Tricks to Feel your Best - MP Edition 018

Pampering and primping can give you an instant boost of confidence that helps you look and feel your best. Whether you’ve got a hot date on Valentine’s Day, have a girls’ night out, or it’s simply self-care sunday, we’ve got a few prep tips for you no matter what you’ve got planned.

Make a hair appointment

Nothing builds confidence like freshly coiffed hair. Make an appointment for a quick trim to freshen your locks a few days prior or a get a blowout the same day.

Tweeze your brows

If you’ve ever let your brows go for too long without a proper clean up, we feel you! Sometimes brow maintenance falls to the wayside because, well, life. But squeezing in some time to clean up your brows can go a long way in making you look a little more put together. You can either get your brows waxed or threaded, the latter is slightly more painful than your average wax, but lasts a little longer.

Get a facial

If you have the time and budget, getting a facial on the regular is best practice. The general rule of thumb is that you should get a facial at least every season to help your skin acclimate to the changing weather.

Getting a facial before a big event will not only help you look fresh and well-rested, it’s also some nice treat yo’ self time. Opt for an Oxygen facial or Hydrafacial a few days before a big event for a dewy glow.

Can’t make it to the spa? No biggie - try a quick hydrating sheet mask to enhance your complexion in a jiff.

Do a lip mask

Whether you want to get your your lips ready for some smooching or maybe you just want your lips flake-free, you’ll need to exfoliate and moisturize.

Avoid picking the dry skin on your lips - you’ll only succeed at making them bleed. Instead, the best remedy for dry, chapped, and peeling lips is a lip scrub to gently buff away the dry sky to reveal baby smooth lips. Check out this list of lip scrubs that help you exfoliate and hydrate at the same time. Or if you’re in a pinch, a homemade concoction of honey and sugar will do just fine.

After you exfoliate, you want to keep the softness going. Opt for a balm that contains shea butter for maximum moisturization. Avoid heavily flavored or fragranced products, which can further irritate your already dry lips. To add a little pop of color, choose a tinted lip balm.

Get your teeth whitened

Whether from red wine or a cuppa joe, there are a lot of foods that we enjoy on a regular basis that can stain your teeth. Fortunately, teeth whitening is a rather quick process and can even be done at home. Professional whitening might be costly, but DIY whitening strips or trays, such as the ones from Crest, are relatively cheap and can be used as you’re getting ready.

Exfoliate and moisturize

Unfortunately, the winter months are not kind to our skin. Cold months equal extremely dry skin. If you’ve been slacking on your skincare, now is the time to get hydrating.

The same regimen that applies to your lips applies to your skin too: the one-two punch of exfoliate and moisturize. Use lukewarm water to soften the skin, then use an exfoliating body wash to remove any dead skin. Follow up with a hydrating moisturizer post-exfoliating to prevent flaky skin and maintain that silky smoothness.

Quick tip: Apply moisturizer ASAP after you get out of the shower when your pores are open to seal in all that extra moisture.

Get your vayjayjay ready

When it comes to hair down there, everybody’s preference is different. Some prefer to go all natural while others like to leave a landing stripe. If you prefer to go all bare, we’ve got some tips for you.

For hair removal via waxing, try to go for a wax 24-48 hours in advance to avoid red, irritated skin on the big day. Check out our tips on waxing.

If you can’t get to the spa or prefer shaving, make sure you always cleanse, lather with shaving cream and shave in the direction of hair growth. For more tips on how to get a close shave, read our post on shaving.

But regardless of whether you shave or wax, take care to use a toner that contains witch hazel to prevent those pesky ingrown hairs and a moisturizer to keep the skin feeling smooth much longer.

Get a mani-pedi

Well-groomed nails give you a very polished look. Make an appointment the week of your big event or do a little at-home grooming and give your nails some love.