Makeup & nails

Beauty tips: 7 beauty rules to break

Revamp your beauty regimen with these no-guilt beauty resolutions for the new year.

by : Karen Kwan- Dec 3rd, 2013

We spend enough time feeling less than adequate—hello, bad-hair days and the extra five pounds we’d like to lose. So how about some beauty resolutions you can follow through on so there’s zero guilt involved? Better yet, these beauty “rules” are ones you’ve likely felt a bit shameful about before—here’s your go-ahead to break ’em.

Beauty resolution #1: Cheat on your colourist.

When you’ve tried several colourists and finally one who gets you and knows how to
get your colour right every time, why would you cheat on them? Rob Pizzuti, master colourist at Blyss Salon in Toronto, actually recommends his clients cheat on him from time to time when touching up their roots. We all know how colouring costs can add up quickly. To save a bit of cash and never see grey or roots, Pizzuti suggests his clients see one of his junior colourists that he himself trained. “She has full access to my files,” he explains, and they get to save a bit of cash. So rather than walk around with roots, or go behind your colourist’s back to a lower-end salon where they don’t know you, book with a junior colourist at your salon.

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Beauty resolution #2: Apply powder, foundation and then concealer if you wish.

Conventionally, concealer goes on first, then foundation and you finish off with some powder. But doing the reverse order works just as well, or even better. “A light dusting of translucent powder first give the foundation more grip for slightly more coverage,” explains Toronto-based makeup artist Diana Carreiro who shares her beauty tips. She herself has always applied concealer after foundation because you’ll use less product, and “all the careful work on blemishes is not disturbed,” she says. You just have to be sure the concealer matches the skin tone, she adds. Finish with another light dusting of translucent powder in the T-zone if you’d like and you’re done.

The one rule you cannot break, though, when it comes to foundation? Having
your foundation perfectly match the skin on your neck or risk that dreaded demarcation line.

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Beauty resolution #3: Shampoo your hair daily.

Yes, you’ve heard over and over that you should avoid shampooing your hair on a daily basis—every other day or two is healthier for your mane. But in the real world, some of us work on our fitness every day, for example, and a daily wash is needed. And that’s fine, says Greg May, owner of Greg May Hair Architects, a salon in Toronto. If you do need to shampoo daily, he recommends using a gentle shampoo for normal hair (or for colour-treated hair if you have colour) and limiting your use of a clarifying shampoo. “Use it only when you notice buildup,” he says. “Also, add conditioning treatments at least twice a month to your haircare regimen.”

More beauty rules to break on the next page …

Beauty resolution #4: Cleanse your face only once a day.

Yes, this might be good news for those lazy days when washing your face is just more than your exhausted self can handle. But don’t take this resolution as your pass to fall into bed after a night out partying. The one time you do want to cleanse your face is at night. “You’re washing the day off of your skin—your makeup, any pollutants in the environment, bacteria,” says Julia Carroll, a dermatologist based in Toronto. (Her personal preference is to use a sonic brush to clean the face to get the most debris off of the skin as possible). She says you can, however, skip your morning face cleanse. “In the a.m., simple rinse your face with water in the shower, or use a micellar solution—it’s like a very gentle toner—on a cotton pad to wipe your face and prep it for makeup.” (And yes, a micellar product (such as the ones from Vichy and La Roche Posay) are cleansers, but using it does save you from being at the sink and patting your face dry with a towel, etc.)

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Beauty resolution #5: Play up more than one feature with your makeup.

The traditional school of thought is that you can only play up one feature with your makeup or you’ll risk looking tawdry. But you can definitely play up two or more focal points with your makeup, says Susana Hong, a makeup artist in Toronto. We tend to think eyes and lips, she notes, but consider other features on your face, such as your brows, cheeks and skin texture, she says. “Interchange what you play up, depending on the look you are going for.
Bold brows are hot right now, so perhaps try a strong brow, glossy skin, and pair it with a bold lip.” Finish the look by accenting the eyes simply with a hint of mascara, says Hong.

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Beauty resolution #6: Get your haircut less often.

“All stylists say to get your hair cut every four to six weeks,” says May. But he says you can wait a little longer between cuts. “Especially with a good cut,” he says. With the right cut (and the occasional fringe trim if you have bangs), you can probably stretch it to seven or eight weeks between cuts.

Beauty resolution #7: Skip using eye cream.

“Unless you’re looking for your eye cream it to do something very specific that’s not in your moisturizer, there isn’t a real need to use an eye cream,” says Dr. Carroll. If it’s simply moisturization you’ve been applying your eye cream for , your daily facial moisturizer is fine. In fact, Dr. Carroll herself also applies her antioxidant serum (the one for her face) around her eyes, too, as her skin can tolerate it. “There may be sunscreens that are in your moisturizer that irritate the skin around your eyes or you are looking for particular active ingredients such as retinol that are not in your facial product for anti-puffing, in which case you’ll want to use an eye cream,” she says. But for moisture, feel free to use your facial moisturizer. “It’s one less step for you,” says Dr. Carroll.