Beauty is pain?
Throughout centuries, women are willing to go through painful beauty regimes such as wearing the corsets, killer heels, injecting botox, and laser treatments (lasers are not highly painful but, pretty unpleasant. I don’t like the feeling of ants biting my face. Do you?)
It’s true that to achieve something good, even beauty, we have to put some effort. But if you are a practical girl next door like me, you must agree that the efforts should be sustainable for the long run. I usually decide whether to try or go for it base on these 3 principles:
- Cost Effective – $$ to spend every month
- Time Effective – min/hour to spend every session and frequency
- Safe – side effects? what happens if you stop?
“To me, beautiful people are confident ones—people who carry themselves tall and feel comfortable being who they are.”, Katia Koerner
Be comfortable in your own natural skin girls, take care of it! Therefore, I’d like to rephrase,
Beauty is discipline!
Natural beauty needs to be preserved and conversed!
con·serve
Protect something, from harm or destruction. Yes, we gotta protect our skin and health. That includes avoid scratching our itching face with dirty fingers!
pre·serve
Maintain (something) in its original or existing state. Keeping that soft baby skin stays baby skin. Eating enough nutrition and drinking enough fluid with make our cells to renew healthily!
Let’s discuss the principles I mentioned earlier:
Image Source: popsugar.com.au
#1 Cost Effective
It’s usually tempting to buy expensive products and treatments because of how effective and trusted they are. It’s fine to “invest” and pamper ourselves, but not okay if it’s taking all your savings. Always ask ourselves, can we afford this every month?
There are many great products at an affordable range. Pick one that is suitable for your skin type. Sometimes we gotta try a few products until we discover the one that really suits us, so buy a small pack first. On the other hand, you can even get cheap, effective ingredients right at your kitchen.
READ: Recipes For Glowing Skin I Personally Use and Love!
#2 Time Effective
There are daily / weekly / monthly routines, so if you pick the ones too time consuming and complicated to prepare, you might end up with inconsistency. Just like anything else, we need consistency to maintain beauty, what more to replenish it. But all those overwhelming steps promoted to us out there sometimes makes me feel like giving up. 10 things to put on my face every morning? Oh gosh, no thanks.
It’s important to understand why we need to do certain things. Yes, it’s important to cleanse the face every morning and night. That is the least to do. I can’t use sunscreen, so I don’t (reaction). I don’t use moisturizers because I don’t need them (I have combination skin type). I do use apple cider vinegar as toner sometimes to extra clean my face if it feels oily. And once or twice a week I will exfoliate to remove dead skin cells. It is important to exfoliate as the build-up of dead skin cells can result in excess oil and clogged pores, leading to blemishes and acne. Occasionally, i will go for steam and put my home-made mask on.
#3 Safe
Are you aware that there are so many new beauty products emerging today? Some of them may be cheap, easy and effective, but are they safe in the long run? Some easy examples are whitening products. Some whitening substances works incredibly fast but they are very harmful. Whitening products will decrease the melanin in our skin (so it’s fairer), and make us more sensitive to the sun. Be aware of harmful ingredients to avoid. Here are some for your reference:
- Parabens
- Synthetic colors
- Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) / Sodium laureth sulfate (SLES)
- Formaldehyde
- Propylene glycol
- Hydroquinone
- Lead
- Mercury
- Talc
You can read more here: 19 Chemicals to Avoid in Skin Care
If you come across a product with no ingredients listed, it’s best to avoid it. A registered and approved product is required to list down the ingredients.
So that’s it girls, if anybody offers you a beauty product that you’re tempted to try, step back and think of these 3 things to make a smart decision. Comment down below if you have any questions or suggestion. Spread the love if you like this 🙂
