Top 5 Bad Beauty Habits & how to break them.

On careful observation of my own and some of my friends' routines, I came across a few things that we all do or don't do and end up regretting eventually.  I too have a few bad beauty habits and I am not proud. :(

1. STOP biting your nails

I've often seen girls with non-existent nails and ripping apart their cuticle and the skin around the nail with their teeth. Well, not only could you be causing serious permanent damage to your nails, gums and teeth but you're also giving yourself an unattractive manicure. Many a times, dentists have had to prescribe mouth guards to nail biters. Imagine walking around with ugly hands AND a mouth guard. You don't want it to get that bad, do you ?

You can find creams, oils or nail polishes that work as deterrents. These products contain ingredients like Cayenne Pepper Extract or Denatonium Saccharide which are basically foul tasting non-toxic chemicals. You could do things to distract yourself whenever you have the urge to bite your nails or do things to relieve stress and anxiety as nail biting is considered to be a sign some kind of anxiety or just boredom.

My best idea of kicking that bad habit would be to wear fake nails and leave my natural nail alone for sometime. I feel wearing fake nails constantly for about 15-20 days could really help. There are so many nice ones available from brands like Faces and Bare Essentials in India now. These usually come with a nail glue and are reusable.

You may find many other ways to deal with nail biting that suits you best. Those were just a few I could come up with. Comment below and let me know your nail biting story and how you could get rid of it !

2. Do you touch your face all the time ? I do. x_x

Almost definitely, we have some or the other kind of imperfections such as protrusions, craters, discolouration or zits on our face. And guess what ? Touching it is not going to make it go away. Oh and popping that zit or blackhead usually comes with a sweet sense of accomplishment, right?
However what is not sweet is the redness and broken skin that takes a while to heal (Talking from personal experience of course). Needless to say, you could be clogging your pores with all the dirt from around the world by touching it. Make sure to keep your hands sanitized as far as possible.

The one good thing that BBM may have helped me with is keeping my hands off my face for the better part of the day. So thats one fabulous way to work around this habit or just sit on your hands.

Ladies, reward yourself if you manage to not touch your face AT ALL for even 2-3 days. I know, I would.

3. Sleeping with your make-up on. THE WORST !

If you wear make-up, you probably have pulled off the biggest beauty blunder of going to bed without removing it. No matter how tired, exhausted, sleepy or drunk you are, just take 2 minutes and just wash it off with a foam cleanser or a gentle scrub.
Ideally, go through all the steps of cleansing, toning and moisturizing if you can.

Make-up was made to make you look and feel flawless and pretty but going to bed with make up has exactly the opposite effect. While you're sound asleep with some highly comedogenic products clogging your pores, the sebaceous activity (production of sebum) goes into overdrive causing the skin to become oily and in turn causing acne and all that jazz.

A very simple before-going-to-bed cleansing routine that consists of inexpensive products and is not very time consuming at all is what I've described below:

- Just take some make-up remover that can break down all the waterproof products you're wearing on a cotton ball or a make-up removing wipes (KARA make-up removal wipes with seaweed and lavender). Gently swipe it all over. Olive oil too works as an excellent eye make up remover.

- Wash your face with a foam cleanser or a gentle scrub like Olay Natural White Cleanser or Clean and Clear Blackhead Clearing Daily Scrub

- Thereafter, slap on a refreshing toner to seal your pores shut again. I swear by Dabur Gulabari (Rose water)

-  Pair up a light moisturizer or night cream with an eye cream that suits your skin.

- You could pamper your hands and feet with a little hydration too !

And tada! you are ready to go to bed and your skin is so happy with you. :D

4. Are you protecting yourself from the sun with the right products?

The only way you could get premature lines, wrinkles, dark spots, unwanted skin darkening or even skin cancer is by exposing yourself to the sun without adequate protection. The good news is that each of these are easily preventable. All you have to do is MAKE SURE to add a sunscreen/sunblock to your routine. The terms sunscreen and sunblock are used almost interchangeably. The difference is primarily that sunblock contains light reflecting powders (Zinc oxide & Titanium dioxide) mixed in a heavy base that resists getting washed off easily. Sunscreens, however may contain organic sun-blocking agents that degrade on exposure to sunlight.

Things to look for while choosing your sun protection:

- Firstly, the product you choose should feel good on you. Pick up a product whose smell, texture and feel appeals to you so that you are more than willing to re-apply it throughout the day.

- SPF value between 15 and 30 (which is about 88-95% protection.) An SPF value of 15 tells you that you can stay out in the sun without any skin burns 15 times more than what your skin can survive without any sun protection. A very high SPF makes the product too heavy and unpleasant on the skin.

- Broad Spectrum protection against both UVA and UVB rays of the sun.

- Be sure to match the product with your facial skin type. For instance, if your skin is very oily or acne prone, go for something with a water base or a gel that does not clog pores.

Always carry a floppy hat, a scarf or a bright colored umbrella with you for a long day out in the sun. A black umbrella is never a good idea for protection against the sun as black actually ends up trapping the UVB rays of the sun that cause ageing and fine lines. 

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunblock.
It is available in the Indian market in the form of a lotion and a body mist, both being very light weight and sheer. The body mist may seem greasy at first but it blends wel into the skin eventually. It is very convenient to just keep spraying again to reapply several times in a day.

5. Washing your hair too frequently ?

Is your hair too oily? Do you have to wash it everyday to look presentable? What must be causing all that excessive oil secretion ? Chances are that washing it too often is what is making your scalp produce sebum in large excess.

The scalp or the hair shaft get its natural conditioning from the sebum produced by the scalp. Washing it daily is basically stripping the hair of its natural conditioners resulting in frizziness and a very dull texture. But then again, the glands on your scalp have to work twice as hard to restore the lost hydration which is your answer for all that extra oil you to have deal with everyday.

Also, wet hair is very very fragile and vulnerable. As tempted as you maybe, do not comb or brush through wet hair and DO NOT comb in the shower. Imagine pulling and tugging at cooked spaghetti. Its only going to cause breakage.

To sum up I'd say that if you are washing your hair everyday you are using up too many products that add up on your pocket (shampoo, conditioner, serum and other styling products), you are losing natural oils to begin with and later dealing with it in excess, you could also be heat styling daily causing a lot of damage and handling your hair through the delicate state of wetness. Isn't that reason enough to cut it down to no more than 3 times a week?


Hope this post inspires you to break out of a bad beauty habit soon. Comment below to share your story. It would make my day !

Thank you for reading. :)