As someone who loves to experiment with new skincare products (and whose bank account has suffered for it), I’m always amazed at how celebrities always manage to have flawless skin while on camera. Of course, these people have a team of professionals at their beck and call to help them maintain their blemish-free complexion. Us mere mortals are grateful if we even have a solid line of skincare products that helps our skin remain free of imperfections, even if just for a week.
However, despite being able to afford the most ridiculously expensive skincare products in the world — a $1,890 50ml face cream by La Prairie, anyone? — celebrities don’t always rely on products to maintain their flawless and radiant complexion. They have their own skincare tips and tricks that are absolutely free, with no need to pull out any cash or credit card.
Intrigued to find out what these skin care secrets are? Check out the list below and get started on your journey to achieving skin just like the Hollywood stars, absolutely free of charge.
Hot Bath
We know, this sounds odd. How exactly is a hot bath supposed to help you achieve glowing and flawless skin? Well, it turns out that this is a hot beauty secret from a La Prairie’s makeup artist – Georgina Graham swears by it to provide her celebrity clients with that coveted dewy look. The key to this technique, however, is to hop in a hot bath only after you have applied your makeup. This way, the steam from the bath will give your skin a dewy finish akin to spraying a facial mist at the end of your makeup application.
If you do try this, just be sure that your bath is not too scaldingly hot. This will end up irritating your skin, making it dry and itchy. A general rule is that the temperature of the water shouldn’t far exceed your own body temperature. This way, the bath will provide you with a more calming sensation rather than making you feel like you’re sitting in a boiling pot of water.
To create an even more relaxing atmosphere, add essential oils to your baths such as lavender, rose, chamomile or calendula. Besides providing a nice subtle fragrance, the essential oils will also allow you to step out of your bath with much softer skin. If you have sensitive skin and are worried about essential oils being too irritating, mix some colloidal oatmeal to soothe any redness or itchiness.
Plus, having a hot bath before you step out of the house will also help relieve any muscle tension in your body. This is particularly useful if you’ve been going at it hard at the gym the day before or been working until late in the night that your muscles have become sore. This is due to the heat from the water promoting blood circulation in your body.
Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate
Yes, yes, we know you’re tired of hearing about how important it is to drink lots of water to maintain the health of your skin. But, there’s a reason why this skin care tip is always mentioned — it’s completely true! Hydrating yourself from the inside out is vital as sufficient water will help your organs, including your skin, to function at its optimum level.
Plus, drinking enough water will prevent your skin from drying out, thus reducing the risk of irritation. That’s not all, minimising the occurrence of skin that is too dry will also delay the development of fine lines and wrinkles, providing you with a more youthful appearance.
Refrigerate Cream Skincare Products
Have you ever heard about keeping spoons in the fridge as a home remedy to depuffing the undereye area? Many DIY beauty lovers claim this technique works at getting rid of eye bags due to the cold temperature helping to reduce swelling.
While I may have never tried it myself, the cold temperatures do have benefits to the skin such as taming inflammation and reducing redness. Knowing this, how about considering storing your cream-based skincare products in the fridge? This might sound like a weird method, but the coolness of your refrigerated products can do wonders for your skin, especially if your skin is sensitive. The cold cream product will be able to calm any itchiness as well as provide a soothing sensation when applied.
Furthermore, keeping your cream products refrigerated will help extend their shelf life. Thus, your skincare products will remain fresher for a longer period of time, making their price tags that much more worth it.
Products you can opt to store in the fridge include eye creams and moisturisers. Just as how the cold spoon method is supposed to help de-puff your eye bags, keeping your eye cream refrigerated will work the same way too. The cold temperature of the eye cream will encourage vasoconstriction, meaning the blood vessels in your undereye area will constrict, thus reducing dark undereye circles, as well as puffiness.