Do you condition after you shampoo? And do you dry your locks before doing your make-up? Well according to the hair and beauty experts at Hairtrade.com, you’re doing it all wrong.
They claim switching up your regular routine will make a big difference and could even save precious minutes in the morning. Among the changes are conditioning before you shampoo and applying your eye shadow before your foundation. Some of the tips could prevent damage, such as curling eyelashes before applying mascara and waiting to dry your hair until after your make up is done.
Joanne Dodds, from Hairtrade.com, said: “It seems that many of us have stuck to a regimented beauty routine with everything lined up in a certain order. However when you look at it logically, the order we’ve got stuck into doesn’t make sense.
“Conditioning before shampooing might sound odd, but seeing as conditioners can weigh hair down, cleansing your hair after would be the most sensible thing to do. Reordering the way you do things might not only improve your beauty regime, but save you time as well.”
Here are the site’s ten suggestions to reorder your beauty regime.
1. Conditioner BEFORE shampoo
Reverse washing has been doing the rounds for a few weeks now – but what are the benefits? If you’ve got fine hair, swapping round the order is recommended as it means your hair stills gets all the moisturising benefits but you’re not left with weighed down locks that get greasy easily.
2. Bronzer BEFORE blusher
Bronzing powders and creams are intended to emphasise your bone structure, so apply this first then you can find the best place to define your cheeks with blusher.
3. Do your brows LAST
Your brows need to match the intensity of your eye shadow, blusher and lipstick, so make sure they are the last thing you do in order to complement the rest of your look.
4. Eye shadow BEFORE foundation
This may seem odd but it’s more practical to apply your eye shadow before the rest of your face make up. That way if your smoky eye smudges or drifts onto your cheekbones, you can wipe it off easily without messing up your base.
5. Shine serum BEFORE blow drying
It can be tempting to apply this after your blow dry for immediate affect but make sure to do it before. Apply a two penny size amount to your hand and apply on the ends of your hair only.
6. Towel dry hair BEFORE conditioning
After you’ve wet your hair, grab a towel and quickly dry your hair with it. Excess water in your hair means the conditioner can’t penetrate the hair shaft and deliver the necessary moisture. If you haven’t got time, just squeeze the excess water out before applying.
7. Do your make up BEFORE drying your hair
It’s recommended that your hair should be at least 70% dry before you blast it with a blow dryer. Keep it wrapped up in a towel turban and do your make up before drying your hair. This will save effort and will cut down on the exposure your hair gets to heat damage.
8. Eyelash curler BEFORE mascara
It can be tempting to curl your lashes after you’ve applied your mascara for maximum impact but avoid it at all costs. No matter how luxurious your mascara is, the formula hardens your lashes and makes them more vulnerable to breakage. One of the best ways to achieve sky high lashes is to curl them then layer your mascara on whilst the root is still lifted by the eyelash curler.
9. Serums BEFORE face creams
A good rule of thumb to follow is that products with a thinner consistency should always be applied before thicker ones. If you apply thick products first, they will stop thinner products penetrating essentially making applying them redundant.
10. SPF AFTER moisturiser
Even in the rubbish British weather, you still need to protect your skins from UV rays everyday. If you apply before cleansing, the following regime will wipe away the sun-protecting affects. If you put it on after you cleanse, tone, moisturise then it will work to it’s fullest potential.
Main image above credit: FreeImages.com/thomas aigner
