From The Straits Times    |

Image: 123rf.com

Woah, hold up – are we past the mid-year mark of the calendar already? If you’re petrified that precisely zero of your new year’s resolutions have come to fruition thus far, it may be time to hit pause on the panic button and take stock of your life.

Keep reading to see if you’re guilty as charged of these bad beauty habits that are resulting in the most calamitous of consequences to your complexion – then make a concerted effort to renew and recharge yourself from top to toe, in skin and in spirit. And hey, it’s never too late to course-correct, so good luck fighting the good fight against gravity!

ALSO READ: 12 ‘smart girl’ hacks to make life easier – and more beautiful

1. Are you addicted to “sparrow-face” selfies?

Sweetheart, #stahp. You’re not a baby bird, boo – plus all that pursing of your puckers is only going to exacerbate the expression lines around your lips.

The entirely unwelcome result? You get the same rumpled ridges you see lining the lips of some of the most hardcore nicotine addicts.

If all of this is leaving a bad taste in your mouth, know that all is not lost. The key to ironing out the kinks in your kisses? Simple. Make a conscious effort to stop sulking and smirking – my personal beauty regimen involves not moving my face unless absolutely necessary.

Oh, and do as I do and invest in a preventative lip treatment, stat. I’m putting my money where my mouth is with Guerlain’s gorgeous Honey Smile Lift, Lip & Contour Sculpting Treatment, $95 – and no, I’m not paying lip service! The deliciously decadent lip-lifting liniment comes complete with a gilded gold applicator tip, so there’s really no excuse not to lube up for the #KylieJennerLips of your dreams!

ALSO READ: Split ends will be ‘hair-story’ if you follow these DIY beauty hacks

2. Are you wiping your way to wrinkles?

Shocker of the day: Cleansing – okay, a specific step in the cleansing process – may be the startling source of creases and crinkles. 

The curious culprit? That cheap terrycloth towel most of us use to dislodge the dirt and debris at the end of the day. You see, while a bath towel’s fuzzy fibres may be superb for sloughing dead skin and wicking water off damp skin, the friction created by those very same fibres can result in expression lines – sort of like the “sleep lines” running down the side of your nose when your cheeks smoosh up against your pillow.

The solution is simple: Ditch the cheap cloth and switch to superior stuff. Budget beauties, we’re not talking fancy-schmancy 1,000 thread-count swag here – a Makeup Eraser will do just fine. The silky sateen edges of this cult cloth are said to be infinitely more gentle on your skin that your conventional cotton offerings – just remember to pat, not rub.

And at about $30 per pop from Sephora stores in Singapore, this baby isn’t even all that costly, all things considered. Think of it this way: If you’re splashing out $1,800 a pop for a night cream, a tiny investment in the towel department is quite literally chum change. Do it!

ALSO READ: Don’t let your ‘nudes’ leak: How to get your foundation to last from AM to PM

3. Are you staring at a computer screen from dawn to dusk?

There’s a burgeoning body of research suggesting that our addiction to LED light-emitting devices – think tablets, smartphones and such – may also be virulent to our visage. Signs and symptoms of screen-induced damage? Sallowness, spots and parched papery skin. Gulp.

Enter a cutting-edge crop of super sunscreens like Dior’s Prestige White The UV Protector Youth & Radiance Rosy Glow SPF 50+ PA++++, $165, a souped-up salve that promises to protect against rapacious rays both natural and man-made. Even better, the lovely lustre of this pretty pink poultice means it does double duty as a colour-correcting primer, so feel free to layer it under your fave foundation.

As it stands, artificial light screeners are still something of a new-fangled novelty that’s hard to find in the form of a face cream, so if they blow up as the next big beauty thing in the coming year or two, you can say you heard it on herworldPLUS first. Cheers, and stay forever young!

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