Alana Thwaites's blog: "dressup"

Ditch everything you think you know about oils. Seriously! Instead of doubling down on those oil-free creams and cleansers, you might just find that beauty oils are the answer to some of your everyday beauty problems. Lucky for you, we've rounded up five little-known ways you can use oils in your daily regimen for glowing skin and shiny locks.

1. Replenish Dull Locks

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Hair oils are a fast and easy way to replenish less-than-vibrant strands, especially if you abuse your hair with daily heat and styling. Show your locks some love with a nourishing and revitalizing hair oil, which helps repair split ends while boosting shine. The best part? Use it how you want: on damp hair for moisturizing, on dry hair for styling and control or as a finishing product for softness and shine.

2. Soften Rough Cuticles

Keep your nails strong and beautiful by applying a nourishing nail oil daily. Especially in thewinter, when your skin loses moisture and becomes irritated and flaky, remember that your cuticles need love, too. Short-term, it's as simple as keeping a bottle of vitamin E on your desk or in your gym bag. Long-term, drink plenty of water and lay off acetone-based nail polish removers. Don't forget: If you don't want to shell out for an extra beauty product, simply repurpose your favorite go-to facial oil.

3. Exfoliate Chapped Lips

Biting cold and chapping winds are no friend to exposed skin, and your lips are no exception. Piercing-cold air in combination with moisture-zapping indoor heaters will leave your skin feeling tight, itchy and irritated. Create your own DIY lip exfoliator using olive oil and unrefined sugar, which will remove dead, flaky cells while locking in moisture. And make sure to bump up your head-to-toe exfoliation to about three or four times a week during the harsh winter months.

4. Hydrate Cracked Skin

If your hands and feet become rough, cracked and painful during brutally cold days, you're not alone. But mixing a few drops of a moisture-rich oil in with your favorite lotion might just be the miracle product you've been waiting for. Likewise, if your face tends to tighten and wrinkle this time of year, try mixing a daily facial oil with your favorite morning or night cream to smooth fine lines.

5. Remove Everyday Makeup

"Oil cleansing" is the new buzzword in skin care, and for good reason. When you strip your skin with an oil-busting cleanser, your body kicks into overdrive to replenish the lost oils. Washing your face with a gentle cleansing oil, on the other hand, moisturizes and soothes skin while breaking down makeup and clearing away dirt and impurities. Not quite ready to ditch your favorite cleanser in favor of a bottle of EVOO? Consider oil for "spot cleaning," such as removing eye makeup and quickly wiping away waterproof mascaras and liners.

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If a stranger crashes your wedding, you might not notice until you go through pictures later, but if someone crashes your actual wedding night? Well, it's kind of hard to miss. From the drunk friend that barged in to the kid that pulled the fire alarm at the hotel the bride and groom were staying at, these true stories will make you want to keep your wedding night whereabouts hush, hush!

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"After the after party, my brother-in-law came back to our suite to hang out for what we assumed would be just a few minutes but it turned into literally hours! He was so obliterated and kept asking for group hugs between the three of us, which was super awkward and really out of character since we've maybe hugged a handful of times in the past six years. We tried to get him to go, however he proclaimed he was too drunk and needed to pass out here, in the honeymoon suite. My poor husband had to pretty much drag him back to his hotel room." -- Morgan

"It was 2 a.m. and we were about to head back to our hotel room after after-partying with all of our friends. Several of us were eating late night food in the park across the street before turning in for the night. As we were saying our goodbyes, one of my friends seriously suggested continuing the party in our room and was shocked when everyone else reacted shocked that she would even ask that. She tried to explain herself by telling us that it was like any other night, basically implying that wedding night sex isn't anything special. Needless to say, we didn't have a powwow in our room that night and the next day she had the gall to ask what we did and if the sex was all that that different. Our other friends still love to tell this story today." -- Kiley Related: 10 Must-See Wedding Dress Trends from the Runways

"Some kid pulled the fire alarm at our hotel while we were in the middle of having sex! We were forced to put on clothes and evacuate, and we probably stood outside for an hour in the cold, if not longer, waiting for everything to be clear to go back inside. Fortunately, we picked back up right where we left off and there was no real fire, but boy was that annoying!" -- Jamie

"My maid of honor kept drunk dialing me over and over and made me let her in the room. She wanted to gossip about the best man stealing her leftover piece of cake and told me she needed help unzipping her dress. I unzipped the dress, offered my condolences regarding the cake, and sent her on her way! I did all this donning a towel because I had been in the middle of taking a bath so I wasn't super sweaty and gross for my husband." -- Krista

"We got married at a bed & breakfast, where the entire wedding party was staying, including us. While my husband was helping me out of my dress, one of my sisterswalked in. All of the bridesmaids had gotten ready in my room earlier so she was trying to grab something she'd forgotten in there. It was an accident of course, and you could tell she felt super awkward about it. She left as quickly as she could and couldn't stop profusely apologizing. We laugh about it now." -- Lauren

"My mother-in-law called my husband's phone at 3:30 am repeatedly until he finally picked up. Turns out, she was drunk and needed help finding her niece who still hadn't returned to the hotel room. It completely ruined the mood. We both had to get up to try to track down his cousin, which we did. She was passed out in a different room. Ugh!" -- Desiree

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Writes Meagan:

My fiance and I were planning a big, traditional wedding with 150 guests for October of this year. But this month we found out that my mom, who has been battling cancer for the past three years, only has a few months to live. It’s very important to me for my mom to be involved and present on my wedding day, so we’ve moved the wedding to April of 2016. Our original venue is booked that month so we’re going to host a reception at my parents’ house, which really can’t accommodate more than 40 to 50 people, especially if the weather is bad (we’re in Columbus, Ohio) and we can’t use the patio or backyard.

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My plan was to cut the guest list drastically, keeping it to around 40 guests, but my mom is trying to insist that we invite more people so friends that she cares about can be a part of my wedding.

I want to make her happy but I also want to be reasonable. Some of my mom’s friends have offered to throw me shower. Would it be in bad taste to accept their offer if they’re not invited to the wedding? I would ask for it to be a gifts-optional party after the wedding. Or someone else (a friend or family member) could host a shower before the wedding, again, gifts optional, with the understanding that not all of the shower guests could be invited to the wedding. Or my groom and I could host a post-wedding party so we could celebrate with people we couldn’t accommodate at the wedding itself.

I want to include everyone—and, again, I want to make my mom happy—but I really want to limit the size of the guest list on our wedding day to avoid potential disaster.

Here are our thoughts:

Etiquette just doesn’t apply here. Your main objectives are to make your mom happy and to have a wedding that makes you as happy as possible during a terrible time.

I think your first step is to go to your mom’s friends. Explain that you just don’t have the physical space for them to be there on your wedding day, but you want them to be a part of the celebration because it’s incredibly important to your mom. You can ask, “I know it’s not ‘proper,’ but would you be offended if you were invited to my bridal shower even though we can’t invite you to the wedding? I wouldn’t expect gifts, I’d just love to have you be a part of my wedding in some way.” (And if it’s easier to email this, go for it. Again, etiquette, shmettiquette.) My guess is that they’ll offer to host the shower. And if they don’t, ask a family member to host a small-as-possible shower before the wedding, and offer to help in any way you can.

I don’t think you need to test the maximum capacity of your parents’ house on your wedding day. That would be wildly stressful (and likely uncomfortable) for you—and probably your mom, even if she can’t see it that way now. In the worst-case scenario—your mom’s not feeling well and there’s a snowstorm outside—everyone’s going to be miserable. You don’t want that for yourself or your mom. Or your dad or groom or your guests.

I don’t think you need to host a second post-wedding celebration. You have a ton going on right now, and hosting a big party after you host a wedding isn’t going to make your life any easier. Of course you want to make your mom happy, but you need to do that without driving yourself insane in the process.

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Hayden Panettiere looked amazing at the Critics Choice last night and at least one person noticed.

The Nashville star completely stole the show at the award ceremony on Sunday as she made a return to the red carpet in a floor-length sparkling gown, complete with a daring halter-style top that risked a nipple slip or two.

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Exposing her breasts in the figure-hugging peach dress, Hayden looked like she was having a ball as she posed for pictures on Sunday night and flashed her mega-watt smile.

We weren't the only ones to notice either.

One fellow guest - actor T.J. Miller - couldn't help steal a glance at the blonde babe as they shared their time on the red carpet and was caught staring over at the actress ahead of the show.

We don't blame him for being mesmerised by Hayden's appearance.

The new mum has been keeping a low-profile over the last year as she dealt with postpartum depression following the birth of her daughter Kaya in December 2014.

Clearly getting back to her old self threw on a flowing gown and hit the award show.

Gushing over how much support she's received from fans after going public with the condition, she told Entertainment Weekly: "I've gotten an incredible amount of support and I was actually really surprised cause I feel like I grew up in this industry that, in my mind, was very judgmental."

She's now back filming Nashville after taking a leave of absence to deal with her personal life and admitted it had been a tough transition.

"To be honest it was kind of a rocky start for me and especially emotionally," Panettiere shared.

"The first scene that I did the other day when I saw certain people that I haven't seen in a while and I felt really comfortable -- I just lost it and I couldn't keep it together. So, it held us up for a second but we got it at the end."

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I was not getting married. I wasn’t even engaged. And yet I found myself spending several hours a day for six weeks pouring over hundreds—if not thousands—of wedding photographs.

No, I wasn’t on Pinterest—rather, I was working as an assistant editor at Voguewith Hamish Bowles on the 371-page edit of Vogue Weddings. We found ourselves engulfed in the history of wedding fever—mining the magazine’s matrimonial archive, researching countless ceremonies and celebrations, and writing the detailed captions for pages upon pages of images that spanned from the present to the late 19th century. I talked trains and tulle with Oscar de la Renta and Vera Wang while writing up their profiles for the book’s Wedding Designer Guide. I knew each and every category and chapter (The Social Wedding, Weddings by the Sea, Model Weddings, The Country Wedding, Royal Weddings, The Vogue Wedding). By the time the tome went off to the printers, I could rattle off all sorts of long-forgotten facts—from the exact style of spray orchids Jacqueline Lee Bouvier carried in her bouquet to the Botticelli painting that couturier Norman Hartnell looked to as inspiration for the embroidered motif of scattered flowers on Princess Elizabeth’s rich duchesse satin dress. Amid all the extravagance and grandeur, there were only a few classic (and, comparatively, minimalist) black-and-white photographs from the 1940s and ’50s that truly caught my eye—among them, Miss Sidney Bacon’s outdoor garden fete and Evelyn Byrd Dows’s midsummer wedding, where guests dined at one long banquet table shaded by a giant oak tree. Above all, I was positively sure of one thing: When it comes to weddings, my taste stops at 1953.

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Working on that wonderful compendium was enough to make anyone overwhelmed by—if not completely allergic to—the thought of orchestrating her own vows. But three years have passed, and so has the wedding overload–induced state of anxiety. Now I’m finally starting to plan my own wedding for this coming August—and, like many brides, I’ve found the process to be a whirlwind of shocks and surprises. But the most unexpected thing of all? Whenever I mention I’m getting married, the first topic that keeps coming up is: Pinterest. I keep getting bombarded with questions like, “What’s the mood of your Pinterest board?” or being given unsolicited advice such as, “Spend a few months perfecting a Pinterest board, and then hand it over to a wedding planner.”

I don’t have a wedding planner (yet), nor can I currently recall my password or username for the Pinterest account I apparently once created. I love design and decoration (don’t get me started on Oliver Messel or Morris Lapidus) but have never understood the world’s compulsive addiction with a social sharing site that seems to me like the mason jar industry’s most effective form of propaganda. So I was shocked that 176 million people on the planet are registered users, that 38 million Pinterest boards are dedicated to weddings (and 70 percent of brides make bridal inspiration boards before they’re engaged), and that Pinterest Induced Stress Syndrome may be a real thing. It’s a phenomenon I can’t quite wrap my head around—planning a wedding is already such an ordeal in itself that the idea of sifting through tiny thumbnails of chalkboard seating charts, vintage lightbulb marquee letters, or itty-bitty pennant flags on a six-inch screen doesn’tquite seem like a priority.

I’m just going to go ahead and say it: I have no interest in Pinterest. I get that every bride wants her wedding to stand out and be special, but maybe making decor decisions based on what everyone else has already re-pinned into a state of viral overkill isn’t the best way to go about it. I get that weddings cost a fortune—they’re the ultimate manifestation of conspicuous consumption—and that Pinterest proffers countless crafty and creative solutions. But for every thrift store–foraged Edison bulb or homemade birch-and-burlap placeholder, there’s often an insanely over-the-top tablescape, fireworks display, or dress with a price tag that’s bigger than a mortgage down payment. The virtual pin-world seems like fertile ground for peer-pressuring people into unattainable ideals of perfection—from the impossible to the downright puzzling. Anything to do with ribbon, a glue gun, or an industrial-sized spool of yarn sounds like my own personal DIY purgatory, and I certainly don’t need to scroll through slideshows of “blinged-out barns” and other top wedding trends of 2016.

Instead, I’m looking elsewhere to emulate a few forgotten customs and wedding traditions from the past. My future mother-in-law thoughtfully tracked down a few back issues of Modern Bride from the early 1950s as a Christmas present. Reading its oversize, iPhone glare–free pages, I’ve found endless inspiration and ideas: horseshoe-shaped tables covered with Celanese satin; pale-pink tables slipcovered with pink sailcloth and topped with a delicate layer of white linen cut cloth; glassware arrangements for tall toasting goblets and square-based champagne glasses. There’s plenty of advice that ranges from the amusing (“Don’t put up so many marquees on your lawn that it looks like an encampment of Genghis Khan”) to the practical: Simple tall sterling-silver candlesticks add height and light to a table—which, in my opinion, seem like a much-needed alternative to today’s prevalence of, say, hanging paper lanterns or ombré glass votives. The process of flipping through an authentically vintage print publication sure feels a lot more practical than virtually pinning pictures of striped paper straws and apothecary glass candy jars. Why Etsy “1940s-inspired wedding decor” when you can eBay actual 1940s bridal magazines?

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Before I say "I do," which is the plan for a few weeks from now, I'm saying "I don't." A lot. This is necessary to fend off the posse of prenuptial predators who come after unsuspecting brides.

I see right through them. But I feel sorry for the uninitiated, those who fall for what others tell them they "should" want and "must" have to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars.

Take the bridal store. "I'm an older bride getting remarried and don't want to look like a confection," I said as I entered a shop and tried to set the tone.

The saleswomen brushed that notion off like dandruff and threw gowns at me the size of covered wagons.

"Do you have something simpler?" I said from inside the middle of a cupcake.

"Well, you don't want to look like your guests," a saleswoman said.

"I sort of do," I said.

The bridal store staff exchanged disappointed glances and moved to the bridesmaid rack, where it became clear the main job of a bridesmaid dress is to look like a backdrop and not upstage the bride. They're boring.

Besides every time I see a bridesmaid dress, I think: "Someday that will make a nice Christmas tree skirt."

I ditched the bridal shops and found a lovely dress at a department store.

I then encountered the wedding photographers, who have two tiers of pricing: Weddings and Not Weddings.

If you're going to hire a photographer for your wedding, the trick is to say it's not a wedding. You will save thousands.

"The price includes 200 photos on a CD," one photographer told me.

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"I don't want 200 photos," I said. "I only want a dozen." He was offended.

A photographer friend pointed me to a young, talented photographer who hadn't yet started tripling her fees because the occasion was a wedding. She's hired.

"Is it just me?" I asked wedding consultant Jennifer Durbin, author of "Party Tips for the Clueless Chick," (Sourced Media, 2013). "Or is there a conspiracy to dupe couples into shelling out the equivalent of a house down payment on a wedding?"

"When I first meet with couples, I remind them that this is going to be a wonderful, wonderful day, but it is just a day," Durbin said. "They don't want to end it with a mountain of debt."

Once she puts the day in perspective, "couples suddenly care a lot less that they don't have 10 passed hors d'oeuvres and only have three," said Durbin, who lives Raleigh, N.C., and doesn't plan weddings but rather helps couples plan their own weddings.

She helped me come up with these 10 don'ts to consider before saying I do:

Don't say the "W" word unless you have to. "Many professionals up their rates when they hear wedding," Dubrin said. "I've seen hairdressers who normally charge $50 for an updo, charge $150 when it's for a bride."

Don't feel you need a wedding planner. "A good wedding planner can make the day flawless," Dubrin said. "Just know that if you use one, you are committing to a much costlier wedding." Do, however, hire a wedding coordinator who will help with flow, as in telling the bridal party when to walk down the aisle.

Don't sign up for a location without knowing the restrictions. Many venues restrict you to their approved list of vendors. "You may love a beautiful barn setting for your wedding, only to find out you're required to hire the $6,000 photographer that goes with it," Dubrin said. Also don't just go for a low price. Some venues are less expensive, but are plain. By the time you bring in the flowers, balloons and arches you'll need to add character, you might as well have paid for the more expensive location with built-in ambiance.

Don't feel obligated to invite strangers or kids. "If you invite unknown guests, the occasion can turn into a free for all," warned my stationery consultant, who gave me permission to not write "and guest" on the invitations of my single unattached friends. "It's also fine not to invite kids," Dubrin added. "Just let families with children know ahead of time."

Don't have your photographer the whole time. Find a photographer who charges by the hour and have him arrive the hour before the wedding and leave at the beginning of the reception, when guests stop looking their best.

Don't feel you need a fancy rehearsal dinner. A casual, relaxed get-together the evening before can be a welcome relief for guests, Dubrin said. You can even have the dinner in your home; bring in food and hire some local college kids to help serve and clean up.

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Leaping from the traditional to the radical, the men's edition of London fashion week opened on Friday with shows from country gentleman label Barbour and young urban designer Nasir Mazhar.

Fashion VIPs, buyers and journalists gathered under the elegant arch of the Swiss church in central London to catch a glimpse of Barbour's autumn/winter 2016 collection, the first of dozens of shows to be held before the event wraps up on Monday.

An intermittent spotlight, mimicking a lighthouse, illuminated the stage as the soothing sound of breaking waves filled the room.

"The collection is inspired by the Beacon that has stood watch at the mouth of the River Tyne in the North East of England since 1882," the label said in a statement.

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Early highlights included loose-fitting jackets decorated with tartan lining, mottled gray sweaters and snoods.

The Barbour man will be wearing black and sienna trousers next winter — tight to the ankle — and leather boots.

The label, founded in northeast England in 1894, also showcased modern twists on its classics, including its famous waxed canvas jackets.

"We have taken inspiration from out history and archive to create strong looks that remain true to Barbour's DNA in modern, contemporary pieces that represent what Barbour is today," said Ian Bergin, the label's director of menswear.

'Star Wars' and 70s

At nearby Victoria House, but a world away in atmosphere, audacious young designer Nasir Mazhar presented his street-inspired collection.

To the sound of a relentless electro beat, Mazhar promised to conjure "a club world of individual characters unified by darkness," delivering a confusing and provocative collection mainly in black.

The London-born designer set the tone with an ensemble that included an upturned black bucket gilded with strips of tissue worn on the model's head, recalling Star Wars arch-villain Darth Vader.

Mazhar said that the collection reflected the "creative freedom" of his "non-commercial, purely creative beginnings."

Alongside the macho hip-hop inspired tracksuits, combat gear and heavy boots trimmed with chrome, Mazhar added a number of skimpy androgynous outfits — some modeled by women, revealing bare chests and legs.

These models, "are just people of my generation, of my society," he told the press. "We see all kinds of people in London."

The opening day was rounded off with a return to the more conventional, as Topman Design showcased its 1970s inspired collection marked by orange, brown and floral motifs.

The suits were baggy, worn with slip-on shoes and occasionally paired with silk bathrobes and coats.

Sales in men's fashion leapt by 22 percent in the UK to £13.5 billion (US$19.6 billion, 18 billion euros) between 2009 to 2014, according to market researcher Mintel.

Following London, the male fashionista will pack his bags for Milan next week, followed by Paris and then New York.

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A lot of young women work in retail but for Isis Valentino and Alex Belle, folding T-shirts in an Atlanta vintage shop brought kindred musical spirits together. Meet St. Beauty, the soulful duo in Janelle Monae's Wondaland camp that's poised to break into R&B. “We met in a vintage shop called Poor Little Rich Girl about four years ago,” explains Isis. “They were holding showcases in the basement. I offered to play guitar. From then on, we were having rehearsals. I don’t know. It just kind of worked out that we started writing together.”

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Isis, 23, and Alex Belle, 22, are both natives of Atlanta and performed as solo artists prior to coming together. Even their group name, St. Beauty, was a serendipitous effort. “Isis wrote a song called ‘St. Beauty,’ explains Alex Belle. “It was inspired by Stevie Wonder’s ‘Bird of Beauty.’ At first I didn’t like [the name] but it grew on me because I think St. Beauty has a lot of meaning.” The meaning? “It means pure beauty. Anyone can be St. Beauty and anyone can relate to that name.”

“At the time, I was just kind of alone all the time,” remembers Isis about the inception of the song. “I was listening to a lot of Stevie Wonder and just remember that song always made me happy. I was just learning how to play guitar and putting some chords together and the words just came along.”

Initially, they weren’t convinced and took to social media to crowd-source name options. “There was a name I came up with called AmeriClone,” says Alex. “Now it’s actually a song we do but originally, it was a name I came up with for us. We actually asked Twitter which name was better and everyone chose St. Beauty so that’s the name we went with.

True to their name, St. Beauty exudes individuality and uniqueness in their music. The group has aligned with Wondaland Arts Society, a consortium of talented musicians and creatives that includes Janelle Monae and Jidenna, and their latest single, “Going Nowhere,” appears on the recent Wondaland Presents: The Eephus EP. “When we were doing the EP, everyone had their input on each other’s songs,” says Alex.

St. Beauty is currently in the studio, working on a new EP for 2016. When it comes to their music, the duo can’t exactly describe it—you just have to hear it for yourself. “It’s hard to explain it. It’s like someone explaining a painting or something,” says Isis. “We can’t explain one name for it but it makes people feel good. The purpose of our music is to heal and inspire. We want people to know that this is the true us.” Adds Alex, “We want people to trust us with their emotions when they’re listening to our music. Our music is who we are. Our music is good vibes.”

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ASHEVILLE - More than 15 brides will take up residence in Biltmore House next month as part of Biltmore’s newest costume exhibition, “Fashionable Romance: Wedding Gowns in Film.”

Opening Feb. 12, the exhibition will showcase 40 award-winning wedding gowns and costumes from films set in the years 1645-1935. The iconic Jane Austen romances of “Sense and Sensibility,” “Emma,” and “Pride and Prejudice” are included.

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The exhibition continues in Antler Hill Village, near Biltmore Winery, with a focus on 60 years of Vanderbilt Family wedding fashion. The exhibition, both in the house and at Antler Hill Village, is included in estate admission, and closes on July 4.

The exhibit follows by one year Biltmore's popular exhibition of costumes from the PBS hit TV series "Downton Abbey." Similar to the "Downton Abbey" show, the movie costumes will be displayed in appropriate settings throughout Biltmore House and will be visible on the regular home tour.

In addition to the exhibition, Biltmore offers additional warm indoor attractions to make a wintertime visit at Biltmore one to remember long after your visit. They include:

• Orchids talks in the Conservatory: The Conservatory is filled with thousands of tropical plants this time of year, including an expansive orchid display at its showiest peak in March. “Orchid Talks in the Conservatory” take place weekdays at 11 a.m., Jan. 25-March 18. Biltmore’s gardeners will discuss orchids currently blooming, the estate’s heritage orchids, the history of orchid cultivation, details about the Conservatory and growing tips. The talks are free with the price of estate admission.

• Warm up at the Winery: Spend a winter afternoon in the Winery, where free guided tours of the production facility are offered, along with complimentary wine tastings. Specialty wine tours at an additional price include the Red Wine and Chocolate Seminar and the Biltmore Bubbles Tour.

• Winter savings: Biltmore guests can take advantage of the lowest admission prices of the year Jan. 11-March 18. Estate admission begins at $40 when tickets are purchased seven or more days in advance online at www.biltmore.com. Day-of tickets are $50; ages 10 to 16 are half the adult ticket price; ages 9 and younger are free.

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We’re all guilty of cheating our skincare regimens or committing makeup mistakes, believing no one will notice. Maybe it’s true no one really sees what you’re doing, but it’s enough that you know what you’re doing. Also, the more you cheat yourself, the more you’re encouraging a bad habit to form.

So for this new year, own up to the bad things you’ve been doing skincare- and makeup-wise. It’s time to make those small changes that can make a big difference. Here’s a list of beauty resolutions to keep for 2016 and even for the years to follow!

#1 No more skipping out on moisturizer

Between all the makeup you put during the day and the harsh elements that your skin is exposed to every day, such as pollution and UV rays, your skin has it rough. Failing to apply moisturizer before you put on your foundation and after you’ve cleansed your face at night will just make your skin a hotbed for other problems.

#2 Always carry around a moisturizing lip treatment

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The dryness caused by being in an air conditioned office the whole day, the UV rays of the hot sun, and the brutal cold winds of a storm are remove space bad for your puckers. Chapped lips are a big sign you’re not caring for them and that you might be dehydrated. So aside from increasing your water intake, carry a small lip balm that works and slather it on whether you’re just at home and especially before slapping on a dark lip.

#3 Don’t follow a trend just because everyone else is doing it

Back in the ’90s everyone wanted thin eyebrows and started hacking away with tweezers or shavers. Those same people are now slathering castor oil and hair growth serums to get the full-on brows this era is crazy about. There’s an easy lesson we can take from this: Don’t get carried away by trends. (Just think about how extreme things got for the #KylieJennerLipChallenge!) Think twice about that new lipstick shade you’re getting because you saw Rihanna wear it.

#4 Get a proper nail polish remover

Acetone may be able to wipe out some salon-grade gel lacquers but they also strip your nails of its natural oils, cause discoloration, and dry out your nail beds like no other. Stay away from them. Invest in acetone-free polish remover with Vitamin E and other skin-caring ingredients instead.

#5 Avoid layering products all at the same time

Do you place some beauty oil over your night cream? Are you guilty of using a leave-in treatment on top of a scalp serum? Unless prescribed as necessary by your dermatologist or hairstylist, layering products just clogs your pores, promotes increased oiliness, and can stunt your chosen products from doing their job.

#6 Say “no” to excessive makeup hauls

There were times when the first thing I ever did when I got my salary was step out and buy as many drugstore makeup products I could. What I ended up with was a pile of stuff I couldn’t use. I could have just at least saved all the money I spent and bought an item I could actually get more use from.

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