Beginning to feel like a neanderthal without the services of your friendly neighbourhood beauty parlour? Take these at-home steps to keep looking and feeling your best, even if you are hardly stepping outside of your own front door (raise your hands all those who dress for a cocktail party to go grocery shopping).
SKIN
While your facialist is also in social distancing mode, stick to your skin care routine, or build on one. Remember to exfoliate at least twice a week. Granulated sugar or oatmeal mixed with your face wash is a natural, two-in-one solution to smoothen and brighten skin. If mixing up face masks from pantry staples, like cinnamon, honey, chickpea flour, yogurt, chamomile and turmeric, is too much for you, rely on sheet masks to hydrate and nourish skin while you watch your favourite TV show. Using genuine products with natural ingredients like aloe and manuka honey pays dividends in the long run.
NAILS
There will come a day when you need to let your nail paint go. Peeling off chipped shellac while worrying if the apocalypse is near is not a good idea. Place cotton soaked in acetone directly on top of each nail and wrap with a small piece of foil. Wait 10-15 minutes for the polish to come off. An acetone-free remover is best for regular polish. File nails short to give no hiding place to germs. A cuticle pusher helps to gently press unsightly cuticles close to the nail bed. Leave cutting cuticles to the professionals. The liquid from a Vitamin E capsule makes for great cuticle oil and can also soften rough bits around the nails. Finish off with a decadent hand cream and use it every night to keep up your home manicure.
HAIR
If your hair misses the attention of your favourite salon sister, there are masks you can whip up in your kitchen. Try aloe vera, eggs or nourishing oils like coconut, olive and almond for strengthening roots, and avocado, banana or yogurt for banishing frizz. Add lemon juice or a few drops of tea tree oil to keep the scalp fresh and dandruff-free. When the mane is well-tamed, split ends are less evident, and so is your overdue haircut.
If the grey peeking out is causing dread of those official video meetings, befriend a temporary root touch-up colour. These are available in various shades and modes of application at local pharmacies or online. The most common is in spray form (which is quick, though potentially messy), but the crayon, brush and mascara wand versions allow for precision coverage of fine and baby hair along the forehead, temples and ears. Take this as an opportunity to give your hair a rest from ammonia, peroxide and similar baddies found in permanent dyes.
EYEBROWS AND LASHES
Stay on top of eyebrow overgrowth by plucking the extra hairs every few days.
If your eyelash extensions are on the wane, pulling them out will result in losing your real lashes. Use a gentle oil on a wipe or cotton ball to rub along the lash line to get the fake lashes off. Applying quality castor oil with a small, flat makeup brush to lashes just before bed encourages them to grow faster.
