June 4, 2021
NewsMost of us think our beauty routine starts when we sit down at our vanity. You’ve jumped in the shower to wash the sleep away and grabbed your clothes for the day. By the time you get to your vanity, you’re ready for your morning coffee and an extra dose of caffeine. Instead of starting your beauty routine when you get to your vanity, you want to start it when you jump in the shower. Not only does it save you precious minutes in the morning, but it can be a gamechanger for your skin.
This last year has all been about upgrading your skincare routine. With nowhere to go during COVID, we’ve shifted our focus from doing our makeup to skincare. After all, who doesn’t want a dewy glow? Changing how you think about your morning shower can help you elevate your routine and get the most out of your beauty routine. We’re sharing all the secrets about perfecting your in-shower beauty routine and how to get glowing skin.
When you jump under the steam of your shower, you can instantly feel the stress leave your shoulders. If you’re stressing about your day at work or feel anxious about your ‘to do’ list, a shower is the best way to start your day. Research from the European Society of Medicine has shown that the heat of the water stimulates your blood circulation quicker and more efficiently than any kind of dry heat. By boosting your blood circulation, warm water helps your skin retain its elasticity and collagen, preventing premature aging. Keeping your skin youthful is the best way to maintain your natural glow.
There are a few things you want to consider about your in-shower routine so that you can get the most out of it.
Getting the right temperature will make or break your shower routine. As tempting as it is to turn your water to the hottest setting, it can strip the natural oils from your skin and damage your skin’s natural protective barrier. When this barrier is damaged, your skin is more at-risk to free radical and sun damage, along with moisture loss. If the water is too high, the same thing can happen with your scalp and cause your hair to become dehydrated and prone to breakage.
Lukewarm water is your skin and hair’s best friend. When the temperature is warm (without being too hot!) you can enjoy all the benefits of warm water without dehydrating your skin. If a roasting hot shower is a staple of your routine that you can’t do without, limit your time in the shower to less than five minutes.
The steam and humidity of your shower makes it the perfect environment to indulge in a face mask. Your skin is able to better absorb the active ingredients in your face mask, giving you the best bang for your buck. One ingredient you want to incorporate into your shower routine is vitamin C, which will brighten your complexion, boost your collagen production, and protect your skin from free radical damage.
The best type of mask to choose from your shower is a cleansing mask that will remove dead skin cells and impurities from your skin. Doing a mask in the shower will kickstart your skincare routine. You can let the mask sit and develop on your skin as you apply your shampoo to your hair or add a leave-in conditioner.
Once you’ve rinsed off your mask, grab your faithful gua sha. While this is everyone’s favourite facial massage tool, you can get the best results in the shower. A gua sha helps your lymphatic drainage and reduces puffiness in your skin, helping to wake you up first thing in the morning. The heat of the water helps the gua sha slip along your skin, so you don’t have to worry about dragging it across your face.
The best way to use a gua sha is to press it down against your skin and gently stroke it across your face. Don’t forget your neck! You want to move outwards from the centre of your face for one minute to get the best results. You can wave your sleepy face goodbye and say hello to a brighter glow. A mask and massage is a way of making everyone think you got eight hours of sleep.
When we think of our beauty routine, we often focus on our face. The shower is the perfect place to focus on your body. One of the biggest trends in skincare is body brushing. If you have sensitive or mature skin, you want to do your dry brushing in the shower, as the water acts as a lubricant to prevent skin irritation or inflammation.
You can think of wet body brushing as a ‘double cleanse’ for your body. If you’re someone who wears fake tan, this is a must-have to help you get an even colour by removing dead skin cells. If you want a more luxurious experience, add a couple of drops of a hydrating body oil to the brush, moving in circular motions over your skin.
While you’re working on your legs, swap between cold and warm water. Cold water will give your internal organs a rush of blood to rejuvenate your system, while warm water will help bring oxygen to your skin, lifting nutrient-rich blood to the surface to tighten your skin.
While we all use a shower gel in the morning, you can give your skin some TLC with a body oil. It adds an extra layer of hydration to your skin, especially areas of your body that you usually forget about. With so much focus on our face, we often forget about keeping the rest of our body hydrated. If you have dry skin, this step is a must-have for your beauty routine. You’ll see a difference almost right away.
Invest in a body oil with a natural fragrance to reduce irritation to your skin. You want to apply it everywhere from your neck to ankles while the water is still running. It should be the last step for your body care routine.
Pro tip! When you get out of the shower, you want to pat dry instead of rubbing a harsh towel against your skin. If you wrap your body in a towel and pat downwards, you can negatively impact your skin’s elastin.
The steam of the shower will help your hair products penetrate deeper into the hair follicles. It’ll give your hair a little extra moisture, making it perfect for coarse or curly hair. If you have fine hair, it’s a good idea to just apply your conditioner to th ends of your hair.
Whatever your hair type is, give your scalp a gentle exfoliation using a hair mask to lift the dirt and product residue from your scalp. The steam of the shower makes your pores more pliable. This stage of your in-shower beauty routine is when the water should be at its hottest. As the steam opens the hair cuticles, it allows your products to work overtime to give you the best results.
Instead of standing directly under the water, you want to let your hair soak in the steam. The best way to apply your mask or conditioner is to section off your hair and layer the product.
If you have the time, add an oil-based treatment to your hair to give it a natural shine. You want to try and leave it on for five minutes before rinsing, giving you time to shave or dry brush your body.
Doing this process can help reduce frizz in your hair and give your girls more definition.
Once you’re out of the shower, it’s time to pick-up your beauty routine. As you’ve already cleansed your skin, you can jump back into the rest of your skincare routine. Use a hydrating toner to catch any left-over dead skin cells on your face. You can boost the vitamin C that you used in the shower by adding another vitamin-rich serum to your routine. If you have drier skin, vitamin E is the perfect choice for a morning serum to plump your skin.
If you struggle with dark undereye circles, you can apply a few drops around the eye area. This stage of your skincare routine is a great opportunity to incorporate a jade roller to help tighten your skin and boost the effects of the gua sha. Finish off your skincare routine with a moisturizer to seal in all the active ingredients you used in your shower products. As it’s your morning regime, you want to add on an SPF to keep your skin protected from sun damage.
After your skincare is done, you can follow-up with your makeup routine and style your hair before heading out the door.
Do you start your beauty routine in the shower? Which of these tips are you going to incorporate into your morning routine? Let us know in the comments below.
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