Quarantine Self Care: At Home Beauty Tips

With your last professional beauty appointment now a distant memory, it may be time to master some at home beauty tips.

There’s no doubt this is a very surreal time. But while social distancing may mean no upcoming special events, you can instead spend this time to up your quarantine beauty game — perhaps try out some products (or DIY tricks) you never had time for in the past.

It’s hard to deny that everyone feels better when their skin, hair, and nails are at their best.

Beauty Routine: Home Beauty Tips For Self Care

The three pillars of any good beauty routine are the skin, hair, and nails. Let’s explore what you can do for each of these at home.

Skin Care

Whether you have fair skin, dry skin, or oily skin – glowing skin at home is within your reach. Try out a popular DIY recipe for the first time, or treat yourself to that anti-aging face mask you’ve long had your eye on.

The Essentials

Continue to cleanse, tone, and moisturize your face morning and night.
Healthy skin has the best opportunity to shine when you gently exfoliate dead skin cells away. Aim for 2-3 times per week for your face and body.
Moisturize your entire body daily with a good skin-firming cream.
Don’t forget your hands. Now that you’ve upped your handwashing game, you’re going to need a nourishing hand product more than ever.

Level Up

Invest in a good anti-aging hyaluronic or mineral face mask and/or a firming eye mask to freshen up your complexion. Add these to your skincare routine several times per week.
Try out a rich, antioxidant serum under your moisturizer to protect against UV damage and help to brighten your skin tone.
Encourage the growth of eyebrows or eyelashes during this slow period with an enhancing serum. And, don’t over pluck already thick brows.
Pay your lips some service. You can easily (and gently) exfoliate your lips with just a slick of lip balm and a clean toothbrush. Apply a thick layer of balm to your lips and gently brush lips in a circular motion.

Hair Care

It’s easy to neglect your hair when you’re not leaving the house. Indeed, you’ve probably never worn your hair up so often. But taking care of your own hair will ensure that your professional hair color, cut, and shine last longer – until you can visit your favorite hair guru once more.

The Essentials

Use a color-protecting shampoo. These are lower in sulfates and formulated to coat the hair so that color molecules can’t escape as easily.^1,2
Apply a deep conditioning treatment to your hair once or twice a week.
Put down the hair dryer. Excessive heat styling is drying and damaging to your hair and its color.

Level Up

Invest in a good color deposit shampoo or conditioner which will help to enhance your specific color for longer by depositing color molecules as it cleans.
Roots got you down? There are some amazing temporary root cover-up powders, sprays, and pens currently on the market.
Accessorize like a pro. Ever dreamed of learning how to dress up your hair with a silk scarf à la Grace Kelly? Or wanted to experiment more with vintage barrettes or colorful headbands? Now’s the time to have some fun.

DIY Fun

DIY Nourishing Yogurt, Honey, And Olive Oil Hair Mask – Mix one teaspoon of olive oil with ¼ cup of yogurt and one Tablespoon of honey. Apply to damp hair and leave for 20 minutes. Wash hair as normal.
DIY Dry Shampoo – Sprinkle a little baking soda on oily roots and voilà, homemade dry shampoo. Tousle your hair until it’s worked through evenly. You can also add a few drops of your favorite essential oil (like lemon or lavender) to make your hair smell extra fresh.
DIY Gram Flour Hair Rinse – Gram flour is a gluten free flour made from chickpeas. Some people swear by it for cleansing their hair without using shampoo.³ To give it a try, combine three heaped teaspoons of gram flour with enough warm water to form a paste. Wet hair, and apply the paste to your scalp. Leave for a few minutes. Rinse and condition hair as normal.

Nail Care

With the state of the world right now, you’d be forgiven for chewing your fingernails. But nice nails are good for the soul. This includes your toenails.

The Essentials

Protect nails daily with a good cuticle oil. If you don’t have any on hand, you can use a little coconut oil.
Paint your nails with clear polish for added shine (it also won’t show any application mistakes).
Keep your nails neat and trim by filing down ragged nail edges once a week.
Nails are also taking a beating with all that handwashing. Be sure to also massage hand cream into your nails. When you do the dishes, wear rubber gloves.

Level Up

Invest in an at-home gel kit which consists of a single step of gel polish. These kits also come with the correct removal product.
Nothing brightens isolation more than a little bit of nail art. You can easily “nail” this process at home by purchasing some high quality, stick-on nail art. The selection is endless.

DIY Fun

DIY Nail Polish Color – Did you know you can make your own nail polish shade at home? Grab a new bottle of clear nail polish, and using a small funnel (or a rolled piece of paper) add a large pinch of ground up eye shadow in your favorite color. Then shake it up till it’s well mixed.

Makeup Drawer Overhaul: Clean Your Makeup Brushes

Quarantine is a great time for some spring cleaning. So, what better time to finally sort out your makeup drawer and all those dirty brushes you’d forgotten about?

How often should you clean your makeup brushes? Well, dermatologists recommend at least every 7 -10 days – especially those you use most often, like foundation and concealer brushes.⁴ For lesser used brushes, once to twice a month should suffice.

Here’s how to wash your makeup brushes efficiently:

Rinse under warm running water to remove any lingering makeup.
Fill a bowl with warm water and add some shampoo. Swirl the brush around and massage any remaining beauty product out with your fingers.
Rinse again under running water.
Repeat until the water runs clear and the brush appears free of debris.
Gently remove any excess moisture with a paper towel.
Lay the brush out flat on a towel to dry. Give your brushes plenty of time to dry before you next need them.

DIY Spa Bath: Relax Your Mind And Body With A Turmeric And Essential Oil Bath

There’s one more step in your beauty routine. It’s time to lie back and pamper yourself with a fragrant spa bath.

This DIY spa bath is based around the spice turmeric — and for good reason. Turmeric is made primarily of the compound curcumin, which gives it that vibrant golden hue. And curcumin is a powerful antioxidant. It’s perfect for chasing away those skin-damaging free radicals which can contribute to the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.⁵

In a dish, simply combine:

½ cup turmeric
10-15 drops of your favorite essential oil or even a little rosewater or lemon juice
A couple of teaspoons of a carrier oil like jojoba, coconut, or almond oil

Pour the mix under warm running bathwater. Pop on your favorite anti-aging face mask, sit back, and relax.

Home Beauty Tips Made Easy

You may not need to stress about covering dark circles, dying your brows, or lasering stray facial hairs right now. But why not start up an easy quarantine beauty routine just for you? Now that you’re armed with a great selection of homemade beauty tips, you can get started.

Learn More:
Daily Hair Care: What Are The Pros And Cons Of Dry Shampoo?
Tips For A Natural Manicure At Home: DIY Nails
DIY Pampering: How to Give Yourself a Spa Day at Home

Sources
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3002407/
2. https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/beauty/hair/g3878/best-shampoo-for-colored-hair/
3. https://spotofearth.com/2019/10/09/gram-flour-shampoo/
4. https://www.aad.org/public/everyday-care/skin-care-secrets/routine/clean-your-makeup-brushes
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5664031/