Beauty hacks to try out!
Use a hair tie around a towel rail to dry brushes upside down (example)
Now this is an ingenious hack! Simply loop a hair tie around a towel rail or modern style bathroom radiator and dry your makeup brushes upside down. This sadly doesn't work with smaller eyeshadow brush but with large face brushes that take some time to dry it works a treat!
Use a sponge eyeshadow applicator to create ombre nails (example)
Finally a use for them pesky eyehadow applicators that definitely aren't up to the job of apply eyeshadow. A dab of nail polish on one of these applicators can create amazing ombre nails in seconds. I tried this out and the trick is to let your base nail polish dry first and then build up the ombre so this the effect is more opaque to the tip of the nail. Then while the nail polish is still wet a sweep of clear top coat will merge and smooth everything perfectly!
To tame split ends spray hairspray onto an old but clean mascara wand and brush through
Another simple yet effective hack here! This work perfectly on fine baby hairs around the hair line and any split ends or frizz. Mascara spoolie brushes can be picked up inexpensively or you can wash a wand from a used up mascara and keep it with your hair products for this job.
Homemade natural face masks
From time to time trying out a homemade face mask is fun! Some DIY masks seen on Pinterest includes some chemical packed ingredients so I'd recommend avoiding those and sticking to all natural recipes. Some favourite ingredients to try - avocado, honey and banana. The one natural ingredient that you may want to avoid is lemon as it's fairly astringent and has bleaching properties.
Conditioner in place of shaving cream for a close shave
This is a hack I use weekly in the shower after getting sick of shaving foam being too much. Conditioner is mild on the skin, lubricates the shaver without blocking it and creates a good guide of where you have shaved already. Plus it makes your legs feel silky smooth once you are done! It's also a great way to use up a conditioner that's just not cutting it on your hair!
Beauty hacks to seriously avoid!
Running your mascara tube under hot water to remove clumps
Now this seem a pretty clever hack right? And that's the thing about a lot of hacks... they actually work, but can be quite risky/harmful! I'm sure we are all aware that mascara harbours bacteria over time so when your mascara is starting to clump it's a sign you need to throw it away. So this hack is not only encouraging people to hold onto their mascara for longer but to actually multiple the bacteria inside but heating the tube up! Excessive levels of bacteria could lead to an eye infection so this isn't a hack you want to be trying out!
Using a facial hair removal cream around your eyebrows to define them
Now this 'hack' I'm pretty sure started off as a meme, I guess to make fun out of DIY hacks! But it's actually found it's way onto Pinterest and people are actually believing it - crazy! Facial hair removal cream is a huge no-no around anywhere other than the mouth area. I guess it could seem like a logical thing to do for some but the problem is even if it was neatly applied cream has a tendency to soak in and spread out even by millimetres and that could mean the difference between having eyebrows and not having them!
Mouthwash mixed with vinegar foot soak to remove hard skin
Another effective yet worrying hack, that's actually way too popular for my liking! Of course soaking your feet in this concoction would make the hard skin "fall away" because mouthwash contains pure alcohol so you are practically burning the skin off your feet, eeek! Not a good thing at all. However soaking your feet in warm water and using a pumice stone is more than fine. Sometimes I wonder how people come up with things like this!
Using a hair dryer to heat up eyelash curlers for a longer lash curl
Any kind of heat around the eye area is risky especially on the eyelid, eeep! Eyelash curlers do a good enough job if you ask me and heat won't perm the lashes in any way once mascara has been applied, so I don't really understand how this hack became so popular... actually I do - magazine tip sections! The cheap metal of eyelash curlers can heat up to a high temperature within seconds with a blast from a hot hair dryer and that's something you don't want near your eye.
Homemade pore strips
Another popular hack that seems to be doing the rounds on social media and Pinterest right now and I wish people would stop trying it! To make your DIY pore strip simply mix charcoal tablets with glue... yes, you read that correctly, GLUE! Peeling off a little glue from your fingers after getting craft, fine. Glue over pores, just no. I'm so over ridiculous beauty hacks like this!
Let me know if you've tried any of these beauty hacks. I'd love to know if you have and how you got on with them!
Fee xo.
