16 Genius Beauty Hacks

From make-up tips to haircare advice, these tips could make your life easier.

1. When you paint your nails, start from your little finger rather than your thumb. You’ll lower the risk of smudging your freshly painted nails.
2. Matte lipstick is on-trend but very unforgiving. Before using it, mix a dash of olive oil with half a teaspoon of brown sugar to treat your lips to a DIY lip scrub.
3. Clean your make-up brushes regularly with facial cleanser or a mild shampoo. Rinse thoroughly and leave to air dry.
4. Don’t test foundation on your hand – you won’t get a good colour match. Instead, try it on your jawline.
5. Wrap a small scoop of porridge oats up in a muslin cloth and tie the ends to secure. Drop it in your bath while the water is running. The oat oils work wonders on dry skin.
6. Leave at least a day between shaving/waxing and applying fake tan. Otherwise, you risk causing irritation and ending up with a patchy tan.
7. Not keen on heavily fragranced body oils? Switch to pure almond oil. Add a few drops of essential oil if you want a hint of natural fragrance.
8. Leave your facial cleanser to soak in for a few minutes before wiping it off. It’ll act as a mini face pack. This works particularly well with balm cleansers.
9. Appy eye cream with your ring finger. It’s the weakest so you’re less likely to pull at the skin. Dab (rather than rub) the cream in.
10. If you often forget to apply SPF in the cooler months, try swapping your foundation for a tinted SPF cream.
11. Hair feeling lank or lacklustre? Try switching to a shampoo that’s free from sulphates and silicones. Sulphates can strip hair of its natural, healthy oils, while silicones can build up over time and weigh hair down.
12. Put wet hair in multiple plaits before bed for easy curls the next day. Brush through if you want looser waves.
13. Freshly washed hair is harder to style. So if you have a big night out coming up, wash your hair the day before. It’ll then hold its style better for your evening out.
14. Rather than splashing out on expensive travel-sized products (they can be more than double the price per ml), decant your usual products into small reusable containers.
15. Do you subscribe to Birchbox or a similar subscription box? Save the products you don’t fancy throughout the year. By Christmas, you’ll have a stack of cracker prizes and stocking fillers. You could even use them to fill a personalised advent calendar for a friend.
16. Skin and hair changes as we age, so what worked for you a few years ago may not be as effective today. Embrace the chance to try something new!