Caffeine on your makeup sponge is just crazy enough to work.“I drink a black iced coffee every morning, and sometimes I’ll sprinkle a little on my Beautyblender to dampen it while I’m applying foundation. The following claim is obviously self-substantiated, but I swear the caffeinated liquid wakes up my skin and gives me a glow.
Put eye cream around your lips.
“So many people have told me they think eye cream is bullshit, but I’ve spent enough time around aestheticians to know better: The right eye cream in the right spots can make a world of difference. I put it on with my ring finger (it has the lightest touch and won’t drag your skin) all around my eye area including the skin between my eyes on the sides of my nose, right between my eyebrows, and around my mouth. The latter sounds weird, but your skin there is also delicate and prone to wrinkles, especially if you smoked for years, like me. Yeah, I know….” —L.S.
Add balm or oil to makeup if you have dry skin.“My face skin gets flaky-dry in the winter, so I mix a rich balm or face oil into everything—foundation, primer, concealer, you name it. My current favorite is the Healing Balm from Max & Madeleine. I wouldn’t recommend it for oily skin, but if your face gets chapped or reptilian-looking when it’s cold, please do yourself a favor and swiftly mix a drop of balm with whatever else you’re putting on your face at about a three-to-one ratio.” —A.R.
ix sugar and Vaseline to cure dry, flaky lips.“I am a self-proclaimed lipstick addict, and if I didn’t give my lips a treatment every once in a while, they’d probably fall off. Or they’d at least be really cracked and sore all the time. Instead of buying a lip scrub, you can just mix sugar and Vaseline together to help smooth your lips when they’re feeling dried out and tired.” —E.R.
Wash your face before you exercise.
“I go to the gym before work every morning—well, most mornings—and I always give my skin a good rinse with my Clinique cleanser before getting started. Washing my face before ensures that my pores won’t get clogged from a gross sweat-dirt-oil mix while I’m working out. I have oily, acne-prone skin to begin with, and I noticed that I was way less prone to post-exercise breakouts after I started doing an extra wash beforehand.” —H.L.
