30 Beauty Rules That You Should Break

You've probably heard several rules from your mom, sister, friend, or even magazine articles.  They tell you that there are rules to applying making and fixing your hair, and you should never break these rules.

But some rules are made to be broken!  Here are some beauty rules that you don't have to follow.

So come on.  Be a rebel.  Break these rules and look your best!

Links below may be affiliate links, which means that I earn a small commission from sales.  

30 Beauty Rules That You Should Break

1.  Curly haired women can't have bangs.

Not all women with curly hair can pull off bangs, but some can.  In fact, they look great!  Taylor Swift and Beyonce both look great with layered longer bangs.

2.  Brush your hair to make it healthier.

This came about because the brush is supposed to distribute the natural oils in your hair, which makes your hair healthier.  This is someone true, but not for everyone.  If you have curly hair, it's best to skip this.  You'll just make your hair frizzy and risk breakage.  Instead, use a wide tooth comb to detangle.

3.  You have to wash your hair every day.

Not true.  If your hair doesn't get dirty because of swimming, gardening, or sweat, let it go two or three days.  Some styles like braids and buns look better on hair that hasn't been washed in a day.  

4.  You have to use shampoo.

Not necessarily.  The suds in shampoo are purely for your benefit so you can see that it is working.  If you have curly hair or a dry scalp, try a DIY clarifying wash with vinegar and baking soda.  

5.  Hairspray can only be used on the hair on your head.

Hairspray works great to tame eyebrows.  Don't spray on your eyebrow; instead spritz some on your finger and smooth any stray hairs.  

6.  Your hair must always be styled and neat.

Neat hairstyles always look good, but so can messy styles.  If you don't have time to wash your hair or are planning on playing hard or working hard, try a messy style.  Buns and braids both look great messy, and they are easy to style.  

7.  Your hair and brows should be the same color. 

It's OK if your brows are a few shades darker than your hair.  Actually, this frames your eyes and gives them some definition.  

8. Your bangs should fall be cut to your eyebrows.  

Bangs do look good at this length, but they can look good other lengths too.  Try longer, side swept bangs or even shorter bangs for a more serious style.  

9.  Get your hair cut every 6 - 8 weeks.

Unless your hair is colored more than a few shades different from your natural color or you have a short cut, go to the salon as needed.  

10.  Cover up gray.

Some women embrace their gray hair, and they look beautiful!  Don't feel that you need to yank our or cover every gray hair.  Women can look distinguished just like men can.  

11. Don't line your bottom lashes.

Some people think that lining your bottom lashes makes your eyes look smaller or drags your eyes down.  But when done correctly, this can help define your eyes.  Line the outer 2/3 of your bottom lash lines to make your eyes appear wider set.  

12.  Use an eyebrow pencil to fill in brows.

Brow pencils work great, but they aren't the only thing that you can use.  Who needs another beauty product that just has one use?  Use eye shadow to fill in gaps, so you can use the exact shade that you need.

13.  Bright eyeshadows are dated.

Bright color, like lime, purple, or blue, can look great when used with a natural look on the rest of your face.

14.  Eyeshadow kits made for certain color eyes can only be used on that color.

Not true!  Generally, shadows for blue eyes look best with blue eyes, but they might also look great on hazel eyes.  

15.  Use white eyeliner to brighten your eyes.

This does work very well, but nude eyeliner works even better!

16.  Bronzer is only good for your face.

After you lightly dust your face with bronzer, swipe a little on your collarbone and abs.  They can create more definition, but it will wash away if you sweat or get in the pool.  

17.  Contouring is obvious.

Not if you do it right.  Use shades close to your skin tone, and no one will ever know that you used makeup to contour your face.  

18.  Don't mix gold and silver.

Generally, you shouldn't.  But if you're going for a dramatic look, mixing them can look great.

19.  Wear light lip colors for summer.

Shimmery lips are popular in the summer, but don't be afraid to wear a dark shade on your lips for a dramatic look.

20.  Line your lips inside your lip line.

When done carefully, you can line outside your lip line to make your lips appear fuller.  

21.  You have to use brushes to apply your makeup.

Makeup brushes work great, but your finger can work just as well.  You can get more control when use blend eye makeup with your fingertip, which means a more natural look.

22.  Line lips with liner to help your lipstick last.

Lining your lips does help your color last, but you can also use liner all over your lips for longer lasting color.  Top with a clear or light lip gloss to moisturize your lips.  

23.  If you have cool skin, wear only cool makeup and vice versa.

Generally, this is a good rule.  But you should experiment to find other colors that look good with your skin.  

23.  Apply blush to the apples of your cheeks.  

To find out where to apply blush, bend over for a minute. When you stand back up, look to see where you are flushed.  This is where you should apple blush.  You'll put some on your cheeks and a touch on your forehead.  

24.  Use a concealer that is one to two shades lighter than your skin.

This can draw attention to the area, which is not what you want.  Use a concealer that is the same shade as your skin so it blends in better.  

25.  Don't wear makeup to the gym.

If you feel better working out with some light makeup, then do it.  Don't wear foundation though, because it can clog pores and cause acne.

26.  Lipstick is only for your lips.

Moisturizing lipsticks can also be used as a blush.  They look very natural, and you can even wear the same shade on your cheeks and lips. 

27.  Use shaving cream to shave your legs.

Cheap hair conditioner works better than most shaving creams and leaves your skin soft and silky.  

28.  Exfoliate your skin daily.

You may love the soft skin feeling after you exfoliate, but you should only do it once or twice a week.  More than that will irritate your skin.

29.  If you have oily skin, use only products that are oil-free.

Oil dissolves oil, so you can use products with jojoba oil and other light oils to dissolve oil.  

30.  Never pop zits.

You shouldn't do this because it can cause a scar and spread acne causing bacteria. If you must pop a zit, use a comedone extractor and only pop the ones that pop easily.

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photo from posterize via freedigitalphotos.net

How to Shape Your Eyebrows

Your eyebrows are more important than you would think.  The perfect arch and shape for your face depends on your face shape.

The easiest way to find your face shape is to pull your hair back in to a pony tail or hold it back with a headband.  Then draw the outline of your face with an eyeliner on a mirror.  Step back and examine the shape.  You can also use a ruler to measure your face to find the widest part.

Courtesy of: Alight

Pineapple and Sunflower Scrub

I feel like it's finally summer because we are setting up the pool today!  It's one of those blue blobs, but it's the perfect size for the kids.  When it's in the 90s, I think I'd jump in the pond for some relief.  We had a few holes in it, so we're waiting on the patch kit to dry before we can fill it up.  Hopefully we will be swimming tomorrow!

In honor of summer, here's another recipe with sunflowers.  I love sunflowers, and they are my favorite flower!  I plant several kinds of them around the edge of the garden.  I love it when they are in bloom and you can see sunflowers for part of the driveway.  Our driveway is about 1/4 mile to the house, so it's a lot of sunflowers.  I save the seeds to feed to my chickens and for recipes like this one.

The pineapple juice acts like a natural chemical peel, so it removes dead skin cells.  If your skin is very dry or needs refreshed, use this once a week.  The sunflower seeds have an oil in them that helps nourish your skin.

Pineapple and Sunflower Facial Scrub Recipe

What You Need

• 1 tablespoon pineapple juice (fresh is best)
• 1 tablespoon sunflower seed meal
• Mortar and pestle

Directions

1. Use the mortar and pestle to mash fresh, peeled pineapple.  Strain the juice.
2. Grind sunflower seeds with a coffee mill or mortar and pestle.  It should be like a coarse flour.
3. Combine pineapple juice and sunflower seed meal to form a paste.  Add more liquid as needed.
4. Spread on your face and neck.  Let sit for 10 minutes and rinse.

This pineapple and sunflower recipe is called a scrub, but it's too coarse to scrub your face.  The pineapple juice exfoliates without scrubbing.  

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Sunflower and Apple Facial Scrub Recipe for Normal to Dry Skin

Sorry for the lack of posts this week.  I'm on my church's vacation bible school committee, and this is our VBS week!  I've been so busy with last minute things, decorating, and cleaning up.  Next week I'll have lots of great posts.

If you have normal to dry skin, this is an excellent facial scrub.  It's so easy to make, and you can use it two or three times a week.  The malic acid in the applesauce scrubs by chemically removing dead skin cells.  It's almost like a natural chemical peel!  The oils from the sunflower seeds nourish your skin.

This mask is gentle enough to use to use on dehydrated and sensitive skin.  Do not use on sunburned skin or open cuts.

This makes enough for one scrub.  Do not store leftovers.  You can store the ground sunflower seeds so you can make it quicker the next time.

This is runny, so protect your clothes.  Wear a headband or shower cap to keep your hair clean.

Sunflower and Apple Facial Scrub 

What You Need

• 1 tablespoon ground sunflower seeds
• 1 tablespoon natural applesauce
• Mortar and pestle

Directions

1. Use the mortar and pestle to grind the sunflower seeds in to a powder.
2. Mix ground sunflower seeds and applesauce.
3. Let thicken for 1 minutes.
4. Spread on face and neck and let sit for 10 minutes before rinsing.  

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Oatmeal Smoother Facial Mask and Scrub

During the summer, my skin really needs some TLC.  This week, it's been in the high 80s and low 90s, so of course my face is getting sweaty.  I don't want my pores to get clogged and cause break outs, so I've been using scrubs and masks every few days.

When my pores get clogged with sunscreen and sweat, they look huge.  This scrub is perfect for scrubbing away debris from your pores.  While it won't shrink your pores, it will make them appear smaller.

To grind the oatmeal, use a mortar and pestle or a clean coffee grinder.  Sometimes I even buy baby oatmeal because it's already ground up.  It's a little small to scrub, but if you're using this as a mask it will work great.

You can double or triple the recipe and store the dry ingredients until you're ready to use it.  Put it in a small mason jar and add a cute lid and a gift tag, and this is ready to give as a gift.

Oatmeal Smoother Facial Mask and Scrub

What You Need

• 1/2 cup ground oatmeal
• 1/2 cup powdered milk
• water
• Mortar and pestle

Directions

1. Combine dry ingredients well and place in a plastic bag or mason jar.
2. To use as a scrub, mix 2 teaspoons of the dry ingredients with 1 to 2 teaspoons water to make a thick paste.  Let thicken for one minute and scrub your face and neck.
3. To use as a mask, prepare as directed above with less water to make a thick paste.  Let sit on your face for 20 minutes.  

Store the dry ingredients up to 6 months.  

This makes 1 cup of dry mix, which is enough for weeks worth of masks or scrubs!  Use as a scrub once a week and as a mask once a week as needed.  When used as a mask, the milk will soothe your skin while it moisturizes your face.  

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Oily Skin Scrub and Face Mask Recipe

I'm a busy mom.  We're all busy.  That's why I love this recipe: You can make it once and then use it as a scrub and a face mask as needed.  I like to use one scrub a week and one face mask a week, separated by a few days.  I can make this every few weeks and use what I need and save the rest for the next treatment.

This oily skin scrub is gentle enough to use on your face, but it's also great for your body.  Use on your back and shoulders as needed for acne or even just to keep extra oil away and scrub off dead skin cells.

In this recipe, you'll make a powder with the dry ingredients.  Store this powder in a glass jar until you're ready to use it.  Then mix with the astringent to make a paste.  Gently scrub your skin to use as a skin scrub, or let it sit for 20 minutes until dry for a face mask.

Links below may be affiliate links, which means that I earn a commission from sales.

Oily Skin Scrub and Face Mask

What You Need

• 1/2 cup ground oatmeal
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1 tablespoon sea salt, ground finely
• 1 teaspoon ground peppermint leaves
• 1 teaspoon ground rosemary leaves
• Astringent
• Mortar and pestle

Directions

1. Grind dry ingredients with a mortar and pestle.  Grind them individually and measure once they are ground.
2. Mix dry ingredients together.  
3. Store in a glass container up to 6 months.
4. Mix 1 tablespoon of this mixture with astringent to make a thick paste.  Let thicken for one minute before using.

You can use your favorite astringent.  I like to use witch hazel for my oily skin.  

If you have oily skin, you should use a scrub or a face mask at least once a week.  Don't use either one more often than 3 times a week so you don't over dry your skin.  

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Photo from Grant Cochrane via freedigitalphotos.net

Break Up With Your Makeup and Enter to Win a Trip to the Emmys

I have a confession: I don't always wear makeup.  I know, I know.  I'm a beauty blogger.  I should look my best all the time, right?  Sometimes I don't have the time or the desire to deal with makeup, especially when it's hot outside.

If you're one of the 65 percent of Americans with rosacea, you don't have to hide behind makeup.  Rosacea is an inflammatory skin condition that affects 16 million Americans, so if you have it, you are not alone!  More women than men have rosacea, and a whopping 82 percent of women use cosmetics to cover up the redness.  

What is Rosacea?

Rosacea is caused by dilated blood vessels in the face, which causes increased blood flow.  This in turn causes redness in your face.  Fortunately, rosacea can be treated.  Mirvaso Topical Gel from Galderma Laboratories, L.P.  is the first and only gel treatment approved by the FDA for the treatment of persistent facial redness of rosacea.

Why You Should Break Up With Makeup

Most women use foundations and concealers to cover the redness.  In fact, only 53 percent of American women wear makeup, but 77 percent of rosacea sufferers wear makeup.  A single non-prescription product to hide facial redness costs and average of $36!

By comparison, Mirvaso is covered by most insurance plans for the cost of your copay. That could mean considerable savings depending on your insurance plan, and you could be free from makeup!

Why Mirvaso

Mirvaso is approved by the FDA to treat rosacea.  It's a gel, so it's easy to apply topically.  You get quick results that last up to 12 hours.

Once you start using Mirvaso, you can break up with your makeup!  You won't have to buy expensive foundations, and you won't have to worry about reapplying them during the day.  Do you want to go swimming?    You can without worrying about your makeup.

Check out Mirvaso for more information and see how you can win a trip to the Emmy Award Show!

Indication: Mirvaso® (brimonidine) topical gel, 0.33% is an alpha adrenergic agonist indicated for the topical treatment of persistent (nontransient) facial erythema of rosacea in adults 18 years of age or older. Adverse Events: In clinical trials, the most common adverse reactions (≥1%) included erythema, flushing, skin burning sensation and contact dermatitis.  Warnings/Precautions: Mirvaso Gel should be used with caution in patients with depression, cerebral or coronary insufficiency, Raynaud's phenomenon, orthostatic hypotension, thromboangiitis obliterans, scleroderma, or Sjögren’s syndrome. Alpha-2 adrenergic agents can lower blood pressure. Mirvaso Gel should be used with caution in patients with severe or unstable or uncontrolled cardiovascular disease. Serious adverse reactions following accidental ingestion of Mirvaso Gel by children have been reported. Keep Mirvaso Gel out of reach of children. Not for oral, ophthalmic, or intravaginal use. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Each gram of gel contains 5mg of brimonidine tartrate, equivalent to 3.3 mg of brimonidine free base

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.



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