Lock Down, Glow Up: Skincare as the ultimate form of self-care

Let’s all agree on something: lockdown sucks. But you know what sucks even more? Sitting around all day while you scroll through Instagram or watch your 968th Tiktok of the day. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with this, but it doesn’t particularly help with feeling a bit more positive and normal. With so much negativity and free time, self-care has never been so necessary – so I decided to use my time in lockdown to try and glow myself up.

If you are not familiar with the term ‘glow up’, it’s what happens when someone becomes more confident and cooler and oh wow (!)  you are suddenly attracted to them. What a concept! In my opinion, glowing up doesn’t mean going ‘from ugly to beautiful’ (because who honestly cares about beauty standards honestly) but actually becoming the more comfortable version of you. Trust me, I had a big proper glow up when I got to uni. I was finally in a place where I could be bold and carefree, with my looks and my personality.

Because I am a skincare freak and I strongly believe that having a healthy skin instantly makes people feel better, that’s what I’m going to focus on. So, this is what I’ve been doing during the lockdown to make sure my skin is behaving:

Moisturising is key

I can’t stress this enough. Use a moisturiser. Please. If you have dry skin, your skin will suddenly feel more elastic, softer and glowy. If you have oily or combination skin, I am already disappointed in you for not moisturising: your skin is probably over-producing oils. This doesn’t help with spots – like using the wrong moisturiser. Honestly, I noticed a huge difference once I started using a moisturiser that didn’t clog my pores (very important stuff!) and actually made me look glowy. I’ve tried quite a few but the Benefit Triple Performing Moisturiser is my favourite, and I can’t recommend it enough. @benefit please sponsor me 🙁

The Holy Grail & moi (Photo credits: Marina Mateo)

Cleansing (fancy word for washing your face with face soap) before using your moisturiser is also quite nice and makes your skin feel fresh. Pretty much recommended by every dermatologist ever.

Going pro

You can also get started on the amazing world of face masks. Honestly, the sheet masks they have in Boots are good, most smell amazing and leave your skin feeling really nourished and fresh. Self-care at its finest. Definitely recommend wearing them around your family if you need a good laugh. They will most likely be jump-scared. Thank me later.

Something you definitely don’t want to miss is using a nose pore strip. Once you take it off, it pulls out a LOT of junk from your pores. Use it after a warm shower and you’ll be pleasantly disgusted. Again, self-care (and science) at its finest. I’ve recently resorted to cutting a hole in mine so I can use them while wearing a nose piercing because I seriously noticed when I stopped using them. But now I’m back on track, and once again have a soft nose. What else could I ask for?

A very realistic reaction when seeing the things that come out of your pores (Photo Credits: Pexels)

Exfoliating

My favourite thing in the world. Exfoliating basically takes off your dead skin, and suddenly you are the softest, nicest-smelling creature in the whole world.  My boyfriend loves it even though he doesn’t know it exists. Because it works. And even he can notice it. Also, if you shave, exfoliating is a must unless you inexplicably like ingrown hairs.

There are different types, but I recommend going for scrubs for your body, because they are easier and faster to use. For your face, go for chemical exfoliants, as they are more precise and stronger. My favourite ones right now are The Coffee Scrub by Frankbody (or the Shimmer one for the summer), and the Peel & Polish Peel by Pixi. Sadly, social distancing means no one can be close enough to notice how soft I am. But it makes me happy and that is enough. (It also makes my skin look amazing in pictures)

I look like a troll when I have Pixi’s exfoliant on so you only get to see half of my face (Photo Credit: Marina Mateo)

Don’t overdo it

Maybe you are a skincare pro like me and use two different serums and a tonic and suddenly you start getting spots again and your world is crumbling. My biggest lockdown discovery is that you can actually overwhelm your skin. Try to keep it as basic as you can and introduce new products slowly to see what actually improves your skin. I recently got a bit too excited as you can probably guess. Don’t be like me. A good cleanser and moisturiser can be a good enough daily routine for most of us.

Stay tuned for the next part of the Lock Down, Glow Up Series. (It’s not like you have anything else to do.) We both know that you are reading this from your bed at a weird time to be in bed, so it’s time to work towards feeling good and stop being a hermit. Unless you like being a hermit. In that case, you’re doing amazing.

(Cover image credits: Pexels )