A rut can sometimes be hard to notice until it’s staring you right in the face.
There are the same shows you like to watch, over and over, despite there being other great ones out there and you’ve even started to feel like Miranda from Sex and the City once the Chinese restaurant you always get food from starts to memorize your order.
When it comes to your beauty routine, you might also start to notice that, like that Chinese takeout, things have started to get a little stale…
If this sounds like you, you might be stuck in a beauty rut. Thankfully, these tips from the beauty experts will liven things up once again – and it all starts with determining the telltale signs that your beauty routine needs a makeover.
Just consider the beauty experts your fairy Godmothers! It’s out with the old and in with the new.
1. you’ve been using the same products for forever
While you should certainly stay loyal to those tried-and-true products that continue to do wonders for your skin, it’s important to change things up every once in a while. Or at least from season to season.
For example, Adina Mahalli, hair and skincare expert for Maple Holistics, says that you’re going to need to up your moisturizing game during the winter. Then, in the summer, your routine will be calling for extra exfoliation to slough away those dry, dead skin cells.
To help you take care of your skin during these delicate skin seasons, we’ve got expert advice here and here.
2. you start to notice some skin changes
“If you’re noticing extra dryness, oiliness or any other imbalances in your complexion, it’s a sign that you might need to give your beauty routine a makeover,” explains Mahalli.
Her best advice is to use more natural products. “Moving towards natural ingredients and products allows you to find the underlying cause of your skin concern and solve it from the root.”
For instance, while you might love that heavy chemical-based moisturizer, it’s doing a lot more than just covering up dryness… it could also be covering up any real skin issues that you need to solve. This is why making the move towards more natural products is best.
“They penetrate deep under the skin’s surface to provide lasting solutions to the cause of your complexion concerns.”
3. your beauty tools are super dirty or worn-out
Despite helping you cover that annoying pimple or nail the perfect contour, beauty tools are a huge part of beauty routines that often get overlooked.
Just take a look at some of your favorite ones right now and you’re likely to find a lot of dirt, leftover makeup and grime.
When this happens, the results aren’t so pretty: “Bacteria can build up on your tools and sponges, which actually can cause severe skin breakouts that can lead to substantial skin damage like acne, pimples and blemishes,” says beauty expert and founder of 50DollarFaces.com, Nicole Williams.
Whether you replace your tools or simply give them a thorough cleaning, you should make it your priority to take better care of your beauty tools from here on out.
Nicole says to purchase a makeup cleaner or simply grab a gentle cleanser like baby shampoo from your local drugstore to clean your brushes.
4. your hair is dry and breaking
If your hair is showing signs of dryness and breakage, it might as well be trapped on an island somewhere, signaling SOS. In other words: It needs help, ASAP.
For this, Adriana Irby, founder and creator of Brazilian Queen Hair, says to start with the Capillary Schedule, which is a hair routine schedule that consists of three phases: hydration, nutrition and reconstruction. Each phase works cohesively to bring your locks back to life.
“In the first week, we use natural products or hair masks that will bring water and nutrients to the hair such as aloe vera, honey and avocados,” she explains. “In the second week, we'll treat the hair with deep nourishing products to replenish the lipids and restore the natural oils.”
This calls for healthy oils, such as olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter, argan oil, castor oil or cocoa butter. She recommends sleeping with either one in your hair and then washing it out in the morning.
“In the reconstruction phase, we will restore hair mass and proteins in the hair strands giving strength to the hair,” she explains to Lively. “The main substances for hair reconstruction are keratin, arginine, wheat proteins and amino acids.” She advises that this phase not be overdone so as to prevent hair breakage.
At the end of the three weeks, your hair should feel totally reborn! If this routine sounds too labor-intensive, though, any of these other options could also work: getting a haircut, a hair trim or doing weekly hair masks!
5. You stick to the same makeup looks
With how little time you have in the mornings, it can be a major blessing to have an everyday makeup routine that you can practically do in your sleep. But every once in a while, it’s fun to change things up.
And with makeup tutorials available right at our fingertips, it almost feels like a shame not to try new looks out. “It takes less than 60 seconds to watch a quick eyeshadow tutorial on Instagram, YouTube or even LinkedIn from beauty brands,” Williams tells Lively.“These social media beauty influencers will show how to do a cut crease or get the perfect cat-eye liner.”
6. you wear the same hairstyle 365 days out of the year
When you’re in a hair rut, it’s pretty much impossible to go from being the ponytail queen to a hair chameleon like Kylie Jenner.
Solve this puzzle by taking baby steps instead. Williams offers up a few tricks up her sleeve that will help you tease, tousle and toss that hair into shape.
“Give shape with products like texture or beach wave sprays like the Amika Undone Texture Spray that uses a natural mineral called zeolite that mimics sea salt for that beach-y, matte finish without drying out the hair,” she recommends.
“Whether your hair is short or long, this product gives every hair type instant volume, body and texture without having to use a curling iron or blow dryer.”
7. you’re breaking out
If you start to experience breakouts out of the blue, it’s tempting to blame the skin. The truth is, though, that “unless you suffer from a skin condition or acne, regular breakouts should not be occurring,” explains Mahalli.
After ruling out changes in your diet, stress levels and exercise, it’s time to put on your best trench coat and fedora hat and start doing some investigating.
Suspect number one should be your makeup products.
“Chances are, you're using products that don't agree with your skin type,” she says. For instance, if you’re using a product that’s too heavy or light for your skin, this can cause sudden breakouts.
One product that definitely makes the cut when it comes to your beauty routine is Vital Proteins Beauty Collagen from Vital Proteins. Made with collagen, hyaluronic acid and probiotics, it’ll help your skin release its inner glow! Consider it your sippable beauty secret.