Beauty comes from the inside as well as the outside, so here are a few things I do to make me feel beautiful and put together on the inside and the outside! Although most of these are external, both are important to feel confident and at home in your body!

1. Having clean nails and cut cuticles

• I will cut my cuticles and keep my nails filed (not necessarily short), and I swear it makes my hands look 10x better and cleaner. My favorite products for this are the Sally Hanson Instant Cuticle Remover, cuticle clippers, nail files, and a nail scrub brush.

2. IPL at home laser treatment

• I know this one is on the expensive side, but in my opinion it is worth it. If you struggle with body hair you aren’t fond of, I highly recommend this hair removal option. You can read more about my journey with IPL and why I chose it here soon!

3. Drink water as much as possible

• Drinking water is a beauty tip whether we like it or not! It helps you feel more beautiful on the inside and the outside, both of which are important for feeling your best:)

4. Wearing a lip stain

• As a self-proclaimed aficionado of all things lip products, I highly recommend using a lip stain when you want to feel put together without much effort. Normal lip products always wear off so quickly during the day/night, and having a color that sticks is a game-changer.

5. SUNSCREEN, WEAR THE DAMN SUNSCREEN!

• A beauty tip given to me by my mother and dermatologist in high school, I am eternally grateful for. Applying sunscreen should become a habit that you won’t see the benefit of day to day, but will 100% be glad you developed. Skin cancer is a very real and serious issue, and I personally don’t want to get chunks taken out of my face because of it. So wear sunscreen!

6. Smelling good

• Along with deodorant (which I hope goes without saying), you should try to wear perfume or body mist every day. I hate the feeling of being in public and wondering if that questionable smell is me, so I make sure to wear something in the morning and keep a rollerball perfume with me, just in case.

7. Scrub your skin in the shower

• If you are not scrubbing your skin in the shower, you are showering wrong. There is so much dead skin, sweat, and dirt that builds up on our bodies, and it needs to be scrubbed off. I don’t recommend a loofa because they hold bacteria, but a large body exfoliator net will get the job done. (Don’t forget to follow up with lotion and a body oil)

8. Good posture

• Make the effort to have good posture when sitting or walking because you want to look and feel strong when you’re older! Which also means working on that core… if you don’t want to walk with a slouch when you’re older, you need to start now. When you look confident, it helps you feel confident.

9. Wearing my retainer nightly and cleaning during the day

• Of course, this doesn’t apply to everyone, but it’s one of those things people know they should do but don’t. I promise you will regret not wearing your retainer! You worked hard and paid a lot of money for straight teeth, and you should keep them that way. Now, I don’t remember the orthodontist specifying the need to deep clean your retainer everyday. As I’ve gotten older, I have realized how unsanitary that is. Bacteria growth on your retainer can get into your gut and cause a myriad of issues. Usually, this isn’t an issue, but I am not risking health issues that are easily avoidable. I used to barely clean my retainer at all… but now I use pellets that dissolve in water and I feel much cleaner.

10. Keeping a relaxed face

• This sounds extreme, but I promise you it’s not! It happens too often that I will notice myself holding tension in my face for no reason. I’ll be sitting on my phone or lying down trying to sleep, and I will notice my natural resting face has so much tension. It’s not that I’m scared of wrinkles or aging; I just know that it can’t be good to hold so much tension in one’s face all of the time.

Now I am a believer that you don’t need to go to extremes or listen to what society says in order to feel beautiful. There are so many things pushed on us, especially as women, that we feel we need to do in order to fit in. You don’t need to do anything at all if you don’t want to! These are just things I do that help me feel put together and more confident on a day to day basis and all I want is for you to feel confident too<3

– with love, Kathryn