Tipping Thursday: Beauty Routines

I've covered what you should have in your beauty routines, now it's time to put them to use!

We all have routines-workout routines, cleaning routines and of course, beauty routines.  The key to a good routine is making it fit your life and needs.  And with skincare, the order in which you apply things really matters.

Here's a look at my daily beauty routine:

I start my morning with a shower: I wash my hair, then condition it (I leave the conditioner in until I'm done with everything else, then rinse it out.)  Next I wash me, shave, then wash my face and rinse my hair.  

Once I'm out of the shower and dried off, I put on my body lotion-stretch mark cream on my hips and thighs, bust cream on my chest and firming moisturizer everywhere else.  

Then I put my toner on my face.  While the moisturizer and toner dry, I put on my deodorant and in the mornings, I dab on some aloe vera under my eyes-it helps with my dark circles.  Next comes my moisturizer for my face then it's on to my make-up and then to my hair. 

 Before I style my hair, I spritz on a detangler that also protects from damage, then I finger-comb in some volumizing mousse.  I brush it all out, then blow-dry it on medium heat.  Once it's all dry, I apply a finishing cream that tames flyaways and helps with frizz.  

So, my morning skincare routine looks like this:

Cleanser, toner, eye gel, moisturizer.

My morning hair care routine looks like this:

Wash, condition, detangle, volumize and defrizz

In the evenings, I wash my face, taking off all of my make-up, apply my toner and a light-weight moisturizer and then my eye cream.

There are also things in my routine that I only do one or two times a week.  

On Wednesdays, I deep-condition my hair (I color my hair, so I use the conditioner that comes with the color once a week, as directed,) and instead of my usual face cleanser, I use a micro dermabrasion cleanser.  After the shower, I put on a facial mask before applying my toner. 

 On Sundays, I deep-condition my hair using a 3-minute hair mask, I exfoliate all over using a body scrub and use an in-shower facial, which also exfoliates, instead of my daily facial cleanser.

That's a look at my routine.  Here are the key things every beauty routine should have:

For your skin, you should wash your face at least once a day (twice a day is best), then follow up with toner, then moisturizer.  Masks can be used about once a week and you should exfoliate one to two times a week.  Your body needs moisture, too, so don't forget your lotion!  It also needs to be exfoliated once or twice a week using a body scrub.

For your hair, if you heat style it, use something that protects against heat damage every time you heat style.  You should deep-condition one to two times a week to help repair your hair and give it an extra dose of moisture.  Depending on your hair type, you might not need to wash it every day.  I have short, fine hair and it needs to be washed pretty much every day.  Sometimes I can get away with washing it every other day.

There you have it-my routine.  What does your routine consist of?