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You're Doing It All Wrong!

Showering, brushing your teeth, applying foundation and 7 more daily beauty routines you're probably screwing up
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Washing your face
The Fail: Props on taking the time to wash your face! But if your hands aren't clean, you're probably making your face even dirtier in the process. According to Macrene Alexiades-Armenakas, MD, assistant clinical professor at Yale University School of Medicine, you're basically transferring all of the bacteria on your hands to your face.

The Fix:Click back to slide #3 and start singing the "Happy Birthday" song before you reach for your facial cleanser. And be sure to thoroughly moisten your face before you smear that cleanser all over. Most cleansers are too harsh and need to be diluted with water before being applied to your face.

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Trimming your hair
The Fail: "Regular trims" are rarely regular. That appointment is inevitably pushed back or avoided altogether, which is how trimming your own hair at home happens. We've all done the quick bang trim, or snipped the split ends from the end of a braid or ponytail -- it just so much easier than blowing off another appointment or risking a bad cut. Once again, your attempt to save time and money is actually making the matter worse, i.e. more breakage. And you're not even really trimming your hair.

The Fix: At-home trims don't remove damage, they maintain shape -- assuming you're actually able to keep the shape. That's nearly impossible when you're cutting at a weird angle with the same scissors you cut paper with. Your stylist gets paid top dollar for a reason, including his or her ability to see all angles of your hair, so your best bet is to do some damage control before your next hair appointment. Instead of taking shears into your own hands, invest in an overnight hair mask , like Tigi Hair Reborn Reparative Nocturnal Therapy, to seal your ends and stop splitting until your stylist can get rid of 'em for good.

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Applying sunscreen
The Fail: Usually the sunscreen application routine goes something like this: Remember at the last minute, squeeze an arbitrary amount in the palm of your hand, slather it on your exposed areas and the back of your neck if you're lucky. If this sounds familiar, you're getting burned. The type, amount, age of your sunscreen, not to mention where it gets applied, all play an important role in protecting your skin from getting baked and cancer-ized.

The Fix: Be sure to check your bottle of sunscreen for two things: 1) The expiration date. If you can't find one, toss it out if you've had it for more than three years. 2) The SPF. If it's not a 30 SPF and broad spectrum, you're not getting the kind of coverage every dermatologist on earth recommends. Now let's talk quantity: chances are you're not using enough. A good application is one ounce (the amount in a shot glass), but everyone comes in different sizes. A good rule of thumb: whatever you think is a bit too much is probably right on the money. Even if you're fully, completely and thoroughly slathered, you're not 100 percent safe from those UV rays in the shade or even under your clothes (your clothing is only about SPF 4 to 9!), so apply sunscreen before you get dressed, and reapply at least every two hours throughout the day (more often if you're swimming).

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Conditioning your hair
The Fail: Unless your shampoo and conditioner bottles are Herbal Essences and speaking to you in the first person, you're probably not reading the tiny print on each of the bottles. And why would you? You know the rules by heart: lather, rinse, and repeat. And when you condition, you probably apply from roots to tips and think the longer you leave it in, the better the conditioning power. But as damaged as your hair is, the hair closest to your roots is new growth, and thus healthier than the length of your hair. Which means your roots don't need that heavy shot of conditioner.

The Fix: Instead of coating your whole head in conditioner, start at ear-level and apply your conditioner all the way to the ends of your hair. You'll be wasting a lot less product and end up with lighter, less-greasy roots after your shower.

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Applying foundation
The Fail: If you haven't jumped on the BB cream train just yet, you're probably still in the classic makeup routine: cleanser, toner, moisturizer, foundation. But the timing of the final step in this routine could make or break your entire look for the rest of the day. We tend to apply foundation too soon, before the moisturizer has enough time to seep into the skin. The end result? Blotchy, spotty coverage. Why even bother?

The Fix: Wait at least 60 seconds after moisturizing to ensure that the product is fully dried before applying your foundation. Can't spare that extra minute? Blot your face with a tissue post-moisturizing and proceed.

Quick question: have you ever given more than 15 seconds of thought (total, in your entire lifetime) to the way you wash your hands? Or spritzed on your perfume? There are just some things you do so often, like brushing your teeth or slathering on sunscreen, your brain clicks over to cruise control -- you barely give these everyday routines a second thought. In fact, this is usually primetime for spacing out and thinking about things that really matter. Like ... what you're having for lunch. Most of the time, you're just going through the motions -- you wash your hair, put on your makeup, it's done, life rolls on.

But what if we told you that you've been doing these little daily rituals all wrong -- that certain everyday yet integral routines have been hardwired into your brain incorrectly. Like, showering. Or even the way you take off your makeup. The most basic beauty rituals are, apparently, not as mindless as you'd think. So consider this your wake-up call: find out what you've been doing all wrong and fix your bad habits now ... before your teeth fall out.
BY ERICA SMITH | JUL 10, 2013 | SHARES
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