Valentine’s Day isn’t just about romance, it’s the perfect time to share the things you love with your favorite people, including your BESTIE. This year, we’re spreading the love with our top skincare tips to keep you and your bestie glowing all through the holiday.
1. How To Prep Your Skin for Makeup the Right Way
Whether you’re going full glam or keeping it natural, proper skin prep is the key to flawless makeup. Start with a gentle cleanser, pat the skin damp, then apply your moisturizer to seal in the hydration. For daytime looks, use a moisturizer with sunscreen to protect your skin. If you want a smooth, plump canvas, try a hydrating primer or a serum with hyaluronic acid. It’s best to exfoliate regularly to slough away dead skin cells and maintain a smooth skin texture allowing your makeup to go on seamlessly.
Dr. Azi’s Tip: I favor glycolic and salicylic acid in a gentle formulation like Clarify Pads, 1-2x a week for most people, although some may tolerate it more often. This ensures a smooth base for makeup application. If your skin’s feeling oily, opt for a weekly charcoal mask like Detox Mask with medicated sulfur to heal breakouts.
2. How Can You Revive Tired, Puffy Eyes for Valentine’s Day?
Late-night Valentine’s plans can leave your eyes looking tired and puffy, especially if alcohol is involved. Get ahead by treating your under-eye area with an eye cream formulated with ingredients like caffeine, peptides, and vitamin C de-puff and brighten. I love using the EyeGlow Duo as both products contain every ingredient you need for brighter, smoother undereyes. EyeGlow AM is a tinted SPF eye cream to protect the delicate eyelid skin against damaging UV and blue rays with a copper color designed to serve as a color corrector and base for your concealer. EyeGlow PM hydrates and depuffs the under eyes overnight.
Dr. Azi’s Tip: Use your ring or pinky finger to apply eye creams with a gentle tapping motion and stay on the bony part of the eyelids. This helps reduce irritation and unnecessary tugging on the delicate skin.
3. Are You Hydrating Enough—Inside and Out?
Hydration is your skin’s love language. It’s essential for glowing skin, especially in the winter when dryness starts to take a toll. While drinking water is absolutely necessary, pairing it with a hydrating skincare routine is the ultimate combo. Incorporate serums with humectants like hyaluronic acid or glycerin and be sure to seal them in with a soothing moisturizer like Intense Recovery Complex.
Dr. Azi’s Tip: For maximum hydration, apply your moisturizer to damp skin right after cleansing. You can also mist your skin with a hydrating spray to lock in extra moisture.
4. How Can You Treat Chapped Lips for Valentine’s Day?
Caring for dry, cracked lips involves choosing simple, effective occlusive products that reduce trans-epidermal water loss and protect the skin allowing it to self repair. It’s best to avoid products with fragrances or dyes to prevent irritation. What I’ve found to be helpful for dry, cracked lips is using 5% lactic acid, like Amlactin, with a heavy occlusive on top such as Aquaphor, Vaseline, or CeraVe Healing Balm. Lactic acid is a gentle exfoliant and a humectant making it a perfect ingredient for dry lips. For soothing redness and irritation during the day, try Soothe HC, an anti-inflammatory medicated cream, up to 3 times a day with an occlusive like Aquaphor on top in place of the lactic acid.
For more tips and information on this topic, check out my detailed blog post, “Treatments For Chapped Lips”.
Dr. Azi’s Tip: Lip scrubs and fragranced lip balms are not your friend when it comes to chapped lips. They are abrasive and irritating, creating microcuts, further injuring your skin barrier.
5. Are You Getting Enough Sleep?
You’re probably tired of hearing this, but sleep is essential to an effective skincare routine. While you sleep, your skin is hard at work repairing and regenerating. Collagen and elastin production peak during rest periods maintaining your skin's firmness and structure. Skin regeneration also peaks overnight replacing old, damaged cells with fresh ones. This is when your body repairs environmental damage like sun exposure, pollution, and stress, supporting overall skin health.
Dr. Azi’s Tip: To support and boost your skin’s rejuvenation, apply a nourishing night cream or a retinol-based product, like Lift + Renew at bedtime. And don’t forget to sleep on a silk pillowcase. It’s gentle on both your skin and hair, minimizing friction and reducing morning creases.
Skincare is more fun when it’s shared! Passing along your favorite skincare tips to friends helps keep everyone accountable and consistent in reaching their skincare goals. Don’t forget to share these top tips with your bestie this Valentine’s Day!
