Take 5: Things I Wish I Had Known

I wanted to start a series on the blog, Take 5. These will be relatively simple posts where I take 5 - whether they be items, thoughts, or places. Literally whatever I feel like sharing with those of you that read this. I'll start this off with things I wish I could tell my younger self. And to those of you that read this, perhaps you'll relate or even take heart. 

1. Enjoy Your Youth - Be young. Be free. 

Your skin will never be as youthful as it is when you're younger (obviously), so do your best and learn to get in the habit of taking care of it as early as you can. Try your best not to become dependent on makeup - and this holds true for any age. I am glad that my dad was semi-strict about me not wearing makeup - this slightly postponed the start of wearing daily makeup for me. For the most part, I grew up learning to enjoy my bare face and learned to be comfortable in my own skin. Now this is always easier said than done, but try your best to show your beauty from the inside out. 

2. Wear Sunscreen: I used to swim competitively in high school and spent hours upon hours floating in a pool. I hated the feeling of sunscreen on my face - it was so oily - and often opted not to use it. I'm pretty sure that contributed a large part to the damage I can see on my face now - the skin around my cheeks where I was often sunburned the most is constantly pink or easily irritated. 

3. Wear Lotion: Similar to the above, I hated the feeling of putting lotion on. It gave a slightly sticky feel and always felt uncomfortable. But I have extremely, extremely dry skin (as if one 'extremely' could not cut it), and I suffer from deep cracks and flakey skin. Sometimes I feel that my skin looks like that of a 60-year old, but *hopefully* with the elasticity of a 20-something year old. 

4. Do. Not. Over-Pluck. Your. Eyebrows. : Seriously? Just let them eyebrows be. Oh man, if only I could go back in time and tell 13-year-old me to just stop plucking I would have avoided the years of painfully growing back my brows. Luckily for me, my brows did fully grow back eventually. Growing up I was always extremely self conscious of my bushy eyebrows, a lot of my friends had thinner brows and I always felt overly hairy next to them.  I ended up plucking off sooo much and tried to alter my brows to be similar to those of celebrities. If you feel self-conscious about your brows, I would definitely recommend going to a professional - they will help to shaped your brows in a way to compliment and flatter your face shape and let you know *gently* that certain brow shapes may not suit you.  

5. Waterproof Mascara is LIFE: For any of you with eyelashes like mine that aim straight down, a curler and waterproof mascara are your best friends and will help open up the appearance of your eyes. I know, waterproof mascara is a pain to get off, but with a cotton round and trusty bi-facil eye makeup removers, it really isn't a pain anymore.

Happy hump day, here's to the weekend which we are now halfway to!

Cheers!