My Personal, Unconventional Glow-up Tips!!

My honest opinion? Start slow. You need to slowly incorporate HABITS. People want easy tasks they can complete or products they can buy to see fast results, but that's just not going to get you what you want. Yes you might have the pretty nails, hair, teeth, etc. but what good are whitening strips gonna do if your breath smells because you have gingivitis? And what good is Kerastase leave-in conditioner if your hair is falling out due to poor water quality?

Seriously. You need to build habits and purchase products that focus on what I call the foundational items. These are things that you buy or spend time on, but no one ever sees, but it's truly the foundation of looking beautiful. For example:

• Teeth. For the love of God, please switch out your toothbrush to a children's ultrasoft one and do more than just brushing your teeth every night. You need to floss, there is no way around that. I promise you it makes a difference. If you are not flossing every single night, you have no idea how bad your breath actually smells. No amount of toothbrushing or water flossing could ever make up for it. Plus, flossing daily lowers your risk for SO MANY diseases, not just dental diseases. And please do a cleaning at least every 6mos, I promise you it's cheaper in the long run (I skipped the dentist for 4yrs and had to drop $8k across two years to fix the damage). I floss, water floss, tongue scrape, brush with an electric toothbrush, and wear a night guard every single night, no exceptions. I also get my cleanings done every 4 months. The number one compliment I now get is how beautiful my smile is; and I never got that compliment before as much as I do now.
• Sleep quality. If you snore, drool, wake up tired, have under eye bags, or breathe through your mouth during the day or during workouts, get a sleep study done. Most insurances cover this. I was diagnosed with very very mild sleep apnea and got a CPAP prescribed, but I swear it makes THE WORLD of a difference. Not only do I feel more well-rested, but my eye bags are completely gone, my acne inflammation went away, my jawline became more defined (because I no longer mouth breathe), and it's easier for me to lose weight (your body repairs itself during sleep but can't do that if you're not getting full cycles of rest).
• Get your blood tested every 6mos. It's usually covered by insurance if you go through your family provider. You can find out SO MUCH about your body this way. I had high cholesterol at one point and luckily was able to fix it before it got worse. I also found out I had pre-diabetes, and once again I was able to address it before I even had any symptoms and before it progressed to full-on diabetes. When both levels were normalized, it was easier to lose weight and I felt a lot better overall with more energy.
• Skincare. Obviously you need the basics: oil cleanser, water cleanser, lotion, and sunscreen. If you have adult acne, please go to a doctor. It's not a moral failing. Sometimes it's really just genetics. Getting my acne treated definitely made me go from just another person on the street to someone who gets approached by men and complimented by women on a regular basis.
• Hair. Use a shower filter for your shower and switch out the filter every 3-6mos; this has improved my hair quality IMMENSELY. My hair products obviously do help, but not as much as the water filter. And also blow dry your hair after the shower. It doesn't have to take that long, and it makes a huge difference in how your hair looks & feels. I personally invested in a Dyson (on sale and bought on Best Buy credit lol) and found it a lot easier to want to blow dry my super long hair.

Also smaller things I personally like and noticed a difference from but there's really nothing to back me up: Using a shatafa (bidet) and eating halal/kosher or at least just cutting out pork!!

Anyway, aside from the shower filter and the medical/dental stuff that's generally covered by insurance, you don't have to buy a bunch of products or pay for all these appointments on a regular basis. Just make small changes to your life (i.e. do your regular checkups), and it will show in how you look and present yourself.

And notice I didn't mention anything about makeup, manicures, or salon treatments? I don't wear makeup, I don't get manicures, and I don't do salon treatments (aside from when they shampoo & condition my hair before my haircut lol). Yet I look & feel better than I did growing up (I'm only 26 tho so...) and I get approached and complimented all the time! Health truly is wealth!

TL;DR -- take care of your health (teeth, skin, sleep, blood checkups) and get a showerhead filter!