Beauty habits are like old friends—you keep the good ones, and eliminate the ones that will only bring you down. Dated beauty habits can age you, and this summer heat is a grating reminder to have your beauty ritual on constant check.

Skin

Bad habit: Washing your face with harsh scrubs in the morning. This might be abrasive and do more harm than good. We all know that great skin is key to looking fresh and ageless, but sometimes we don’t really know how to concretize our goals. Take the first step to better skin by making the following tips a daily habit.

Take off all your makeup before getting some shuteye.

Use a moisturizing mild cleanser in the mornings, then make sure to wear proper SPF for protection against the sun’s harmful rays.

Wearing foundation helps achieve luminous skin, but make sure that you apply lightly because thick foundation can  clog your pores and age you.

Eyebrows

Bad habit: The 1990s gave the wrong idea that thin brows are cool. No, they’re not cool, and as we grow older, you will regret having overtweezed your eyebrows.

Having thick eyebrows can make you look young. Eyebrows frame your face and serve as the base for your features. Make it a habit to clean the growing hair under your eyebrows—but

without overdoing it.

Eyes

Bad habit: Lining your eyes properly with an eyeliner is a form of art. It’s not that easy, and takes some getting used to. Don’t make it a practice to stretch your eye before drawing on your lids. This can cause the skin around your eyes to droop and develop wrinkles faster. Close your eyes, relax and line lightly with your eyeliner pencil.

Lips

Bad habit: We love the new colors that makeup brands launch every collection, including dark, vampy colors that look great and sexy on models. As we get older, our lips get thinner, so wearing dark lip colors emphasize this and bring attention to lines that may be forming around our lips.

While it’s fine to wear a darker hue, make sure to commit yourself to finding one that suits your features. Make sure to find a light-colored lippie that you can wear everyday.

My personal fave: Honeylove by MAC, which is a beige nude. This works for me because my skin tone is olive. For fair-skinned women, look for a pinkish nude, line with a nude lipstick and instantly shave years off your face.

Hair

Bad habit: After taking a shower, we are all guilty of wrapping our wet mane with a towel. This is not good, because our hair is at its most sensitive when wet, so rubbing with a towel can cause hair breakage.

Make it a practice to gently squeeze the water out of your hair as you step out of the shower, and lightly comb through with a wide-toothed comb.

Find a leave-in treatment that works for your hair type. My favorite is Kerastase’s Anti- Frizz Oleo-Relax. With consistent use, I’ve noticed my hair growing nicely with my new hair habits.