Did you know you can use a dish brush on your chunky knits, to take care of pilling? Or how to avoid getting mascara on your eyelids? Or what the most effective way is to treat dry and cracked knuckles? Keep on reading for twelve beauty hacks I use on a day to day basis!

1. Lint Roller on the go

I keep lint rollers in the kitchen, the living room, the entrance, our bedroom and in my workbag. I wear a lot of black, which is completely unapologetic when it comes to hair and fluff. Your outfit will look shabby with a lot of things sticking to it. A lint roller is such a quick and easy way to look sharp and polished.

2. Wool Shaver as a Life Saver

It’s a bit of a boring taks, but your woolen sweaters will look a lot better if you take the time to trim them. Really thick woolen sweaters and cardigans need trimming once a week. Thinner sweaters or cashmere sweaters will do fine with once every two to three weeks, depending on how often you wear them. I also use my wool shaver, which is from Philips, on leggings that collect pilling and fuzz.

3. Dish Brush for Knits

Really thick sweaters can take a lot of time to trim. A time saver is using a (clean) dish brush first, to take care of most of the pilling. Don’t use this trick on cashmere or thin woolen sweaters, only on chunkier knits.

4. Know thy Oils

Oils are amazing. I use a mixture of Argan and Almond oil for my weekly overnight hair mask, which is great for thin, damaged hair. Almond is also the perfect oil for baby massage. I use castor oil, which is a lot thicker in consistency, for dry hands and the first two days after I’ve shaved my legs. This will prevent a shaving rash and will make your legs feel incredibly soft. The last two oils I use are for my baby: calendula oil for her bath (so soft for her baby skin!) and lavender oil for when she goes to bed (very relaxing).

5. Make-up Scarf

Getting make-up on your clothes is very annoying, because it means you have to change your outfit and possibly even have to take it to the dry cleaners. So whenever I put on clothes after I’ve done my make-up I use a scarf. I put it over my head and make sure it covers my face completely. Then I pull my dress, sweater or top over my head, so my make-up never touches my clothes.

6. Beautyblender in the shower

Beautyblenders are an amazing part of any make-up routine and therefore a hack on their own. But they can get dirty so easily: you use your sponge, put it down, forget about it and three days later…ugh. So I make it a habit to put my beautyblender in the shower, immediately after I’ve done my make-up. That way I can clean it that evening or the next morning, when I take a shower.

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7. Baby products are the best

I have selected Aya’s hair- and skincare products with great care. I mainly use two brands on her: Weleda and Burt’s Bees. And turns out, her babyshampoo is also perfect for cleaning make-up brushes and her multipurpose cream is great for removing eye-makeup.

8. Calendula for Winter Hands

My hands get really dry in the Winter. Like, really, really dry. The skin between my fingers cracks and my knuckles actually start to bleed. When it’s not too bad Argan or Castor oil works (regular hand creams only work for me in the spring and summer). But when the weather is extremely cold and drying the only thing that works is Calendula ointment. Either from a homeopathic brand of from Weleda.

9. Mac Prep & Prime Fix +

I can not do my make-up without this product. I use it to hydrate and prime my face, before I put on make-up. I use it in the middle of my make-up routine, if my face looks too powdery. I use it after I’ve done my make-up, as a setting spray. I take it with me if I have a long day at work, to freshen up my look throughout the day. And, last but not least, I spray it on my eye brushes to intensify certain eyeshadows. That’s FIVE things, for ONE product. I love it.

10. Dry your brushes

I wrote about this hack in my blogpost on how I clean my brushes. Like most of my hacks, I didn’t come up with this one myself, but read about it somewhere. But it’s actually brilliant! Whenever you have a lot of brushes to clean at the same time, tie them to a clothing hanger when they need to dry. Use little elastics and try them upside down. This way the water won’t settle into the bristles and wood.

11. Silk pillowcase

A couple of weeks ago we started using silk pillowcases. I wrote a blog about the benefits for your hair, skin and overal sleep quality. If you don’t have time to read it, here is a summary: it is Amazing.

12. Mascara face

You know that face you pull when you put on mascara? Yup, not too charming is it? It’s because you are trying very hard to get all the mascara on your lashes, not your face. What you should do is tilt your mirror. Put it almost horizontally. That way, when you are applying your mascara on your top lashes, you are looking down. I promise you: game changer. No more weird faces and most importantly: no more mascara transferring to your eyelids. When you do your bottom lashes you want to do the opposite. Put your mirror straight or put it a little higher, so you are looking upwards almost.