How to Have Glowing Skin in Time for Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and if you want your skin to reflect the warm glow in your heart from all the love around, then keep reading. We have tips on how to have glowing skin in just four weeks! We know how special Valentine’s Day can be — whether you’re spending it with your special someone, celebrating with your favorite gals ala “Galentine’s Day,” or using it to have some quiet time for yourself. Get tips on what you should be doing both weeks before, and on the day of.

It’s time to go back to basics. Reassess your skincare routine and your lifestyle and see what kind of long-term changes you can commit to making. You might need to make the following changes:

Be honest: Do you religiously stick to your skincare routine? Or do you skip the sunscreen on rushed mornings, or sleep with makeup on after a long day? We’re not here to judge, but we are here to remind you that glowing skin doesn’t happen spontaneously. Be sure to consistently stick to the basic routine of cleanse-tone-moisturize-apply sunscreen because each of those steps plays an important role: Cleansing rids your face of acne-causing dirt, toning restores your skin’s pH balance, moisturizing makes it look plump and dewy, and sunscreen keeps your skin young-looking in the long run.

If you haven’t yet, start using an exfoliator a couple of times a week. Chemical exfoliants (like AHAs and BHAs) as well as physical exfoliants, like the scrub beads found in POND'S Bright Miracle Ultimate Acne Control Facial Foam, can slough off dead skin cells on the surface of your skin, which can make you look ashy and dull. They penetrate through skin, rooting out deep-seated dirt that can enlarge pores and may also lead to acne.

You know what they say — you are what you eat, so you can’t eat junk food and expect your skin to look healthy. Ditch the chips and reach for antioxidant-rich foods like berries, grapes, and nuts, which may help fight skin-damaging free radicals.

Your skin can also benefit from some topical antioxidants. Look for brightening cream products that have vitamin C, vitamin E, or vitamin B3. Try POND'S Bright Serum Burst Cream, a cream-to-serum formula that contains vitamin B3 to brighten skin and even out skin tone, and hyaluronic acid for mega hydration.

Again, glowing skin is more than just, well, skin deep. Stress wreaks havoc on your health, from your blood pressure to your gut, so it’s no surprise that it can cause skin problems, too. If it’s not possible to eliminate the sources of stress, then your best bet is to manage them. Learn meditation, do yoga, write in a journal, phone a friend — whatever helps you cope!

Sounds like a weird skincare tip, but dairy might actually lead to acne in some people according to dermatologists. If you’re having trouble with severe breakouts, cut back on milk or switch to lactose-free options to see if dairy is the culprit.

The goal this week is to hydrate and avoid anything that can cause an untimely breakout.

If you’ve been treating yourself to a weekly sheet mask, good job! This week, it’s time to step up your masking day. While you don’t have to do a full seven-day mask challenge, you can try incorporating different sheet masks, each one targeting a different skin concern, a few days this week.

If you want to take a break from your POND's face creams, go on and open your favorite sheet masks, which brighten and moisturize the skin.

While it’s important to include hydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid in your skincare stash, it’s just as important to hydrate from within. When you’re parched, your skin looks sallow and fine lines look more obvious (something you may have noticed after a hard night of partying), so drink up.

It’s not called beauty sleep for nothing! Your skin cells work the night shift, repairing your skin while you get some zzzs, so make sure you give them enough time to do their job. Sleep deprivation can also lower circulation, making you look pale, so try to clock in at least seven hours a night to wake up looking — and feeling — refreshed.

You can also use POND'S Age Miracle Anti Aging Night Cream with 15X Retinol C and Niacinamide to Boost Collagen. POND's night cream bolsters collagen production, fades dark spots, evens out skin tone, and plumps up the skin.

In case you need a few tricks to turn up your radiance factor…

Leave two teaspoons in your freezer the night before — just in case. If you wake up with puffy eyes, just press the spoons against your eyes for a few seconds to reduce any inflammation. If you have a rose quartz roller, use it to de-puff your eyes!

Enhance your natural glow with this red carpet trick: Add 2 to 3 drops of face oil to your foundation to give you a dewy finish. If you do try this out, make sure you cleanse your face thoroughly at the end of the day to remove all the oil and makeup — but then, by this time, cleansing would already be second nature!

If you stick to the skincare routine you’ve established, then you’ll keep that glow well beyond Valentine’s Day. No date? No worries. This routine on how to have glowing skin that you’ve established is a healthy sign of self-love — and that’s the best kind of love there is.