We tend to look for quick-fixes in order to feel good — an iced frap, splurging on heels, or checking into a mani session. These are all well and good, but I don’t think they truly help us feel beautiful on the inside. When we have a bad day, it’s easy to fall back on 3 seconds of “yay” but you will still feel like you were before.

I think it’s pointless to talk about beauty without bringing the mind into it. If you are positive and happy, it will show in your radiant face.

We know we want to be happy but how do we jump from being blah to feeling great in the long run?

Here’s what I found in my experiences and hope these three simple tips will be useful to you, too.

Feel exuberant by moving your body differently. Take up hooping, or Latin aerobics, or hot yoga — anything that is outside your usual regime. The reason why we feel the wear and tear of daily life is sameness. Shake things up a bit and make yourself feel gleeful.

Give yourself at-home treatments regularly. Remember that lovely pot of lavender sea salt sitting in the corner of your bathroom? Use it. Exfoliate, cream up, shave, slather on a mask — don’t wait too long to let your skin and hair look exceptionally dull before doing something about it. I met a youthful looking 52-year-old lady who could’ve been mistaken for someone in her late 30s, and I asked her what was her secret to her smooth, supple skin, she said, “Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate!”

Love yourself. I know, you see this tagline in women’s magazines all the time. But I mean this differently from “have a macaroon”, “take an hour-long bath”, and “splash out on a spa trip”, and it’s more about making good choices for yourself. Sleep early, eat at least one healthful meal a day, exercise. I guess you can call it tough love but you would feel more peppy and alive.

Photo: Sanja Gjenero

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