be Well: Tips for looking and staying fresh at the gym

Beauty expert and former magazine editor Krista DeMaio has tips for looking and staying fresh.

News 12 Staff

Feb 6, 2024, 2:46 PM

Updated 315 days ago

Share:

There's no denying breaking a sweat at the gym is good for our bodies. But all that sweat isn't great for our skin and our hair.
Beauty expert and former magazine editor Krista DeMaio has tips for looking and staying fresh.
Gym Beauty Hacks Before A Workout
Prep your skin to sweat, save your blowout, maximize your time, and get a beauty treatment while you work out.
Remove your makeup without a sink!
Taking off your makeup before a workout is so important, and if you’re rushing from work to the gym, micellar water makes it so much easier. It feels like water on your skin, but it contains little oil molecules called micelles that attract dirt, oil, and makeup. No rinse required, and your face doesn’t have that dry, tight feeling that you sometimes get with traditional face wash because it doesn’t strip the skin’s barrier.
Product: Garnier Micellar Cleaning Water, $12, which comes in several formulations depending on your skin’s needs.
Use dry shampoo like deodorant
If you won’t have time to wash after a workout, use dry shampoo-like deodorant and apply it to your hairline and part before you sweat so it’s already in place, ready to absorb sweat and oils when you exercise.
Product: Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Advanced Clean Dry Shampoo, $33. It absorbs oils without leaving build-up.
Deep condition your hair while you exercise
If you’re going to wash after a workout, maximize your time by sneaking in a hair treatment. The clean hair brand Allyoos has offered a pop-up bun bar at fitness studios such as Soul Cycle and SLT, applying their Juice Drench mask to hair and wrapping it in a bun or braid pre-workout. It’s like green juice for your hair because it’s 99% plant- and water-based. You can do the same thing about home. Apply it to dry or wet hair and pull it into a bun. Your hair will be softer and shinier after you rinse and shampoo as usual.
Gym Beauty Hacks After a Workout
You got in your workout (good for you!), but now you have to get ready, fast. I have some quick tricks to calm fiery red skin, enhance a post-workout glow, shampoo without the shower, and save time with multi-purpose makeup.
Calm redness
A post-workout glow is great; a tomato-red face is not. The cause is vasodilation of superficial blood vessels in the skin. And that redness lingers in some people, especially those with light skin tones. Redness-reducing moisturizer will help calm skin and take down visible redness.
Product: La Roche Posay Toleraine Rosaliac AR Face Cream For Visible Redness, $31, has soothing ingredients including thermal spring water. Plus, it’s tinted green, which helps neutralize redness.
Keep the Glow Going All Day
Now if you’re someone who doesn’t get red and you like the post-workout glow you’ve got, then here’s a great way to keep it going all day. The Biography Facial Oil in Golden Ray not only locks in moisture, which is important after you just lost some from sweating, but it contains carrot seed oil, which gives skin a warm glow. It’s a favorite of many celebs and celebrity makeup artists because it gives you that lit-from-within look--like you just came from a yoga class.
Wash your hair without the shower
This is another alternative to dry shampoo that I “Swair” by. It’s a waterless shampoo. You spray it on your roots. It will make your hair damp. Towel dry to absorb dirt and oils. Then just hit it with a blow-dryer for one minute! No buildup or residue and your hair looks like it just got washed.
Product: Swair Showerless Shampoo, $38. It also comes in these $16 minis, which are great to throw in your gym bag.
Work with your dewy skin
When the skin is warm from a workout, use creamy makeup products, which will melt into the skin and blend in more seamlessly than powders. Plus, creams can be multipurpose for cheeks, lips, and eyes, so it’s quick and easy to do your whole face when you’re in a rush.