I know, it’s late and you’ve had a long day at work, in school, or out with friends, and the last thing you want to do is spend a lot of time taking off your makeup and washing your face. You might be debating just going to bed with your makeup on and worrying about it tomorrow. It’s so tempting, right? Raise your hand if this has never happened to you. I’m guessing there aren’t very many hands shooting up right now. The truth is, spending a little extra TLC on your face right now will not only make you prettier tomorrow, it will help your skin stay healthy and radiant for years to come.

How many products have you seen (and probably purchased) that promised you a more radiant complexion? Less tired eyes? A healthy looking glow? I’m not trying to knock any of these products. In fact, a have several, and I love how they work. But these products, especially the really good ones, come with a price tag; sometimes a pretty hefty one. The solution: have naturally radiant, glowing skin. “But I don’t have that kind of skin!” you say. True, not every one is blessed with the radiance of Jennifer Lopez, and those “healthy glow” products do help. But the secret to healthy looking skin is simple: have healthy skin.

You don’t need any scientific studies to prove to you that when you don’t wash your face at night, your skin looks a little dull and not very vibrant the next morning. If you have not experienced this, you are probably sixteen (and trust me it is coming!) or you are genetically blessed. For the rest of us, a good washing before bed will slough off dead skin cells and the rest of the ick the day has put on our skin. You have been washing your face for years so you don’t need a tutorial, right? Well, that may not be true. Do you know long you typically spend washing your face? I’ll give you a hint, it’s probably not long enough.

After receiving a facial at a local skin care salon, I asked my technician, Kathy, how I could keep my face looking facial fresh longer. Kathy worked with a plastic surgeon before opening up her own business. She offers chemical peels, microdermabrasions, facials, and other skin treatments. I thought she was going to try to sell me some special product, or tell me to get weekly facials. Instead she said something that surprised me. “Really make sure you are washing your face correctly,” she said. Correctly? I thought. How can you do it incorrectly? It seems pretty straight forward.

Her tips for an expert face wash: dampen your face with warm (not too hot) water to open up the pores. Apply your face wash to your face using clean fingers.  Using a product with salicylic acid or fruit acid in it will help remove dead skin cells. Here comes the part we tend to rush. Really spend time massaging the face wash into your skin, creating a nice lather in a circular motion. Spend a good three minutes making sure your get into your hairline and all the way to your ears. Rinse off and pat your face dry with a clean towel.

When you are walking in the door at 2 am and see your fluffy pillow calling you, the last thing you want to do is spend time washing your face. But time spent now means healthier looking skin tomorrow, and possibly using less product to fake a healthy glow in the morning.

Another routine that seems pretty straight forward? Brushing your teeth. We probably all know to brush at least two times a day, not to press too hard, and to spend at least one to two minutes on each of our brushing sessions to maintain pearly whites. Teeth whitening fanatics will tell you to stay away from dark colored sodas and other teeth staining substances like coffee and red wine. But we all know that isn’t happening! According to DentalHealthMed.com, Americans spend over 1.3 billion dollars a year on teeth whitening products. Although a white smile looks like a healthy smile, that may not always be the case. The surest way to make sure your mouth is healthy is to visit your dentist regularly. At-home whitening strips or in office treatments are not only costly, they don’t do anything to help fight cavities, or keep your teeth, gums, and mouth healthy. I’m not suggesting you over brush, but adding an extra brush after drinking red wine or coffee could help prevent stains in the first place while preventing cavities and plaque. Spending a few extra minutes a day brushing after consuming teeth staining substances can save you a lot of money on those whitening products.

Sunscreen. It feels kinda thick on our skin, takes forever to put on, and wears off too quickly. But it is the one beauty ritual you can put extra time into that could save your life, in addition to preventing wrinkles, age spots, and premature aging. Most of us do not use sunscreen properly. Buying SPF 70 does not mean that you can apply it at 10 am and stay out until 5 pm without reapplying. And buying SPF 8 so you can “get a tan” is not protecting your skin from aging or from skin cancer. And you lovely, dark skinned beauties who don’t burn? Yes, you too need sunscreen. Just because you don’t burn doesn’t mean you are not receiving the harmful effects of the sun’s rays. So if you want your skin to stay beautiful well into your 60s and beyond, and you want to avoid having to burn off cancerous skin cells, the Skin Cancer Foundation recommends applying one ounce (about a shot glass full) of sunscreen every two hours, or immediately after swimming or toweling off. In addition, you must apply sunscreen about thirty minutes prior to sun exposure, according to the Foundation. That means do not bring your sunscreen with you and apply it on the beach (unless of course you are reapplying it). Reapplying is just as important as applying in the first place.

UVB rays are the culprit behind getting a sunburn, whereas UVA rays, because they penetrate deeper, are associated with the skin damage that causes aging. This is why you must use a sunscreen that protects against both kinds of rays. Getting a sunburn is only the skin’s reaction to UVB rays and tells you nothing about the UVA damage you may be receiving. This is why people who don’t burn still need to apply sunscreen. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, anything under SPF15 is not protecting you enough from the damaging effects of UVA rays, even if it protects you from getting burnt.  Spending a little extra time slathering on before you spend time outside (even if you are only going to be out for an hour and it’s cloudy) can save you money on all of those anti-aging products you won’t need because you took care of your skin from the start. And hey, it could even save your life.