Stuck in a beauty rut? Claw your way back out with these simple tips.

Be honest – are you stuck in a beauty rut?

I’ve always loved Priceline and I love it even more now that they have a Priceline Beauty Advisor in every store, ready and waiting to talk you through the best looks for the season and for you.

Claudia Smith is one of the best in the business and loves helping customers who walk into Priceline. She helps you to figure out exactly how to get out of beauty ruts.

It helps that Claudia has loved makeup all her life, trained with the best and can usually figure out where customers are going wrong at a glance.

It took me a while to admit that I myself was stuck in a beauty rut, and even longer to figure out how to get out of it. I was basically alternating between two kinds of makeup and two kinds of hair. I was bored doing it. I was bored with my look.

Just as an FYI, this post is an advertorial for Priceline Pharmacy. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in their own words.

I also had no idea how to get out of it.

Thankfully it’s not just us mere mortals getting stuck in beauty ruts. Professionals like Claudia do it too:

” I never thought I did (have a rut) but I’ve always been a bright-pink-lipstick-no-matter-what girl, but then the Kylie Jenner nude lip thing became popular and I found myself wearing more nude lips. Now I feel weird when I do wear a pink lipstick. I like some of the deeper colours now. Now that autumn and winter are coming I think, I could do that,” she said

Head to Priceline’s Beauty School for their How To Apply Lipstick Perfectly tutorial.

She says it’s all about taking small steps.

“Change up your lipstick or eye shadow. Instead of red lipstick wear orange. If you’ve always worn the same brown eye shadow then try and add a couple of colours to the brown to add dimension. If you want to wear some of the latest trends, find things that suit you. So if you want to wear a nude lipstick but feel it won’t look right on you then just go a couple of shades lighter,” she said.

Still, it can be hard to walk out of the house that first time, not knowing if it’s working for you or not.

If you want to wear a bold lipstick but are not confident, wear it around at home until you feel confident in yourself or buy one a few shades brighter/darker than what you normally wear and ease into it.

If I try things for the first time I practise the look and wear it around at home and look at myself in the mirror to get used to it.

Next, I asked about easy ways to change your look using different eye products. Claudia says it’s all about using flattering shades well.

“Start with a soft brown and apply a darker brown to the crease of your eye. Brown is more flattering than black. L’Oreal matte single eye shadows are beautiful for this,” she said.

“Use Models Prefer crease brushes to apply the eye shadow in your crease to blend and make it look flawless. L’Oreal or Rimmel eye crayons are really easy to use. Use a Models Prefer cream eye shadow brush to blend the colours.

Related: How to apply fake eyelashes and 10 other tips for winning at makeup

“To make your eye products pop, perfectly groomed brows are a must. Check out Priceline Beauty School’s How to Shape Your Eyebrows tutorial.”

And what about hair ruts – they aren’t so easy to get out of, right? Unless you have a Priceline Beauty Advisor to give you simple hair advice that you’ll wonder why you hadn’t thought of yourself.

“Change where you part your hair. If you don’t normally colour your hair, or it is all one shade, add some highlights or low lights. L’Oreal Perfect Blonde Highlight Kit works well for this. Or if you have straight hair, try curling it for a night out or vice versa,” she said.

“Use a VS Sassoon Hair curler or straightener. If you always like to wear it in a pony tail, try braiding it or pulling it into a low bun.”

For more hair inspiration, visit Priceline Beauty School for tutorials on How to Braid Your Hair, How to Get Perfect Waves Using a Straightener and How to Blow Dry Your Hair.

Claudia has been at Priceline for two years now and says something she’ll never do is stop wearing shimmer.

“I’m a shimmer freak or a glitter freak. You don’t have to stop when you get older. Wear it differently. Instead of all over your eye, just add a bit of shimmer in the middle of your eyelid,” she said.

And by far, her best advice on getting a new look is to clean out your makeup bag.

“I try and have a clean out every 3-6 months. I normally throw out my mascaras and eye liners. Eyeliners and mascara are the biggest causes of bacteria, so that goes. All the other products I do keep. Eye shadows you can keep for a few months,” she said.

Related: The best travel makeup bag ever.

And is there one new shade she’d recommend to us all, that has the potential to look good on everyone?

“Yes. It’s a matte grey,” she said.

The thing I love about Priceline is that it sells every beauty product you could ever want – and chocolate. Do you find yourself eating lots of chocolate?

“Yes, Priceline has a bit of everything. It’s so bad working there. I eat so much. And we’ve got Easter Eggs now…” she said.

Book your free consultation with a Priceline Pharmacy Beauty Advisor or find out about awesome Priceline events happening in your area at priceline.com.au.

These are some of our favourite Priceline goodies and you can buy them online now …

Knowledge is power! Master the art of makeup this month with Priceline Pharmacy’s Beauty School. Dive head first into our beauty playground and learn all of the makeup basics and beyond with video tutorials and expert tips and tricks. Plus, don’t forget to book a consultation with our in store beauty advisors, who are ready to show you how to put your best face forward. Discover more and join us now at priceline.com.au/beautyschool