How to use Instagram highlights to showcase your beauty routine
Instagram highlights can turn temporary Stories into a lasting beauty library. Group step-by-step skin care, hair and makeup clips under clear covers, and followers can revisit a routine whenever they need it rather than scrolling through your feed to find one useful tip.
The best collections feel like a getting-ready guide, not a product catalogue. Choose a small set of repeatable routines, film them in a recognisable style and update them as your habits, products and seasons change.
Build around repeatable routines
Begin with the routines you genuinely repeat. Possible highlights include a simple skin-care sequence, a five-minute daytime face, a heat-protection tutorial or scalp care between salon appointments. A focused collection is easier to follow than a crowded one, and every highlight should have a clear purpose.
Give each highlight a descriptive title such as “Skin Reset,” “Five-Minute Face” or “Healthy Hair.” Write the key instruction on the cover as well, since tiny text can disappear on a phone. Put the most useful step first, keep the video brief and add descriptive alt text so the routine remains accessible.
Make covers recognisable at a glance
Your cover grid is the first thing people notice, so use a consistent template: the same typeface, generous margins and a limited colour palette. Design in a vertical 9:16 ratio, then check that the title stays readable at thumbnail size. A plain background often works better than a busy product photograph.
Choose covers that signal the topic without giving away every detail. A close-up of a brush signals makeup, while a clean product layout suits skin care. For a polished Australian reference, study how Angela Nazworth uses a consistent visual identity across her content, then adapt that discipline to your own routine.
Match the format to the message
The right format depends on what you are teaching. Quick actions need video, product lists work well as photo carousels, and transformations benefit from a clear before-and-after sequence.
| Format | Best for | What to include | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video tutorial | Step-by-step routines | One action per frame with captions | Keeping clips concise |
| Photo carousel | Product lists and finished looks | Consistent angles and clear labels | Extra items crowding each frame |
| Before-and-after | Texture, colour and styling changes | The same light and camera angle | Explaining the routine behind the result |
| Quick tip series | One useful beauty habit | A single tip with a visual example | Pointing viewers to the full tutorial |
Mixing formats keeps the collection active. A highlight can combine a short demonstration with a carousel of products and a final Story showing the finished look. Keep the tone useful, describe your own experience rather than promising identical results, and make sponsored content clear to an Australian audience.
Film for Australian conditions
Australian weather changes what a routine looks like in practice. Sydney’s humidity can make a heavy base or rich cream behave differently, while Melbourne’s cooler, drier days may call for extra moisturiser and a simpler hair routine. Name the city or season in your captions so the advice has a clear context.
High UV levels make sunscreen a daily conversation. Demonstrate how you apply broad-spectrum SPF 50+, explain when you reapply and show the amount used on the face and neck. If you recommend a product, displaying its A$ price answers a practical question while helping followers compare options within the Australian market.
Lighting and audio are part of the instruction. Film near a window, avoid filters that change skin colour, and record clear voiceover audio or add matching captions. A line such as “Five minutes before my arvo walk” adds a local voice without distracting from the technique.
Build a repeatable story series
Repetition gives a highlight series its character. Use the same opening shot, on-screen labels and closing phrase each week, then vary the routine itself. If you cover scalp care or hair-loss treatments, keep education, personal experience and product advice distinct, and avoid presenting one person’s result as a guaranteed outcome.
A beauty routine includes the whole getting-ready process, including clothes and hair. For cooler Melbourne months, a neat knit vest can complete the final look; this guide to styling a knit vest offers a polished seasonal reference that works well beside a makeup tutorial.
Keep the collection fresh
Highlights become stale when products, habits or seasons change. Review the collection each month, remove expired promotions and replace an old sunscreen clip with one filmed for the current weather. When you need a wider lifestyle angle, The Good Girl Scouts can help connect beauty content with a broader personal-style diary.
Schedule a monthly filming block, caption every Story and check the highlight order after each upload. Save the newest routine near the top if it is the most useful entry point, and keep older evergreen material below it. This small maintenance routine keeps the library accurate without requiring constant new content.
Before you close Instagram, create a folder for three new covers and schedule your next five-minute routine highlight for Saturday morning.