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October/November Tips to Beat Dry Fall/Winter Skin As the Fall and Winter months close in, many of notice the changes in our skin. And this usually means dry, cracked and flaky skin. If you have this problem in the winter, here are a few tips to help you keep your skin looking and feeling nice. 1.) Don't take long hot showers. I know they feel great and they keep you warm on those cold winter days, but the heat helps zaps your skin of much needed moisture. So keep your showers warm, but not hot and limit the time you spend in a shower or bath. If you do like to take hot showers only take a few a week and try not to linger too long. 2.) Using a loufah, body puff or exfoliating shower gel will help to get rid of the dead dry skin on your body. Many shower gels now come in moisturizing formulas and/or have moisture beads in them that also help to moisturize the skin. 3.) Try not to use all over body sprays in the colder months. Many contain alcohol which also dries out the skin. 4.) Apply lotion or body cream after your skin is completely dry. Many people apply lotions and creams while their skin is still damp thinking that this is helping to lock moisture in their skin. This actually inhibits the skin from absorbing the lotion or cream. 5.) If you have problems with dry feet and hands in the colder months, try this little trick. Exfoliate your hands and/or feet before bedtime. Using either Vaseline or a heavy skin cream, liberally apply to your skin. Then put your hands and/or feet in cotton gloves or socks and go to bed. It may feel a little squishy and look silly, but the heat that your body generates as you sleep helps your skin absorb the moisturizer and your skin will look and feel much better in the morning! 6.) If you like to participate in outdoor activities, be sure to use your sunscreen, moisturizer and lip balm. Just because it's not 90 degrees outside doesn't mean your skin isn't still getting big doses of sun and wind. Especially when it's snowing. The snow reflects the light from the sun just like water, and you can get severe sun burn. And that bitter cold wind can cause painful windburn and severely chapped lips. In fact, if you are going to be outdoors in the snow for a while, you may consider using a stronger SPF and moisturizer. Cold air really zaps your skin of moisture. 7.) If chapped lips is a problem you have in the winter, don't lick your lips. This actually aggravates the problem when your saliva evaporates. It may make your lips feel better temporarily, but in the long run it makes them much worse. Use a medicated lip balm such as Carmex, Chapstick Medicated or Blistex. Or try a lip balm such as Philosophy's Kiss Me Lip Balm that doesn't contain heavy waxes. If your lips are severely chapped avoid using lipstick until they look and feel better. A little tip to try to help your lips heal faster, when brushing your teeth, lightly use your tooth brush and brush your lips. It feels funny and may even tickle, but it helps to remove the dead skin allowing your lips to heal faster. Then apply your lip balm. Your lips should heal and feel much better in no time!! JULY Eyebrow Shaping A lot of focus is being placed on the eyebrows lately. And the question that most people have is, "How do I correctly shape my eyebrows?" Here are a few tips to help you through this area. Your eyebrows frame your eyes and you want to make sure that they are nice and well groomed, yet proportioned to your face. No more of that overplucking!! 1.) When tweezing your brows, first use an eyebrow brush and go against the hair to remove makeup and dead skin. Then brush them in the direction that they grow and smooth. You may need to use a brow sealer to get your brows to lay nicely. Then, using an eyebrow pencil, fill in your brows in the shape that you desire. Then using a white or lighter colored pencil, fill in around your brows. The lighter area is the area that you will tweeze. This way you can play with the shape of your brows before you actually tweeze! 2.) One rule of tweezing is you tweeze above the brow from the nose to the arch and under the brow from the arch to the end of your brow. This will give you the well defined arch that most people desire. (Think Kirstie Alley) 3.) To find out the proper length of your brows, take a pencil and line it up with the center of your nostril and the inner corner of your eye. Your eyebrow should not go in any further than this area. In other words, your brow should not go in any further than the inner corner of your eye/center of your nostril. Then take a pencil and align it from the outside of your nose to the outside corner of your eye. This is where your eyebrow should end. This will help prevent you from either the "uni-brow" look or like your brows are too short. 4.) To prevent stinging or irritation from plucking your brows, use ice or Ambesol to numb the area. Tweeze one hair at a time. Grabbing too many hairs can really irritate the skin. After tweezing be sure to cleanse the area and apply a fascial toner to help soothe the skin. 5.) Always be sure to inspect your brows frequently while tweezing. You don't want to overtweeze. And always compare your brows frequently to make sure they match. You don't want to walk around looking like you have one eyebrow raised! If you do happen to overtweeze, you can fill in the sparse area(s) with a pencil or brow kit until the hairs grow back. But constant inspection of your brows will help prevent overtweezing. 6.) If you have brow hairs that are long or especially unruly, don't be afraid to trim them with a pair of cuticle scissors. Brush the hairs up and trim them to the length as your other brow hairs. Then brush them down and do the same. Remember to keep your brows groomed. This really helps to finish off your eye makeup. If you have a problem with your brows, use a brow sealer. And if you don't feel that you are handy with a brow pencil, there are many brow kits available that make filling in your brows naturally look easy. Hard Candy has two kits, one for light hair and one for dark hair. Chanel also has a brow kit that has 3 colors for you to custom blend. Mary Kay also has a brow kit with 3 colors. All these kits have a mini brow brush, tweezers and applicator. If you do use a brow pencil, remember to use small feathery strokes to keep your brows looking natural. And always remember to lightly brush your brows after you have applied either a brow pencil or cake from a brow kit. This helps to soften any brush or pencil strokes. Kevyn Aucoin has many great brow tips in his Making Faces book. He also has diagrams and examples of what looks great. It may help you to take a look at his book to get some ideas. We hope these tips help you on the way to better groomed brows!! JUNE Bikini Line Since summer is now upon us and a lot of us will be spending time at the beach or the pool, I know this is something we have all been thinking about. And if you're like me and the thought of someone named Inga spreading hot wax on your bikini line and ripping the hair out of your body, strikes fear into your heart, hopefully these tips will help!!! Now, in order to keep your bikini line smooth make sure you wet the area thoroughly. You want the hair to absorb as much water as possible to make it easier to shave. Also, make sure you use a sharp razor so there is no pulling involved. Now, I personally use a shower gel and apply it liberally over the area before I shave my bikini area. This helps the razor from pulling and keeps the hair moist and subtle. Always shave in the direction that the hair grows, especially the first time you shave your bikini area, otherwise you could end up with some nasty razor burn. Use short strokes and be sure to rinse your razor off frequently and apply soap or shower gel as needed. I recommend shaving the day or evening before you plan on spending time at the beach. The skin in that area is very gentle and you don't want to irritate it anymore than necessary. I also apply lotion over the area to soothe any irritation. Now, to avoid getting any nasty bumps or infected hairs in your bikini area (we all know how painful these are), be sure to gently scrub the bikini area to unclog any hair follicles and help the hair to grow out. I have found that this really helps. Hopefully these tips can make shaving your bikini line less tramatic for everyone!!! Tattoos I know many people get tattoos and love to show them off with their new skin baring summer fashions and bathing suits. However, if your tattoo is fresh, i.e., less than a month old, you want to take extra care of it during the summer months. My cousin is a tattoo artist and has seen many tattoo blunders due to inadequate care of a tattoo during the summer. If your tattoo is brand new and is still in the scabbing phase, you don't want to get it wet in chlorinated water. This can fade the tattoo. And when sunning or tanning, be sure to cover it with a bandaid or a piece of gauze. Too much sun will also fade your tattoo and make it look muddy. Now, if your tattoo is too large to cover it, apply a liberal amount of SPF 45 to protect it from the sun or tanning rays. My cousin says that if your tattoo is that fresh, he would avoid the sun and/or tanning all together until it is healed. But if you must, be sure to take care of your tattoo. How to get that Sun-Kissed Look Since more and more of us are avoiding the sun (yeah!) but we still like to
have a nice sun-kissed look, we have resorted to using bronzers. Now you can
use a bronzer all over your face, but for those of us who want a more subtle
glow, the best way to achieve that look is to apply a bronzer to the forehead,
bridge of the nose, top of the cheeks and the chin. This will give the
illusion of having spent a little time in the sun without looking like you
have an all-over tan. Be sure to use a big fluffy brush when applying a
powder bronzer. This helps to achieve a more natural look. And when using a
cream or gel bronzer, blend, blend, blend!! You don't want any streaks or
don't want to look like you have big patches of dark skin on your face.
DECEMBER
1.) How do you do smokey and plummy eye makeup looks for blue eyes?
Answer: To do smokey eye makeup for blue eyes it's best to use dark gray or
brown shadows. This way the color isn't too overpowering. Line the eyes with
black if you like and use a dark gray color on the lid and under the eye.
Just remember to blend. As for plummy eye makeup, you need to use another
color along with plum so you don't look like you have an eye infection or like
you have a bruise. The purple shadows with blue eyes can be too much
sometimes. Use a grayish purple and highlight on the lid with plum and line
under the eye with plum also. Use a light pink color on the brow bone.
Remember to blend these colors well.
2.) How do I pluck and shape my eyebrows?
Answer: You should always follow the natural shape of your brow. Begin by
brushing your brows up and back. Then, take an eyebrow pencil and fill in
your brows in the shape you desire. Then using a lighter pencil fill in the
areas you want to tweeze. This will give you an idea of the effect and shape
of your new brows. A good rule of thumb to follow so you don't lose the arch
in your brows is to pluck from underneath on the outer arch and from up above
on the inner part of the arch.
3.) How do I fill in my brows?
Answer: The best way to fill in your brows is to comb them to remove any
loose makeup and get them to lay in place. Then using an eye pencil or brow
brush make light feathery strokes in the areas you want to fill in. Use a
color as close to your natural brow or hair color as possible. Or use a shade
lighter. Going too dark will make you look like Joan Crawford or Elvira.
Both Chanel and Mary Kay now make brow kits that have tweezers, a brow brush
and a brush applicator along with three brow colors to achieve any look you
want.
4.) How do I use liquid or cake eyeliners?
Answer: Most liquid eyeliners come with a brush or an applicator with a tip
similar to that of a felt tip pen. Make sure you rest your arm on a steady
object such as a desk or dresser. It may be easier to also place the palm of
your hand on your face to help keep your hand steady. Begin by using the very
tip of the brush for a thinner line near the inner corner of your eye. The
thicker the line you desire, then use the wider part of the brush. Use a Q-
tip dipped in eye makeup remover to "erase" any mistakes. Cake eyeliners are
applied the same way except you have to use water to wet the eyeliner and get
the consistency you want. Remember not to use saliva as this can cause eye
infections.
OCTOBER
Well, hello to all you fellow beauty tipsters!! I get the honor of
presenting the first Tip Of The Month! I scoured many a fashion magazine to
see what the hottest and latest trends for fall are. And of everything I
have seen and read, this is the most popular:
Red or Berry Lips!
This is also the most wearable beauty tip. And nothing looks quite as
glamorous or dramatic as dark lips! Now, if you have never worn darker
lipstick shades, I would first recommend either going a few shades darker
than your normal lipstick color until you feel brave enough to try the darker
shades. Or, you can get a glossy color to give you a translucent look.
There are several ways to wear these darker colors. You can go for a very
dramatic look by lining your lips first with a matching lip pencil and
filling in with your chosen lip color. Remember to use a lip brush to get
precise application, no room for mistakes when you go with darker colors.
Or, another way is to skip the lip pencil and use your finger to apply the
lipstick for more of a stained appearance.
Now, when you wear lipcolor this bold, remember to keep the rest of your
makeup soft. You don't want your lips to be competing with the rest of your
makeup. And too much makeup will look garish with bold lips. Especially
during the daytime. At night time you can go a little bolder with the rest
of your makeup, but remember not too much!
I've checked out the makeup counters and here are a few of the newest and
most wearable shades:
Lorac - Berry
There are lots and lots of red shades by every cosmetic line out there. If
you are a little timid about the brighter reds and berry colors, try a shade
with a little bit of brown in it. And if your color looks too bright or too
matte, dab a little lip gloss to soften the color.
It may take a little getting used to at first, after the past seasons of nude
and brown lipsticks, but trust me, this is a fun look. And everybody can
wear some shade of red, go to your local makeup counters and try a few until
you find a shade you feel comfortable in. Red or berry lipsticks are like
the little black dress, everybody should have at least one!!
Maria
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