Most people have trouble when preparing for picture day. Here's a few steps you can take to make sure you are ready for your flawless photo shoot.
1. Clear skin = confidence
Going into a picture knowing your skin is looking its best can really take the edge off. If you don't normally, start washing and moisturizing your face 2-3 weeks before the picture is scheduled to prep it. This helps ensure you won't have any bad break outs, dryness, or uneven skin tones.
2. Put together an outfit.
You can find something to wear that you already own, but buying something new is always fun. Make sure you select a shirt in a color that looks good on you. Also, choose something simple. No crazy colors or patterns. The pictures focus should be your face, not what you're wearing. You also want to stay away from anything that is too low cut, you don't need anything else to worry about when your getting your photo taken.
3. Style your hair.
Find something fun to do with your hair that you can practice the night before, You don't want to be scrambling in the morning, so make sure it's doable in a short period of time. You may want to choose something that brings your hair out of your face and eyes.
4. Photo-ready makeup.
Especially when it comes to school photos, you don't want to over do it. You will end up regretting it later. Go for something simple, and remember the basics: apply lip balm first to make sure your lips are moisturized and ready. Avoid using moisturizers or primers that contain SPF, because this reflects the light of the camera and can cause your face to appear whiter than the rest of your body. Use a matte powder to set your makeup to control shine, and stick with a neutral eye shadow palette. Make sure to fill in your brows with either an eye pencil or matte shadow. Last but not least, make sure to add a little more blush to your cheeks than normal. Flash photography can remove up to 20% of color and intensity from your makeup, and you want to avoid looking washed out, so blush away.
Word count: 373
Monday, September 29, 2014
Fall 2014 "Life Hacks"
Autumn has arrived, and with the new season comes new ways to make your life easier, so here's a few "life hacks" that you can feel free to take advantage of that put old things to good use.
Old candles? New storage!
If you're like me, I love burning candles, especially during the fall. When the candle has been used up, don't throw away the old container, put it to new use. Freeze the jar for a few hours, then remove the remaining wax and wick. Rinse it out and you are left with a handy glass jar that you can multi-purpose into a container that can hold Q-tips or cotton balls. If you're feeling festive, take some Mod Podge and some glitter and turn it into a decor piece as well.
If you're like me, I love burning candles, especially during the fall. When the candle has been used up, don't throw away the old container, put it to new use. Freeze the jar for a few hours, then remove the remaining wax and wick. Rinse it out and you are left with a handy glass jar that you can multi-purpose into a container that can hold Q-tips or cotton balls. If you're feeling festive, take some Mod Podge and some glitter and turn it into a decor piece as well.
Coffee Ice Cubes?
If you're not into watered down coffee, an easy solutions awaits you. Fill an ice cube tray will coffee mix stirred with water, and pop it in the freezer. Next time you need some quick caffeine, just throw 4-5 cubes into a glass of milk or extra coffee and you're good to go.
When they melt, they won't water down your delicious drink.
If you ever need a pair of leg warmers and don't have time to go shopping, just check your closet. Chances are you have a few old sweaters laying around that you haven't worn in ages. It's not hard to turn these old clothes into something new and wearable. Just cut the sleeves off and fold over the ends to create a brand new pair of leg warmers! Leg warmers are stylish and functional, especially for the fall season!
Then if you still find yourself in the mood to DIY, you can take the torso of the sweater and make it into a scarf with a few more cuts.
Another easy trick I use during the fall season, especially when I get too busy to hang up all of my washed clothes, is using my straightening iron to tidy up my wrinkly shirts before school. It takes less than 2 minutes and saves you from dragging out the ironing board.
Hope you enjoyed these fun fall do-it-yourself hacks. Enjoy the new season and the upcoming fashion and makeup trends.
Word count: 377
A Guide to Good Brows
Full brows have been the trend the past few seasons, but now that we've grown them out, we still need to keep them tidy. Color and shape both play a large roll in getting that perfect eyebrow look you are striving for.
A good start is always to get your eyebrows professionally shaped by someone who can give you advice on what works for your face shape, skin tone, and hair color.
Tweeze, wax, or thread? Whatever your preferred method is to care for your brows, they each have their own upsides and downfalls.
Tweezing is a great option for girls into DIY beauty because it can be done easily and completely at home with just a pair of tweezers, this is also the most cost effective method. You can use a brow pencil to get a general shape, then tweeze around that. The downfalls include some semi-perminant results. It is important to be conservative when shaping your brows because, unlike a bad haircut, the hair wont always grow back. Stay away from magnifying mirrors. They get too close and you tend to over do the plucking.
Threading creates a more natural finish because you work closer with the hairs. Its also faster than tweezing each hair individually, an easy way to amp up your shape. But while this technique can offer an undone effect similar to tweezing, it can cause for some reckless hair removal and also requires a visit to a beauty salon, which can be more pricey in the long run.
Waxing out of all three methods tends to be the most permanent, It leaves sharp, clean lines, which, depending on your preference, could be a good or bad thing. This method is great for a girl who is always busy and doesn't have time to care for her brows day to day. Or if you tend to have thicker and coarser hair because it encourages thinner, softer regrowth. The obvious con of waxing is the red patches it leaves behind for a short period of time after treatment. This may or may not be a problem for you depending on how soon afterwards you are looking to go out and show off. This also tends to only be a problem for people who have more sensitive skin types.
Whatever method you choose, it always helps to fill in with a little color and a brow comb to give them an added boost!
Word count: 406
A good start is always to get your eyebrows professionally shaped by someone who can give you advice on what works for your face shape, skin tone, and hair color.
Tweeze, wax, or thread? Whatever your preferred method is to care for your brows, they each have their own upsides and downfalls.
Tweezing is a great option for girls into DIY beauty because it can be done easily and completely at home with just a pair of tweezers, this is also the most cost effective method. You can use a brow pencil to get a general shape, then tweeze around that. The downfalls include some semi-perminant results. It is important to be conservative when shaping your brows because, unlike a bad haircut, the hair wont always grow back. Stay away from magnifying mirrors. They get too close and you tend to over do the plucking.
Threading creates a more natural finish because you work closer with the hairs. Its also faster than tweezing each hair individually, an easy way to amp up your shape. But while this technique can offer an undone effect similar to tweezing, it can cause for some reckless hair removal and also requires a visit to a beauty salon, which can be more pricey in the long run.
Waxing out of all three methods tends to be the most permanent, It leaves sharp, clean lines, which, depending on your preference, could be a good or bad thing. This method is great for a girl who is always busy and doesn't have time to care for her brows day to day. Or if you tend to have thicker and coarser hair because it encourages thinner, softer regrowth. The obvious con of waxing is the red patches it leaves behind for a short period of time after treatment. This may or may not be a problem for you depending on how soon afterwards you are looking to go out and show off. This also tends to only be a problem for people who have more sensitive skin types.
Whatever method you choose, it always helps to fill in with a little color and a brow comb to give them an added boost!
Word count: 406
Sleeping Beauty
Ever want to wake up to a firmer complexion or a more even skin tone, maybe even healthier hair? Sounds more like a dream I'm sure, but its not entirely impossible.
At night, skin is more susceptible to treatments, such as those that even skin tone, because it is doing less work to protect itself from other elements such as the sun. In additions, vitamin C becomes deactivated in sunlight. To fade spots, try Garnier Skin Renew Dark Spot Overnight Peel. ($17 in Drugstores)
The worst thing you can do to your hair is sleep with it wet. Wet hair is extremely fragile. To avoid damaging the ends, try wrapping it up in a t-shirt instead of a towel. Also, using satin pillow cases allows hair to slip with movement and has a slimmer chance of being damaged during sleep.
And even hair that is already dry can benefit from being moisturized. Post shower, try using a leave-in moisturizing treatment. This gives the product all night to "work its magic". Try L'Oreal Professionnel Liss Ultime Smoothing night Treatment (around $35), which can be applied to damp or dry hair.
Your elbows, hands, heels, and knees often get forgotten about, especially when it comes time for bed. These areas tend to be dry already, and not keeping them nourished will only hurt you in your sleep. Before bed, try applying a body lotion that contains moisturizing elements as well as gentle exfoliate acids. This clears the way for the moisture to completely soak into your skin. Eucerin Intensive Repair Very Dry Skin Lotion ($12; drugstores) is cheep and works amazing.
Its every girls dream to wake up with her under eyes bright and ready for the day. These dark areas can have many causes ranging from sun damage to blood pooling in the skin under your eyes while you sleep. In this case, you want to strengthen and plum the skin using some thing that contains collagen-stimulating peptides. Mary Kay TimeWise Repair Volu-Firm Eye Renewal Cream ($40) works for this, even though it tends to be a little pricey, its worth it in the long run.
Of course we can leave out the feet in all of this.. For a pampering overnight treatment, apply Vaseline to the soles of your feet and put on socks before you sleep. The socks help bind the moisture to your feet and you’ll wake up to soft, smooth soles.
Word count: 404
At night, skin is more susceptible to treatments, such as those that even skin tone, because it is doing less work to protect itself from other elements such as the sun. In additions, vitamin C becomes deactivated in sunlight. To fade spots, try Garnier Skin Renew Dark Spot Overnight Peel. ($17 in Drugstores)
The worst thing you can do to your hair is sleep with it wet. Wet hair is extremely fragile. To avoid damaging the ends, try wrapping it up in a t-shirt instead of a towel. Also, using satin pillow cases allows hair to slip with movement and has a slimmer chance of being damaged during sleep.
And even hair that is already dry can benefit from being moisturized. Post shower, try using a leave-in moisturizing treatment. This gives the product all night to "work its magic". Try L'Oreal Professionnel Liss Ultime Smoothing night Treatment (around $35), which can be applied to damp or dry hair.
Your elbows, hands, heels, and knees often get forgotten about, especially when it comes time for bed. These areas tend to be dry already, and not keeping them nourished will only hurt you in your sleep. Before bed, try applying a body lotion that contains moisturizing elements as well as gentle exfoliate acids. This clears the way for the moisture to completely soak into your skin. Eucerin Intensive Repair Very Dry Skin Lotion ($12; drugstores) is cheep and works amazing.
Its every girls dream to wake up with her under eyes bright and ready for the day. These dark areas can have many causes ranging from sun damage to blood pooling in the skin under your eyes while you sleep. In this case, you want to strengthen and plum the skin using some thing that contains collagen-stimulating peptides. Mary Kay TimeWise Repair Volu-Firm Eye Renewal Cream ($40) works for this, even though it tends to be a little pricey, its worth it in the long run.
Of course we can leave out the feet in all of this.. For a pampering overnight treatment, apply Vaseline to the soles of your feet and put on socks before you sleep. The socks help bind the moisture to your feet and you’ll wake up to soft, smooth soles.
Word count: 404
How to: Fake Wide-Awake Eyes
School has begun to drag on over the past month, but just because its Monday, doesn't mean you have to start your week off with tired looking eyes. There are ways to fake the wide awake and fully rested face...
The Tear Duct Trick:
It all starts in the tear duct, pick a light pink shade of eye shadow. Avoid chalky, silver colored highlighters, they tend to look more blue, making your eyes, especially the tear ducts area, appear drawn and tired; the opposite of what we want. Also try to avoid heavier products. Some liquids work, but most liquids and creams can be thicker on the skin and you do not want that in your eye area. Pink is a color that flatters all skin tones, as well as balancing out yellow and pink undertones.
White Water Line:
Another easy way to make your eyes appear more awake and ready for the day is to line your bottom water line, the piece of skin between the eye and your lower lash line, with a white eye pencil. This brightens the eyes and makes them look bigger. Using a waterproof eye pencil for this will be essential if you want it to stay all day.
Eliminate puffiness:
Puffy eyes are a dead give away of sleep deprivation. Using something chilled— a bag of ice, frozen peas— should do the trick as long as you hold it on the area for 10-15 minutes.
Exfoliation:
Not only does this brighten your skin to make you look more awake, but it has many other benefits for your skin to stay healthy. Its best to use a treatment that contains dead skin dissolving fruit acids.
Curling Eyelashes:
When your eyes aren't cooperating, curling your eyelashes is a must! It makes mascara application simpler and easier. For the biggest impact, apply the curler once before mascara application, and once after they have completely dried.
Eye Shadow Trick:
You might think a shimmery light shade will brighten up your eyelids, but the truth is, when your tired it can exaggerate puffiness. A warm brown shadow is perfect for visually deflating bloated lids. Try to stay away from anything with pink or red undertones.
Blush to Cancel Under-eye Circles:
Using a little bit of peachy pink blush on the apples of your cheeks or on the cheekbones can detract from your tired eyes' under eye circles that tend to have blue or purple undertones. This also adds warmth to your complexion.
Word count: 414
The Tear Duct Trick:
It all starts in the tear duct, pick a light pink shade of eye shadow. Avoid chalky, silver colored highlighters, they tend to look more blue, making your eyes, especially the tear ducts area, appear drawn and tired; the opposite of what we want. Also try to avoid heavier products. Some liquids work, but most liquids and creams can be thicker on the skin and you do not want that in your eye area. Pink is a color that flatters all skin tones, as well as balancing out yellow and pink undertones.White Water Line:
Another easy way to make your eyes appear more awake and ready for the day is to line your bottom water line, the piece of skin between the eye and your lower lash line, with a white eye pencil. This brightens the eyes and makes them look bigger. Using a waterproof eye pencil for this will be essential if you want it to stay all day.
Eliminate puffiness:
Puffy eyes are a dead give away of sleep deprivation. Using something chilled— a bag of ice, frozen peas— should do the trick as long as you hold it on the area for 10-15 minutes.
Exfoliation:
Not only does this brighten your skin to make you look more awake, but it has many other benefits for your skin to stay healthy. Its best to use a treatment that contains dead skin dissolving fruit acids.
Curling Eyelashes:
When your eyes aren't cooperating, curling your eyelashes is a must! It makes mascara application simpler and easier. For the biggest impact, apply the curler once before mascara application, and once after they have completely dried.
Eye Shadow Trick:You might think a shimmery light shade will brighten up your eyelids, but the truth is, when your tired it can exaggerate puffiness. A warm brown shadow is perfect for visually deflating bloated lids. Try to stay away from anything with pink or red undertones.
Blush to Cancel Under-eye Circles:
Using a little bit of peachy pink blush on the apples of your cheeks or on the cheekbones can detract from your tired eyes' under eye circles that tend to have blue or purple undertones. This also adds warmth to your complexion.
Word count: 414
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Jelly Watercolor Nails!
Having trendy nails is a fun way to express your style and creativity as the seasons change. Its also an easy way to meep you looking put together and can brighten up any outfit or add a little color to your day.
For this nail look its good to have a few (3-4) bright pastel colors for a variety on each nail. Oranges, yellows, pinks, blues, and purples are all good colors to try for this one.
Since autumn has just begun, try incorporating some fall-type colors into your design.. Try mixing reds, oranges, pinks, and yellows.
I prefer Essie nail polishes because they have a thin consistency and are great quality products that last on your nails. For this type of nail art, it is beneficial to use more sheer colored nail polishes in order to layer the color and have it look the best.
You also want a base color (something neutral, or white even) as you're starting layer. Lastly, for easy application of the color in the "watercolor" or marble type effect we are going for, its good to have a few cheep makeup sponges. These can be found at any beauty retailer, are extremely inexpensive, and can be used for a bunch of other beauty-type situations, which i will cover in another blog. :)
You can cut them into smaller pieces to fit your nails.
Start out by applying the base coat to your nails, you may want to use a few coats to make sure its opaque.
When that is dry, you are ready to add the color.
Take a small piece of the makeup sponge (that you have previously cut into many smaller pieces) and dip it into a small amount of nail polish on a piece of paper. Dab it on the paper a few times to get the access polish off before transferring it to your nail.
Using thin layers, take each color and being to form your masterpiece.
Pretend your nails are paper and paint away!
After its dried, apply your long lasting top coat to preserve your painting. If you are feeling extra creative, you can try adding jewels or nail stickers to an accent nail. This look has unlimited color combinations and possibilities, let your creativity run free and flash your beautiful talent to the world!
Word count: 389
For this nail look its good to have a few (3-4) bright pastel colors for a variety on each nail. Oranges, yellows, pinks, blues, and purples are all good colors to try for this one.
Since autumn has just begun, try incorporating some fall-type colors into your design.. Try mixing reds, oranges, pinks, and yellows.
I prefer Essie nail polishes because they have a thin consistency and are great quality products that last on your nails. For this type of nail art, it is beneficial to use more sheer colored nail polishes in order to layer the color and have it look the best.
You also want a base color (something neutral, or white even) as you're starting layer. Lastly, for easy application of the color in the "watercolor" or marble type effect we are going for, its good to have a few cheep makeup sponges. These can be found at any beauty retailer, are extremely inexpensive, and can be used for a bunch of other beauty-type situations, which i will cover in another blog. :)
You can cut them into smaller pieces to fit your nails.
Start out by applying the base coat to your nails, you may want to use a few coats to make sure its opaque.
When that is dry, you are ready to add the color.
Take a small piece of the makeup sponge (that you have previously cut into many smaller pieces) and dip it into a small amount of nail polish on a piece of paper. Dab it on the paper a few times to get the access polish off before transferring it to your nail.
Using thin layers, take each color and being to form your masterpiece.
Pretend your nails are paper and paint away!
After its dried, apply your long lasting top coat to preserve your painting. If you are feeling extra creative, you can try adding jewels or nail stickers to an accent nail. This look has unlimited color combinations and possibilities, let your creativity run free and flash your beautiful talent to the world!Word count: 389
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Kitchen Cupboard Beauty Heros
You don't always have to go to the department store and spend a boatload of money on expensive brand-named products. Especially when a lot of what makes store-bought products so expensive is the fancy packaging and labels. You might be surprised how many all natural beauty ingredients you already have sitting in your kitchen, or just a quick trip to the grocery store away. In addition to being cheep, anything you make at home will be 100% natural, making it a great option for people with sensitive skin. Not to mention that DIY is all the rage this year. Here's a few you might want to try:
1) Shea Butter
This has a ton of benefits for your skin, along side the fact that it smells amazing. Its nourishing texture makes it great for anti-aging treatment. It has SPF 5 for natural sun protection, which means it can be used as a daily sunscreen. Organic Shea butter also has anti-bacterial properties. This helps prevent stretch marks, and heal wounds.
2) Easy Exfoliates
Exfoliates are great for the skin and so easy to make with about anything you can find in your kitchen. Mild exfoliating once or twice a week, in addition to daily cleansing, can dramatically improve the results of your skin care routine by removing dry and dull skin cells from the surface of your face which keeps your pores from becoming clogged.
One of the easiest recipes I know combines sugar, olive oil, and warm water.
3) Simple Blackhead Remedy
Blackheads can appear all over the face and can be extremely frustrating. Luckily there are a few easy kitchen tricks to help illuminate them!
- One uses a mix of 1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon and a tablespoon of honey. Using your fingers, dab onto dry skin.
- Another option is a egg white mask. Taking two eggs, separate the whites from the yokes and apply to face. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes. This will help tighten pores, giving you smooth and clear skin.
4) Strawberries for white teeth?
Mashing up a strawberry and adding a little bit of baking soda is a quick and easy way to get whiter teeth! Use your toothbrush to scrub on for about 5 minutes and you're good to go.
Word count: 381
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