Want to know how to acheive the perfect brows?  Try these 3 simple steps!! (I’ve got it all down except the not plucking above the brow…I always have a few I’ve gotta pluck!) 

• Trace: Use a white eye pencil to outline your ideal brow shape, then plucking hairs outside the line.
• Pluck: Only tweeze beneath and between the brows. (Most pros prefer slant-tip tweezers) Removing hairs above can result in a lower arch.
• Perfect: Use a pencil the shade of your brows to fill in gaps, blen with brow powder two shades lighter and set with.

Pictured: Gossip Girl’s Leighton Meester.  How cute is she!?  And what a great lipstick!!

PS: This is my favorite brow liner:

“For sexy eyes, there is nothing better than this drugstore black liner.”

Covergirl Perfect Blend Eyeliner in Basic Black, $4; drugstore.com.

Get those nails ready for summer with these 4 easy nail tips!

1. Keep them short! The season’s bright polishes look best on short nails in a ”squoval” – square with rounded edges – shape.
2. Change it up! For a new look in no time, brush a sheer or pearly shade on top of your existing polish.
3. Go the distance! To make a mani last, apply polish to clean, dry nails and reapply top coat every few days.
4. Stay smooth!  File nails in one direction to avoid splitting!

Here are some weird hair tips – People Magazine swears actually works!

1. Texturize with Ivory soap: Lather and run your fingers through the ends for instant pieceiness, says Babaii.
2. Shampoo with Palmolive: “It will soften red or brunette hair color that has gone too bright or dark,” says O’Connor.
3. Blot away grease: “Pat blotting papers on roots to soak up the oil,” says Babaii.
4. Tame with Chapstick: “I put a little in my palm and smooth it over baby hairs,” says McMillan.
5. Spray deodorant to create volume: “You get a massive amount of lift” if you spritz natural deodorant on the roots, says Babaii. 

That picture has nothing to do with anything…but I typed “frizzy hair” in Google, and this lovely family popped up.  I think it’s great!

Chocolate doesn’t cause acne, but milk might:

There are very few studies showing the association between food and acne. People think that the greasy foods — like chocolate, pizza and fried foods — somehow clog their pores and the oils get secreted onto their skin. In fact, acne is caused by the gland getting clogged by skin cells and bacteria. Recent studies have shown the possible link between milk and other dairy products with the development of acne. It is thought that hormones and other bioactive molecules may stimulate the glands causing acne. I usually recommend limiting but not eliminating dairy.

Antiperspirants can be made more effective by applying them at night:

People often complain about their antiperspirant not working. One trick of the trade is to apply the antiperspirant to a dry underarm just before heading to bed. You can still apply it again in the morning. In addition, for those excessive sweaters, you might want to see your dermatologist to have Botox injections. These last for six to nine months and essentially eliminate sweating in the area they’re injected.

Flat moles can be skin cancer:

People often come in if a mole or spot is raised, but for some reason the public tends to ignore flat lesions. Unfortunately, not all skin cancers are flat. Look for the ABCD’s of skin cancer —lesions that are Asymmetrical (one half doesn’t match the other), have an irregular Border or irregular Color, and Diameter greater than the size of a pencil eraser (5 mm).

Acne medications should be applied to the entire face, not just to pimples:

Most people apply medication — both prescription and over-the-counter products — to the acne pimple but forget about the rest of the skin. Most medications, however, are designed to prevent tomorrow’s breakout, not just dry up today’s pimple. They are most effective at destroying the bacteria that cause acne.

Covered wounds (cuts, scrapes, etc.) heal faster than open ones:

Everyone covers a wound immediately with a Band-Aid, but after a day or two, most will uncover to “let it dry out.” Actually, studies have shown that wound healing is more effective in a moist environment. Therefore, apply an antibiotic ointment like Bacitracin or Neosporin and keep it covered with a Band-Aid until it is completely healed.

Vitamin E prevents wounds from healing:

This is completely opposite to what most people think. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that will help to prevent oxidative damage to the skin, but it has never been shown to help with healing. In fact, studies have shown that it actually slows down healing. Silicone gel sheeting has been shown to be effective.

Source

I’m an avid reader of both your sites. I really love how personal you make each one. I’m writing you to ask for help, I have to attend a cocktail part at the W Hotel in Dallas. I’ll be going as a date to my boyfriend (who is very fashionable), he will be recieving an award from his job.

I am absolutely clueless about what do to for make up. I’m very pale, anglo, and will be wearing a little black dress and very understated accessories. I use Perscriptives for foundation and concealer, and Dior Show for my lashes, but everything else is lost on me. Can you help put togeather a little black dress look for me?

Thank you in advance for your time and any help you might be able to give!

–Candy H.

Candy –  

Thanks for contacting us!  I’d say you definitely need some smoky eyes!  Try the tips below!  (You can also watch a great How-To on smoky eyes – here!)

Keira Knightley made a seductive statement at the Academy Awards with smoky eyes, a tried-and-true red-carpet beauty showstopper. This year’s variations on sexy charcoal seducers call for small touches of femininity for extra come-hither appeal. To create your own alluring guise, follow celebrity makeup artist and What Not to Wear beautifying guru Carmindy’s easy steps. It might not score you a statuette, but this tempting look will win you plenty of attention.

Hopefully this helps!

Jocelyn

We recently recieved this email from Lauren, asking a hair question:

I usually get my hair done at a salon but I’m trying to pinch pennies in order to take a trip to Cali. So in the mean time I’m wondering if I should do my own highlights. Do you recommend this? If so, any tips or specific brands you recommend? Thanks.

This was one area I know nothing about, I don’t ever dye or highlight my own hair.  (Too many bad experiences!)  For years, I have trusted my hair with the enormously talented Marsi from Bella Salon, in Beaverton, Oregon.  She is a genius when it comes to hair color – so Lauren, I forwarded your question on to Marsi.  Here’s what she had to say:

Hi Jocelyn, I’m so happy to help.

As far as the highlights at home, I would tell her not to try it unless she’s willing to spend twice as much as she would have initially spent getting it done, getting it fixed.

Highlights are just too complicated and require specific technique, if it didn’t then we couldn’t charge what we do for it.

I would however recommend doing all over color at home. I would recommend going to a local beauty supply store, like Sally’s, and ask for help. I would ONLY recommend doing a semi-permanent gloss and stick with more golden colors and not too far off from your natural color or what you currently have. You can really mess up your hair with permanent color or by trying to do something too dramatic.

Your hair is something you wear everyday, it’s not like make-up that you can just wipe off, so if you screw it up- you’re screwed!
Sorry for such a long answer! Hopefully that helps.

Marsi.

So Lauren, I hope this helps!  Keep us posted!

They say Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen was discovered by talent scouts at the tender age of 14 while chowing down on burgers at McDonald’s. By 2006, Forbes had named her the highest-paid model in the business! Fresh and animated, with deep blue eyes, tawny skin and lithe, sinuous curves, she’s a modern-day enchantress. Here she is in a palette of sand, bronze and muted peach. Makeup artist Deborah Grayson tells us how to get her breezy, beachy look.

Step 1: Start with a clean, lightly moisturized face; allow the moisturizer to seep in for a few minutes before applying makeup.

Step 2: Using a damp sponge, apply a fine film of creamy (but not oily) stick foundation to any ruddy or blemished areas of the face, neck and shoulders.

Step 3: With your fingertips, dot a tiny bit of the same cream foundation onto the area just under the eyes, to hide any darkness or shadows you might have; blend in soft patting (not pulling) motions.

Step 4: Dip a flat, fan-shaped contour brush into loose flesh-toned translucent powder. Shake off any excess and apply the powder lightly to the cheeks. The powder will set a base for the contour, which you’ll apply in the next step.

Step 5: With the same fan-shaped contour brush, place a sandy, bronze blush to the apples of the cheeks, moving back toward the ears.

Step 6: In the same direction you applied the blush, repeat step 4, to “diffuse and evenly distribute your sandy bronze blush, creating a subtle circle of color,” says Grayson.

Step 7: Next, define the brows using an angled, hard-bristled liner brush dipped in blonde brow powder. If you don’t have a marked arch like Gisele’s and you’d like to create one, you might try experimenting with an eyebrow kit that contains stencils.

Step 8: Outline the eyes using a pointed eyeliner brush and opaque coffee brown cream liner. To emulate Gisele’s subdued look, trace a fine across the upper lash line, staying as close to the lashes as you can manage.

Step 9: With the same pointed brush and what remains of the coffee brown liner, apply it to the bottom third of the lower lash line; for a really subtle line, you don’t need to re-dip your brush.

Step 10: Use an oval-shaped eye shadow brush to place a crescent of russet brown shadow just at the outer edge of the eyelids.

Step 11: Next, use a cotton swab to apply an iridescent, pearly powder eye shadow just above the creases of each eye; blend back and forth in soft “windshield wiper” motions, allowing the powder to subtly disperse for a soft halolike effect.

Step 12: Apply two coats of medium brown mascara.

Step 13: Fill the entire lips with a fleshy nude liner pencil.

Step 14: Use a lip brush to apply a shiny, translucent peach-tinted gloss.

Enjoy!