What Girls Need is Beauty

Concealers

Concealers are used to cover blemishes, dark spots, ruddy areas, marks, veins, freckles or under eye circles. They are usually available in sticks, tubes, pots and creams. Its composition is a little denser than regular foundations. Here are some simple tips in picking out the perfect concealers that's right for you and the basic usage.

Concealers should one shade lighter than your foundation.
Too light or too pink concealers will emphasize the dark area instead of concealing it.
For accurate application, apply your concealer with small fine tipped brush.
Blend them perfectly on your natural skin tone.
To prevent creasing, set your concealer with a sheer, translucent powder.

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Use and storage of makeup

Not all of us may be aware of this, but if we are careless with the use and storage of our makeup, our makeup could end up infecting and damaging our skin.

How is this possible? Most cosmetics available out there have water as one of their main ingredients. Water is a favorite breeding ground for different kinds of germs, and some of these germs can infect the skin and make us sick. Of course, most makeup products have chemicals in them that are meant to preserve the makeup and prevent the germs from infesting in the product. The thing is, constant exposure to heat, sunlight and humidity can make these preservatives weak.

There are also many products out there that claim to be natural and preservative-free. These types of cosmetics are actually more vulnerable to becoming germ cultures since these cosmetics lack the chemicals that are supposed to kill the germs.

Scary and horrifying as the idea of the makeup we are using becoming breeding ground for germs, it is actually possible to prevent germs from making habitats out of the cosmetics we use. We only need to make sure that we are observing proper hygiene in storing and using our makeup and makeup tools. Here are a few suggestions for use and storage of makeup:

Keep the makeup products and tools stored in a place that is cool and dry. Exposing these products to direct sunlight should also be avoided.

Makeup containers should be closed tightly when not in use.

Pencils, whether eyebrow pencils, lip-liners or eye-liners, should always be covered tightly when in storage and sharpened after every use.

Products that come in stick form, such as stick foundations and blushes, should be wiped off thoroughly with a clean tissue after every application.

Avoid using makeup if suffering from any kind of skin infection. Whatever items that are used during an outbreak should be thrown away, or the infection will only keep recurring.

When putting on makeup, use disposable applicators that are clean and dry rather than our own fingers.

Never share makeup and makeup tools, even with your mothers, sisters or closest girlfriends.

If the product changes in color, texture, smell or even taste, dispose of the product and shop for a new one.

If the product's consistency is no longer the same as it was when it was new, never add water or saliva to makeup. Just throw it away and get a new one.

We should also remember to wash the makeup tools that we use, the applicators, the brushes and the spongers, at least once a week. There are good cosmetic cleansers out there for this very purpose, but mild soap and dishwashing liquid can also do the trick. We should make sure to dry our makeup tools very carefully before putting them away.

When we buy makeup, we should be wary of the tester products that the sales people have on display. It would be best for us if we do not use these tester products at all. But if we simply must, we should ask for fresh testers, or for disposable applicators, such as cotton balls. We will never know what kind of germs the other people who have used these testers might have left there.

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Home Foot Spa

Our feet are probably the most abused parts of our body. They carry our weight as we hurry from one task to another in the course of our daily lives. We force them into fashionable but pinching shoes with ridiculous toes, tight straps or high heels. At the end of the day, it is a sure thing that the parts of us that will be hurting the most are our feet.

The feet, therefore, deserve a good pampering every now and then. But unlike what you are probably thinking right now, you do not have to shell out a fortune just to go to a spa and get top-of-the-line primping for your feet.

You can do it from the comfort of your home and still get the same results. You do not have to buy expensive foot spa products either.

So, how is the do-it-yourself foot spa done? Here it is, step-by-step:

Soak up. Fill up your bathtub or a small basin with hot water, hot enough for your skin to tolerate. Put in some bath salts, your bubble bath or soap. Then, put your feet in and relax. Let your feet soak for ten to fifteen minutes.

Scrub off. When the skin of your feet has become soft from the warm, soapy water, scrub the dead skin and the calluses off with a pumice stone. Take your time and try not to be too rough in rubbing the extra skin away.

Clip it. After ridding the feet of the dead skin, work on the toenails. Cut your toenails with a nail clipper. After clipping the extra length off, file them to give them shape, and then buff them. Do not cut your toenails too short, or else you will end up with painful ingrown nails.

Moisturize. The next step would be to apply a good amount of lotion, moisturizer or foot cream on the feet to keep the skin soft.

For some added pampering, you can coat your toenails with nail polish. Some women can do without them, but most will not be caught dead without them. For those of you who belong to the latter category, here is the right way to do your pedicure.

If you have it, use a toenail separator. If not, rolling a piece of tissue and placing them between your toes is good enough. The idea is to keep the nail polish from smudging while you are putting them on your nails.

To prevent the natural color of your toenails from turning to yellow, apply a base coat onto each one.

Pick out a polish color that complements the color of your skin nicely. Brush it on with smooth strokes away from your foot so as to keep air bubbles from forming on the polish. If you want a richer and darker color, apply a second coating.

Finish the paint job with a clear top coat to make your nails dry faster. This will also protect the polish of your toenails from chipping and breaking as you run your way through your day.

Take your time to let the nail polish dry.

The feet are the most worn-out parts of our body. Pamper them a lot and your feet will love you.

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Facial Care

How often do we take our skin for granted and forgotten the simplest steps of washing our face to keep our face clean? Which part of your body does people look at you first? It's your face! Therefore taking care of your face is very important not only from the health point of view but also from an aesthetic and social perspective.

Our skin can be of different type. It may be dry, greasy, normal or combination with different type of skin problems and condition. You face may be dehydrated, sensitive, congested, blemished or infected. However, most of us has combination skin of greasy on the T-zone and dry on the cheek, eyes and mouth. Therefore, knowing your own skin type and condition is important before you choose your skin care regime yourself.

There are several skin care products available in the market that you can choose from depends on your skin type. However, your daily skin care routine should consist of cleansing, toning, moisturizing and SPF.

Cleansing - At least twice a day, one in the morning and one at night with facial foam or facial gel. (Removing face makeup with cleansing milk or cleansing oil without using water and wipe of with damp cotton pad, remove eye and mouth makeup by damping your cotton pad with eye-makeup remover and wipe it of before cleansing your face.)

Toning - Toning your face will help restore your pH balance of your skin and refine back your pores. It also act as a 2nd or 3rd cleanser by removing the excess residue. Apply toner with cotton pad after cleansing your face.

Moisturizing - Moisturizer is important for everyone no matter what skin type. As our Epidermis (outer skin) has 5 layers, whenever we cleanse our face we are removing the top layer of our skin and the moisturizer is use to replace back the layer and it is just like the food to our skin. If we don't moisturize our face, the skin will soon become sensitive or dehydrated.

Sunblock - Sunblock is also important as it protect us from the sun's UVA and UVB rays. Even if you stay indoors, you are advice to put on at least SPF 15 as UV rays can pass through windows and our fluorescent lamps has UV rays too.

Tips:

Exfoliant - Also known as scrubs, can be only use once a week for dry and dehydrated skin and the most twice a week for greasy skin.
Always remove all makeup before sleeping.
Always check the ingredients of the products before using as you might be allergic to an ingredient in the product.
Avoid diluting your products as it might contaminate it.

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Hand and Nails care

Your nails form a very important part of your hands and they too need to be well taken care of. Well-kept hands, with neat, clean and healthy nails, are a pleasure to behold. On the other hand, dirty and poorly kept nails will make your hands look ugly, even though the latter are healthy and well cared for. In other words, we can say that for your hands to look beautiful, your nails need to be strong and healthy. For the purpose, you need to undertake certain steps, such as cleaning your nails on a regular basis, treating the cuticles properly and keeping the nails well moisturized.

Homecare advice

To harden soft nails, soak them in warm olive oil for about 20 minutes, on alternate days.

To remove stains from your nails, mix one tablespoon of lemon juice in a cup of water and soak your nails in this liquid for a few minutes. Then, wash off with warm water and apply a hand moisturizer.

It is not a good idea to remove the cuticles from your nails, as it will make the nail susceptible to infection. Rather, you should make use of good quality cuticle softener and gently push back the cuticles, with the help of an orangewood stick.

Try to stay away from acetone polish removers as much as you can and stick to the one that make use of acetate. Still, try not to use a polish remover more than once a week.

In case you wear nail polish, make sure to give your nails a break from time to time. In other words leave them without polish for a few days, every now and then. Otherwise, they will develop an ugly, yellow tint.

Always wear rubber gloves when washing up as detergent will dry up your nails and hand.

Wear protecting gloves when gardening or doing housework.

Always wear gloves in clod weather.

Dry your hands thoroughly after washing and apply handcream.

Avoid harsh soap when washing hands. DO NOT USE DETERGENT AS A HAND SOAP!!

Do not use your fingernails as tools (for instance, to prise lids off tins.)

If possible, buy a cuticle oil and apply every night before bed and gently massage your cuticle in circular motion.

Apply handcream every night before bed especially when sleeping in air-conditioned room or during winter.

DO NOT BITE YOUR NAILS!! As it will results in having hangnails or even onychophagy if it come to worst. If you have this habit of biting your nails, you must stop now before it get worst. There are some products in the market to stop you from nail-biting, it's super-hot or bitter taste which is for you to paint on your nails.

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Ingrown Toenail

Although most foot care experts say that clipping toe nails straight across helps prevent in grown toenails, you may still fall victim to one anyway: it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person, it can happen to anyone. Shoes that don’t fit right can cause an ingrown nail, as can just being on your feet or walking a lot. If a nail is becoming ingrown, you’ll first notice that it’s feeling tender where the nail is pushing into the side of your skin. You may find yourself favoring that foot, or pressing your toe against the inside of your shoes.

If you don’t catch it soon enough, the toe will become inflamed where the nail is digging into the soft skin of your toe. People who ignore their ingrown toenails end up having surgery, because things can get infected pretty fast.

If you think you’re getting an ingrown toenail, soak your foot in hot water, and even add some lavender or tea tree oil to help soften the skin further. After you’ve given it a good soak, say twenty or thirty minutes, see if you can pull the embedded nail up on the corner, lifting it away from the skin. You can use a nail file for this delicate operation, just barely, slowly sliding it under the edge of the nail. Be careful that your hand doesn’t slip –the pain will be enormous. Be gentle!

Sometimes it takes more than one soaking to get the nail soft enough to lift from the skin. Especially if you have thin, sharp nails, they are more likely to bite into the sides of the toe. If you don’t succeed the first time, dry off your poor foot, dab on lavender or tea tree oil (they both have antiseptic and antibiotic properties) or some Neosporin, and try again tomorrow. In the mean time, stay off your foot as much as possible, and when you put your shoes on in the morning, first wrap your toe with a thick, soft bandage to cushion it.

A newly ingrown toenail will usually concede de-feet (har-har) after three or four days of gently soaking and cautious prying. Once the nail lifts past the skin, trim the nail with a small pair of scissors, and if your toe’s not too sore, file it smooth. Now you will have a tender, pink channel in your toe where the nail once pressed. Keep it bandaged and clean. To prevent infection, apply antibiotics after bathing until your toe doesn’t hurt anymore.

If the toenail is stubborn and you can’t get it out after several tries, hobble off to the doctor, who will put it to rights for you.

Ingrown toenails are like ear infections: some people go their whole lives without having a single toenail upset, and others are plagued by then. Once you get one, it’s more likely to recur, so make sure you treat your feet nicely, buy good shoes that fit right, and pay attention to any toe pain that arises.
I like to read the old books on how to be beautiful, and one important adage is to buy the most expensive shoes you can afford, even if your feet are strange sizes and your shoes have to be custom-made. It makes sense, considering the importance of foot health to daily life. Bad shoes can add corns and bunions even to young feet, and they affect your posture and back health. Not sexy topics, but prevention is everything when it comes to caring for your toes!

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DIY Manicure

Many women are forgoing their weekly trip to their professional nail technician and are doing their nails at home. However, knowing how to properly buff and prepare their nails can be a challenge. If not done correctly, you can actually damage your nails. So, take a look at these easy steps and learn the correct way to buff nails.

Use Salon Products and ToolsThere are thousands of nail products on the market today and knowing which tools you need to properly buff your nails can be tricky. However, if you visit your local beauty store you will need to pick up only a few products. First, a handheld nail buffer is essential on your list of supplies. These look similar to emery boards; however they have several different colored panels and appear more like a foam block. You may also want to grab a few bottles of colored polish or OPI polish in French white if you’d like to give yourself a French manicure.

Before Filing or Buffing…..

Before you start filing away at your nails, there are a few things you should do first. Be sure to remove all old polish with a gentle finger nail polish remover. Look for those without acetone for the gentlest results. After getting rid of the polish, soak your hands in warm soapy water for ten minutes. This will soften your nails and skin to allow you to not only buff your nails better but also remove the unwanted cuticle areas. You can make your own homemade hand spa by filling a large bowl with warm water and adding a small amount of scented bath oil to the water. After soaking your hands, be sure to dry them completely.

Buff Nails the Right Way

To begin, grab your nail buffer and file your nails as you normally would (rounded, square or oval). With the roughest side of the buffer, start to buff your nails. Use a gently side-to-side motion when doing this. The main purpose of this phase is to smooth out any major ridges your nails may have. Next, use the next roughest side of your buffer and repeat the process. This will further work any ridges out of your nail area. To finish the buffing phase, utilize the smoothest part of the buffer to polish your nails until they shine.
Be sure not to be too rough when you are using the first few sides of the buffer. These are meant to only be used gently on the nails. Being too aggressive can lead to a split or chip in the nail, which is almost always difficult to repair properly.

Tips for Professional Salon Results

After you’ve successfully buffed your nails, consider taking your homemade manicure to the next level. Grab your favorite lotion (with or without sun block) and a pair of clean cotton gloves (socks will work if you don’t have gloves). Lather your hands in the lotion, put them into the gloves and wait for ten minutes. When you pull your hands out, wash and dry them well. You will find they are incredibly natural and soft! Be sure to wipe your nails well, apply a top coat of polish and begin painting them in your desired color. Allow the first coat of polish to set and apply another thin coat. Finish with a top coat and allow it to dry.As you can see, getting beautiful nails doesn’t necessarily require an expensive trip to the salon. So, instead of spending money on artificial acrylic nails this season, consider taking the natural route and doing your nails and toe nails yourself at home!

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