beauty home

A young girl cashed me out the other day wearing so much eyeliner I thought she was a quarterback. I was going to tackle her, get her in a half nelson, and buff her eyes down, but then she gave me my croissant and I became distracted. I have nothing against aggressive eye lining (Diana Ross's signature look) it was the rest of her naked territory staring me in the face of an uneven skin tone, dry lips and a couple of lonely cheekbones available for coloring.
I see too much of this - an unfinished face. She looked like some poor soul was in the middle of a makeover and security walked in and broke it up. I'm not suggesting for a minute one has to be over zealous in front of the mirror at five thirty in the morning. But life is a balancing act and so is beauty! If you had three children, you wouldn't dress just one of them and send the other two on an outing. (That was my childhood). Your babies are your eyes, cheeks and lips. Dress all three and there will be no divorcees. Here's some makeup tips to help you along.
Big Makeup Tip #1
Don't get lippy when your eyes are doing the talking!
If your eyes are the focus of the makeup look, keep the other two color areas softer. Dark eyes and dark lips are extremely stylized, and few can pull it off. Let one of the three color areas of your face take center stage while the others do backup. Don't underestimate back ups. Backup dancers made Madonna's girly tour famous!
Giant Makeup Tip #2
Fast Formula for Fabulousness!
Base, Brows, Lashes & Lips
This is a partial but complete look from top to bottom. Partial doesn't mean compartmentalized.
Your base: Whatever format of foundation you choose, it should be a color and texture to match to your skin. Color matching will allow you to place your foundation ONLY in problem areas - not ear to ear. This will make your skin sing with minimal product. Texture matching will keep your own personal moisture level uniform. If you have an oilier skin type, and chose an opposite texture format to your base (i.e. dry powder foundation) this will look contrived and patchy since it is so polar from your own skin's moisture level.
Solution: Choose an oil free liquid foundation that will co-exist with your skins natural glow.
Have your brows groomed by a professional:
I personally am a huge fan of traditional trimming and tweezing. Once your natural brow has been assessed and brought up to speed (that LA - Hollywood brow) just a bit of simple finessing with color in the morning will frame a minimal makeup look into a natural beauty.
One minute Mascara application!
Wipe your mascara wand with a Kleenex. Too much product loaded on the brush will ensure a lumpy, clumpy drive into the office and potentially impair your driving. It takes very little product to build yours, trust me. When the tube gets slightly dry, add a couple of drops of 99% alcohol to the tube. It will help re-liquefy it and kill some bacteria.
Lush up your lips!
There is an array of stains & glosses out there like never before. No excuses for a naked mouth. If you have no idea what shade you may indulge in, here are some makeup tips for your new beauty adventure - if your hair color is light, then lighter, softer lips shades are more favorable. If you have darker hair, then more vibrant, richer lips are in place for you. The cooler your hair color stay with cooler shades on your mouth. And the warmer your hair color, warm up your smile. If you are not sure on the color status of your do, ask your hairdresser what category you fall in.

What do leading brands like Angel, Calvin Klein, Armani, Gucci, Chanel and Ghost have in common, apart from being idolized the world over? All these legendary brands have made forays in to the world of women's perfumes and have be rather overwhelmed with the sweet smell of success. These brands are runaway hits when it comes to the manufacture and marketing of women's perfumes. Today, this is an industry that is characterized by big bucks and intense competition with each player trying to grab the customers by their eyeballs, err noses.
Let your perfume be your voice
Wearing perfume is an art, for those who love to wrap themselves with a sweet smelling concoction. Wearing the wrong women's perfume could be, well, the harbinger of doom, to put it mildly. Don't let all this daunt you; here are a few tips on what kind of women's perfume to choose. For the routine at work, make sure the perfume is light and breezy. A floral or even citrus based fragrance works well, without being too overpowering. But if it's that dream date, or a candle light dinner with someone special, take care to put on a warm, woody fragrance that has spicy or even Oriental undertones. Trust me, you won't find anything as hot as this on the menu.
Compare and then decide
Its easy to get carried away by what your friends believe. Your best friend swears by Kenzo Flowers, but when you try out this rather popular women's perfume, you smell like a bouquet of flowers. To avoid such dreadful experiences, make sure you take time off to read the reviews and customer testimonials. You'll never regret it. These reviews will tell you that though Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle has a definite divine aura to it; it is certainly not for those looking for something easy on the pocket. If you're thinking of enhancing your perfume wardrobe with Chanel's Chase, it may not be such a great idea after all. But the Allure perfume from the same brand scores certainly on the versatility factor. Issey Miyake's L' Eau D' Issey is one perfume that oozes style and class from every pore.
Great Prices for lovely smells
Women's perfumes are also available at discount prices and even wholesale prices. All these perfumes are 100% branded fragrances, so there's no dispute regarding the quality of the product. These online stores offer some fabulous discounts, up to even 80% on some really exiting fragrances. You can get intimate at just $58 with the classy Basic Instinct by Victoria Secrets. That's something even Sharon Stone wouldn't mind, right? Sites like PriceGrabber, Bizrate and the like have a sensational collection to choose from. There are some really cool gift sets too.

I've been planning a full makeover for months and finally, last Friday, I got myself pampered before a night out.
A complete makeover takes between 40 minutes and an hour and the time can be very slow if you don't find a nice topic to share with your make-up artist.
I showed up to Lauren's Lancome counter without an appointment but, maybe moved to pity by my make-up status, she immediately agreed to do the job. "It's not very busy so I can do it, but if a customer comes in I'll have to serve her", she explains.
I watch her setting up the right tools with the best nonchalance I can muster but when she starts teaching me names and ways of the different brushes I feel like Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman" when she tackles the cutlery etiquette.
The ritual begins with the cleansing routine and after the moisturizer I'm ready for the proper makeover.
Between concealer and foundation, a winsome smile spread over Lauren's face when I ask her for how long she's been working with Lancome: "For six years. It's a long time, isn't it?" With the guilty relief that I'm not her first "patient", I keep on with my questions: "Do you still enjoy it or have you ever thought of a change?"
Now I have my eyes closed for eyeshadow reasons so I don't get to see her face, but I understand she's not getting distracted by my questions: "For your skin tone I would try to match this new green on the corner and the purple on top". I have no objections: "You are the expert, I'm totally in your hands".
Proudly, she keeps talking: "I love my job, I'm proud when a customer leaves the counter satisfied and comes back for help with a skin problem. But, you know, working in a cosmetics counter doesn't involve only dealing with customers. The creative aspect goes along with paperworks, targets and pressure. And sometimes it's difficult to keep smiling no matter what."
After a peachy shimmering blusher, I see her concentrated trying to pick up the best lip gloss for me. She somehow gained my trust and I agree not to peep at the mirror until the end.
As soon as I tell her I'm a journalist and I come from Italy, she asks me amused how I find life in London. "I think it's great", I reply. "Don't you?"
The lip gloss is from the wide range of juicy tubes and the colour is a very light sparkling marshmallow. The makeover is now complete but Lauren seems enjoying the turn the conversation took: "Yes, I love London. I just moved in my own place and I'm very excited. Just, you know, it keeps me very busy. Plus, I have a full time job where, by its nature, is very difficult to meet men and at the age of 24 years old I'm still single." "I know exactly what you mean, I think nowadays is harder than before to meet the right person".
I cast a guilty glance at the mirror and I understand what she meant by making customers happy.
To the extent of buying foundation, eyeshadows and lip gloss and being entitled to a generous sampling gift.
Proud of her masterpiece, Lauren gives me the last advices on how to use properly the treasure in my hands and with sweet eyes she pointedly invites me to come back whenever I need cosmetic help. I know she noticed my naïvety but she's very professional and I don't feel completely like a fish out of water.
Walking through the front door I turn once again to wave at her and she says: "Now you can write an article about me and the life of singles in London!"
I was born in Ghilarza, a small village in Sardinia. Small enough to be a pleasant corner of peace and big enough to be the place where Antonio Gramsci lived and used to come to get round the dark days of Italy ruled by the Fascism.
Maybe because part of a migrant family, at the age of nineteen I left Ghilarza for Rome, where I graduated as a journalist and published some work.

It is a well-known fact that the cosmetic industry is booming and will continue to boom. With the presence of so many different types of skin care products being introduced to the market almost daily, consumers are hard-pressed to choose products which they believe "are good for their skin". Nowadays, the hottest terminology in the cosmetics/skin care arena is "natural skin care". However, contrary to popular beliefs, many of these "natural skin care products" still contain many synthetic or man-made chemicals.
In fact, synthesizing these chemicals is pretty easy and presenting consumers with a jar full of chemical concocts shouldn't be too hard too. Moreover, with less stringent FDA regulation for cosmetic/skin care products as compared to drugs, we as consumers have more reasons to worry about harmful chemicals present in the skin care products.
Even though we are constantly being introduced to the concept of "natural skin care products" by cosmetic manufacturers, as a matter of fact, some "natural skin care products" can be quite unnatural. It is even more crucial for consumers with skin allergies to be well-equipped with knowledge of choosing the right type of skin care products. Learning to read the ingredient labels on skin care products is one of the ways to ensure that we purchase skin care products which are as natural as possible. However, reading ingredient labels is not for everyone. After all, not everyone is a chemist or even likes to read and understand chemical names and formulas.
An alternative method we can ensure our skin get the best natural skin care products would be to handmade our own skin care products. At the turn of the previous century, cosmetics and skin care products were either handmade or were created by licensed pharmacists. With less access to skin care products manufactured by skin care product manufacturers, people in those days used fruit, vegetables and herbs grown in their own gardens to treat skin conditions. It is not uncommon for these people to make use of common cooking ingredients to produce their own natural skin care products too.
I highly recommend such practice and think that we should try to go back to basics. If the natural skin care products work in those days, it should still work for us today. Of course, we must be cautious in choosing fruits and vegetables which are not sprayed with too much pesticides or herbicides as such chemicals can do more harm than good to our skin. The choice of organic produces can ensure that our skin has less contact with these harmful chemicals.
Fortunately for us, there are many resources we can make use of to create our own natural skin care products. If we are allergic to any of the common natural skin care ingredients, we can just avoid this particular fruit or vegetable.
These are the advantages of producing your own natural skin care products:
1) Affordability
Without advertisements coming into the picture, it would really be much more affordable to produce your own natural skin care products than to buy them from the skin care product manufacturers who had spent big bucks on their advertising strategies.
2) Ease of preparation
Since we are not trying to produce concocts of chemicals here, we would not require common lab vessels and containers such as pipettes, burettes, conical flasks and test tubes. We would basically just make use of juicers and other simpler equipments.
3) Knowledge of the actual components of your skin care products
Since we are the producers of our own natural skin care products, we can avoid adding ingredients which we are allergic to.
The three advantages stated above are just many of the advantages that creating out own natural skin care products can bring. I will list some of the common ingredients we can use to produce our very own natural skin care products.
• Salt and Sugar are good for exfoliating dead skin cells and can also have therapeutic qualities.
• Olive oil posses moisturizing benefits.
• Apple can tighten and tone the skin.
• Oats or oatmeal smoothen and refine the skin. They also aids in whitening of the skin. Oats also relieves irritated skin and is good for individuals with a sensitive skin type.

One of the most common worries people have when it comes to hair extensions is if people will be able to tell if they are wearing them. Provided you choose a style and colour that matches your own hair, the extensions will look very natural and no one will know except you. However if you are opting for a fun temporary look for a party then of course people will be able to tell but in this instance that is the idea.
Another frequently asked question is whether hair extensions will cause damage to your natural hair. If hair extensions are placed in correctly and done by experts they should not affect the structure or health of your natural hair at all. You must get them put in and taken out at a salon in order to make sure of this. If your extensions and the bond are maintained in the recommended way, they will not damage your own hair.
How long will my hair extensions last? An important question to consider if you are planning on investing in hair extensions. If you follow a regular care and maintenance programme, your hair extensions can last up to six months.
If you opt for your hair extensions to be glued or bonded in as oppose to using the clips, the hair extensions are attached so they aren't directly at the scalp but not too low down on the hair shaft, meaning your own hair wont get damaged in the process.
So for your hair extensions to last for up to six months you have to care for them in the correct manner but what exactly is this correct manner? Your extensions will feel and look just like your own hair, meaning you can treat them like your own hair in the instance of washing, drying and styling them. If you are a first time user of hair extensions you might want to visit your salon for your first wash so you can find out all out the aftercare of your extensions. After this you are free to experiment with your hair extensions at home.
As well as finding out how and what happens when your extensions are put in, it is also important to be aware of the removal process of hair extensions. There are two ways in which your hair extensions are removed; one for fake hair and one for natural hair. For fake hair the seal that is protecting where the extensions are braided to your own hair is gently heated to soften it, meaning that the extension easily slips away from your natural hair. If real hair was used with a bonding resin then a releaser solution is applied. This releaser solution allows each individual extension to be remover safety and efficiently.
In the society that we live in today it has become second nature to plug a hairdryer, straightener or curling tongs in as part of our daily routine but can these appliances still be used on hair extensions? If your extensions are made from real hair then straighten and curl away! However if you are using synthetic hair you shouldn't be using straightening irons or curling tongs as it can damage the extensions.
Ok so one last question; should you be giving your hair a rest between having old extensions taken out and new ones put in? As long as your extensions are applied and removed correctly, meaning no damage has occurred then you can have your new extensions put in the same day your old ones come out.

Has your hair been damaged by sun, hair colouring, straightening or perming? As you probably already know most hair treatments don't solve this problem. Micro Mist hair is a treatment that uses the power of water to penetrate deep into the hair. It swells the hair and enhances any treatments that you have had.
The micro mist system comes to us from Japan and had been over a decade in the making. The treatment is locked into the hair. Convenient steamers boil water at 100 degrees to create steam. However the height of this temperature often causes more damage to the hair than it repairs. The micro mist system is different as it doesn't steam water; it uses ultra sound to generate mist and warms it in accordance to your hair type; keeping the temperature far below 100 degrees.
The micro mist treatment has six main functions:
• Hot wind - for warming up
• Hot fog - for helping hair absorb nutriments via utilizing the energy generated through cavitations effect.
• Cold fog - for helping the hair cortex absorb nutriments by adapting the quantum technique
• Ozone - for sterilizing and disinfecting
• Aromatic remedy - purifying the hair with water
A treatment using the micro mist system usually lasts just over six minutes, in which time you have several minutes of warmth then a shot of cold, which is used to close the hair cuticles. This is how the treatment is locked into the hair. You walk out of the salon with silky smooth hair that can last between 7 and 10 days and a few weeks.
Out of the six main functions of the micro mist system the three main ones that you need to know most about are the following:
Deep penetration of the hairHeating activates the molecular movement of treatment agents and water in hair. At the same time, heated micro mist swells the hair and enhances treatment agents permeate deep into each hair.
Setting in placeCooled air sent from the fan draws vaporized heat and rapidly soothes the molecular movement that has been activated by heat energy. This action reinforces fixation of treatment agents to the inside of damaged hair.
All over effectBy circulating a large quantity of mist in the hood where the temperature is excellently controlled, the entire hair evenly receives heat energy. Each hair gets a treatment effect and retains moisture, resulting in healthy and youthful hair.
The Micro Mist system repairs and rejuvenates your hair, giving it strength, suppleness and a longer lasting shine.
If you are hoping to take advantage of the great benefits the micro mist system has to offer then get into with your salon today as this treatment is unique to salons and can't be done at home, unless you have over £2,000 spare that is! The micro mist system creates a smooth and relaxing sensation for the customer while at the same time provides effective treatment for dry and damaged hair. The micro mist system is said to be the most effective treatment for damaged hair so book your appointment today.