Beauty and Health Benefits of Drinking Water

We all want smooth, soft, unblemished skin. But sometimes it seems like great skin is either something you’re born with or something you’ll never achieve. These days, the medical industry has created skin care treatments that are halfway between plastic surgery and serious cosmetics. You can have your skin sanded, chemically peeled, zapped with lasers, frozen or injected with Botox, the catchy hyphenated name for botulism toxin. You can spend thousands of dollars in a pretty short period of time to achieve results that may or may not be what you hoped for.

But one of the most wonderful skin care treatments is easily available to everyone, has side benefits that affects not just your rosy glow but your whole body, and is utterly painless to use. It’s called water, and you drink it.

Not coffee. I know, coffee has water. It also has an abundance of interesting chemicals including caffeine, which raises your heartbeat, exaggerates stress on the body and causes diuresis, or loss of hydration. All these things combine to make for ravaged, hag-like skin, which if that’s what you’re aiming for, is just fine. But those of us who want to hold off hagdom as long as possible have to face the facts: that cappuccino may taste good, but it’s going to increase under eye circles, make your kidneys work harder than they should, and can result in breakouts, flushing and blotchy skin.

The facts are these. Not Pepsi, not beer, not juice, not even tea can replace the magical, rejuvenating effects of that old classic, H2O

How much water should you drink

With these thoughts in mind, I decided to actually drink the 8, 8-ounce glasses of water recommended by beauty experts and dermatologists alike. That’s four glasses in the morning, and four more after lunch, a doable goal. I filled my glass from the tap and took a drink. I tasted chlorine, chemicals, weird odiferous things that don’t smell like water should. City water stinks. This was going to be harder than I thought. 

Bottled Drinking Water

I could buy bottled water, at a dollar a pint, at the grocery store. Let’s see, there are two cups in a pint, and I need to drink at least 8 cups per day. Four dollars a days sounds like a lot for water, don’t you think? Like I’m going to spend $120 a month on drinking water! And, then I’ll need to buy 28 bottles of water a week, and bring them home and store them. At this rate, I’ll never drink water again. 

Tap Water Filters for Safe Drinking Water at Home

But I went to my girlfriend’s house for dinner, and when she poured water into her fridge pitcher, I noticed a space-age contraption hanging off the tap. She said it’s called a water filter and you drink water with it. When I sipped my glass of water, I understood. No weird chemical smells, no salty-chlorinated creepiness, just clean, tasty water. This stuff I can drink!

She filled a gallon bottle for me, and I brought home a supply. The next day, I went online and checked out drinking water filters, finally choosing the Brita facet water filtration system for its quality and price. I read upon it a little first, and found that the Brita filter removes lead, asbestos, toluene and benzene, among a couple of dozen other impurities and really frightening chemicals.

And somehow, although your water is filtered of all sorts of horrible, cancer-causing agents, the Brita lets the fluoride remain, keeping your teeth strong.

I’m drinking my eight glasses a day now, and am already seeing the positive effects. I never realized how I avoided drinking water because it always tasted so bad, but now I like it—it tastes great!

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How to Get Rid of Pimples Quickly- 5 Fast Tips to "Zap the Zits"

How to get rid of pimples quickly requires you to maintain healthy skin. While there are thousands of products and treatments available to help improve the quality of your skin, only a small percentage of these are natural.

Most beauty products contain harsh, damaging chemicals. Although treatments such as chemical peels and botox have become popular, there is no conclusive proof as to what most of these treatments and chemicals will do to the skin years later. If you want to have great looking skin without dangerous chemicals or procedures, here are 5 tips to help keep your skin remain healthy.

Tip #1: Nutritious diet. You’ve probably heard the phrase "you are what you eat." If you think about it, this old saying is quite true. If you want your body to function properly and look its best, you need to include the nutrients it needs and avoid foods that cause damage. For beautiful skin, you should try have more fiber intake and "good fats" in your diet; and avoid foods with a lot of sugar.

Tip #2: Drink 8 glasses of water a day. All cells need water to function properly. If your skin cells aren’t properly hydrated, waste products build up in your cells. Also, if you don’t drink enough water, your cells will retain as much as they can and you’ll end up looking puffy and bloated.

Tip #3: Circulation. To function properly, our cells need to get plenty of oxygen. If you spend your days sitting at a desk or remaining mostly immobile, your circulation probably isn't as good as it could be. Increase your circulation by getting more exercise, stretching, or getting regular massages. You can also use a brush to exfoliate your skin which improves circulation while removing old, dead cells. Not only will this give your skin a better look, it can also reduce the appearance of unsightly cellulite.

Tip #4: Stay out of the sun. Although a little sun is good for you, due to it providing Vitamin D, too much sun can age your skin. Use hats, clothes, or sun block to protect you from damaging UV rays.

Tip #5: Natural skin products. Traditional beauty products contain all many unnatural chemicals. Most are there as preservatives, which are designed to enhance color or texture. These chemicals not only have no value to your skin, some may cause cancer and other dangerous problems. It’s beneficial to use natural products if you want to look your best and stay healthy. Just be sure to check labels, as many products will claim they’re natural or organic, and only contain one natural or organic ingredient. Be wary of ingredients you can’t pronounce and look for certification seals to be sure you’re getting what you pay for. Not only will these help normal skin, they’re also less likely to irritate sensitive skin.

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THREE EASY STEPS TO BEAUTIFUL SKIN

Three Easy Steps to Beautiful Skin: Cleanse, Protect, Treat
Everyone wants flawless skin. But a beautiful complexion is the result of many factors: genetics, nutrition, lifestyle and age. Selecting the correct skin care regimen for your skin and your life stage will help your skin stay healthy and radiant, and the earlier you begin the better.

Significant hormonal changes that occur during the teen years tend to cause production of sebum (oil) to increase so that teen skin tends to more oily. Formerly normal skin may begin to see pimples popping up and oily skin may experience significant breakouts. It is important to start a proper skin care protocol during your teenage years to avoid scarring and imperfections. Taking care of your skin today will not only make you look better now but will help keep your skin continue to glow as you get older.

CLEANSE:

The first step is choosing the right facial cleanser: start with a cleanser that rinses clean and thoroughly cleanses the skin without stripping it. If you have acne-prone skin, consider washes that contain salicylic acid to control oil production, benzoyl peroxide to treat pimples or glycolic acid to rid skin of dead skin cells. If you have dry or sensitive skin, consider cleansers that are non-irritating and contain soothing elements (like aloe vera) and hydrating ingredients. Everyone has different skin types and skin conditions and in order to achieve optimum results, make sure you select products that are right for your skin.

PROTECT:

Once your skin is clean, protect it from environmental pollutants and sun damage. The number one way to keep skin healthy is SUNSCREEN. The sun’s rays cause both immediate and long-term damage including wrinkles, dark spots, loss of firmness and possibly melanoma. The best way to protect skin is to use a daily moisturizer with an SPF of at least 15 in it. Everyday. There is a moisturizer for every skin type so be sure to select the right one for your skin, making sure that it contains sun protection and, ideally, vitamins and nutrients to prevent and restore.

TREAT:

This is the time to “fix” what you feel is broken. Acne? Use a product containing an antibacterial agent to fight that P-Acnes bacteria (the guilty culprit that causes those pimples). If your skin is shiny hours before lunch, treat your skin at night with an oil-reducing product containing salicylic acid to minimize oil production.

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APPLY SUNLESS TANNING LOTION & AVOID SKIN CANCER RISKS

There is something to be said for a golden, California-style tan, but spending hours tanning under the blazing solar disk is more of a skin-cancer risk than it is a fine tanning option. You could go all out and spent a hundred dollars getting a spray-on tan from a salon, but you risk losing control over the shade. For a few measly bucks, hide those pasty legs to the computer and buy some Neutrogena’s Instant Bronze sunless tanning and bronzer in one at the local drugstore. It’s a soft foam that provides instant color, then develops a tan as well.

Sunless Tanning Lotions: How they Work?
Tanning lotions and creams are basically a way of dying your skin a lovely, summertime hue without exposing yourself to harmful radiation. Tanning in its most primitive form is the same thing: UV rays interact with the melanin in your skin, turning it brown and dying you from the inside out. With a store-bought tan and bronzer, you can start out golden, and any incidental color you happen to pick up in the course of your summer is just gravy.

How to Apply a Believable Sunless Tan
Before you start, decide how deep a tan you want, and plan how much of your body you want tanned. Trouble spots include the neck, and the clavicle area. A deeply-tanned chest above the breasts can look old and wrinkly, so be careful. Decide how you want your feet to look: you don't want a tan that ends in a pair of white ankles! The same with your hands; your tan shouldn't end at your wrists. In general, tanning your face should be avoided because of tricky things like the thin skin under the eyes. If you feel you must have a tan on your face, consider a bronze makeup or powder, or have it professionally tanned at a good salon.

Start with freshly shaven legs so the lotion will go on smoothly, and apply it as evenly as you can. If you can, use a full-length mirror or get a friend to help you apply the lotion to the backs of your legs, you shoulders, waist and back.

Tanning lotion is like salt in a stew: you can always add more, but it's hard to take any out. If you're looking for a pretty rich color, plan to do your tanning in more than one application, so you can brown up in increments, preventing overdoing it.

I recommend Neutrogena because although it costs a little more, you won't end up the bright-orange color of cheap tanning lotions. Getting your tan from a company that specializes in skin care with an eye to sensitivity it also a good idea to my way of thinking.

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THE DOS & DON'TS OF MAKE-UP

The Dos

* As with any make-up, blending is the key.

* Keep your make-up light for school. You don't need to use make-up on every facial feature you have! Mix and match to find out what looks best on you.

* As a first step to any successful makeup, always start with your complexion: erase imperfections.

* First test a foundation color by applying a thin line of color to the jaw line. This will allow you to compare color to the skin on the face as well as the neck to avoid any obvious differences. The color should blend perfectly with your skin tone.

* If you're going to use an eyeliner, a pencil liner looks more natural than liquid liner.

* Black/Brown mascara and eyeliner flatters most faces, blondes, brunettes, and redheads. Black is usually too harsh, especially for blondes.

* Pinks and peaches blush tones compliment almost any skin tone. Apply to the apple of your cheeks and blend outwards, towards your hairline.

* For luscious lips, lip gloss does the trick. If you want to add some color to your lips for a nighttime look, try a lipstick in a sheer color. For extra shine, put the lip gloss on over your lipstick. Always have lip balm handy for chapped lips.

* Clean your make up brushes and applicators often to reduce bacteria and oil.

The Don'ts

* Don't use a rich cream or foundation on oily skin. A heavy moisturizer or foundation will probably wreak havoc and cause pimples. Try using a light moisturizer or oil-free foundation.

* Don't over pluck your eyebrows. Overly plucked eyebrows look unnatural and make your eyes appear smaller.

* Don't wear heavy make-up in the summer. Heavy foundation will cake and melt off in the summer heat and humidity, leaving you with a streaked look.

* Don't choose dramatic colors for daytime looks. Neutral tones are the best for daytime

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EYEBROW SHAPING 101 - HOW TO PLUCK THE PERFECT SHAPE

Eyebrows are tricky creatures. You know how they’re supposed to look, but sometimes they don’t want to cooperate, and because they’re growing out of your head, they have a semi permanent character that defies wishes and good intentions.

One of the many problems of eyebrows is the fact that if they aren’t the right color, they can either dominate your face or disappear entirely. Their unfortunate (but necessary) proximity to your eyeballs makes it a pretty major no-no to just sweep the haircolor across each brow and hope it doesn’t drip into your eyes. That’s why the goddess of practical beauty created the eyebrow pencil, an unsatisfactory solution, but sometimes better than nothing if your eyebrows happen to be very pale.

Shaping Your Eyebrows: How to get the perfect arch shape
Shape is also crucial, and if your eyebrows are coarse, creating and maintaining the ideal shape is difficult because pulling out individual hairs can leave large gaps, or severely shorten the length of a brow if you happen to pull out the half-inch hair on the very end.

The perfect eyebrow starts above the inside corner of your eye (over the tear duct), and ends at the outside corner, above your eyelashes. Eyebrows should have an arch: in nature, it’s rarely where it should be, which is a frustrating commentary on standards of beauty. Ideally, the arch happens over the iris, the colored part of your eye. It should be gentle, so if you’re planning to reshape your arch, take it very, very slowly. Do a hair or two a day, and err on the side of caution. Hasty plucking can give you a surprised look that lasts for weeks.

How to Pluck Eyebrows with Tweezers: The Do's and Don'ts
Many women pluck their eyebrows with tweezers. Some wax them, but wax is tricky because it’s hard to get an accurate shape. And some go to a hair removal salon to try "threading." Although threading is newly popular in the United States, it is a centuries-old technique of hair removal practiced in India. The eyebrow experts say never, never to pluck your eyebrows from above, but always to pluck from the bottom of the brow. I say, if you have some wild or stray or bushy hairs growing above your brows, feel free to pluck them. I did it once, and nothing bad happened to me.

I read somewhere that it’s okay to trim your eyebrows. I think this is good if the single hairs are long and thick. You can pluck some hairs and trim the others, brushing them up, evening the ends (be careful not to trim too much!), then brushing them down checking again and again as you go along.

Use Eyebrow Gel to Keep Your Brow Shape Neat after Tweezing
Finally, keeping your brows neat can be done with special eyebrow gel, or you can use a little hair gel to smooth them and keep them shapely.

You can buy an entire professional-style brow kit that includes tweezers, pencils, grooming gels and brush from Anastasia at www.drugstore.com.

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PROPER NAIL CARE AND NAIL BITING ADVICE

The first thing we can all do in having good-looking hands is to keep them
clean by washing regularly. It’s amazing how many people (guys especially, but some women and girls too) walk around with grubby non manicured finger nails. Get a nail brush and put it by the sink, so it’s convenient whenever you wash your hands. An added plus of a nail brushing your fingers is the way it feels: those soft bristles and the luxurious soapy lather take your hands on a daily very mini spa vacation. Always follow up with a nice hand cream or lotion to keep your hands moisturized.

Stop nail biting. Break your toddler or child's habit early.
Beautiful hands and nail care start with basics, and not having raggy, bleeding cuticles is a primary step in having presentable hands. Granted, one of the hardest habits to break is to stop fingernail biting, but it’s also one of the more disfiguring things that can happen to a hand. We all know someone who bites their nails to the quick, then starts on those ragged cuticles. Nail-biting usually starts in early childhood as a toddler with some people never outgrowing it, while others only revert to nail-biting in times of stress.

A finger nail biting cure that helped remedy 18 year old girl's problem from when she was a child. I know a New York woman who stopped biting her nails when she was eighteen, because she wanted to be a flight attendant, and she had read in one of those “How to Be a Flight Attendant” guides, that bitten nails would keep her from being accepted into “Smile School”. (It was a long time ago, when airlines also had age limitations for stewardesses.) I admired her greatly as she stopped through sheer willpower.
At first, she went retro and wore gloves a lot. She also started carrying a nail file in her purse so that when a nail got split or roughened, she could take care of it on the spot. She wore gloves because taking off a glove to bite a nail is a great way to make yourself pause and consider, and then stop the behavior before it starts. She never did become a flight attendant, but she did have her hands photographed for a newspaper ad for the Chicago manicure and nail salon that she frequented and once more a few years later for a Los Angeles nail care and manicure salon.

Nail care and nail biting products
There are some products on the market to stop nail-biting, super-hot or bitter things to paint on your nails. I've heard some nail-biters say that the nasty taste didn't stop them, but they must work for some people.

Finally, for nail-biters and non-nail-biters alike, hand cream right before bed is a great way to keep your skin smooth. When things are looking rough (or if you’re a biter who’s trying to quit), you can get some wonderfully thin cotton gloves, slather on a hand cream like Sephora’s Bliss Glamour Glove Gel and glove up until morning. The cotton will keep the hand cream off the pillows and on your hands where it belongs. And for a real spa-treatment, get some little cotton socks and give your feet the same experience.


Nail polish shows off those fingers.
And for a little something extra try a nice bright nail polish for your next manicure. OPI nail products give a great professional finish that looks like you went to a manicure salon or spa. But buyer beware of the "fake" acrylic manicure. Your own natural nails are better than using fake "glue on" nails. If your manicurist doesn't properly clean tier tools, acrylic nail application can cause the dreaded nail fungus that has to be specially treated for months at a time. My advice save the acrylic french manicure for a special event or occasion like attending the Boston symphony in a black sleek gown.

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Help for Puffy Eyes

Puffy eyes can come as a result of many factors including allergies, alcohol consumption, smoking and fluid retention to name a few. Here are few tips to help de-puff your puffy eyes.

Reduce alcohol consumption
Eat a low salt diet
Sleep with your head slightly elevated to prevent fluid retention
Place cool cucumbers over each of your eyes
No cucumbers handy? Place a cool tea bag over each eye instead. Chamomile is relaxing and contains anti-inflammatory properties.
Always remove your eye makeup before going to bed
Use an eye cream.

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CREATING EASY PERFECTLY POUTY LIPS

Color Your Lips - Choosing and Applying Lipstick, Lip Gloss and Liner for Perfectly Pouty Lips

The best lipsticks are long-lasting, perfectly colored and made with ingredients that enhance not only your look but the health of your lips as well. The best lip looks rely on knowing the best colors for your skin. Use these lip tips to keep your makeup beautiful and your lips smooth and soft.

Before adding lip color or gloss, calm your lips for smoother, long lasting color.
If your lips are chapped or dry, lipstick will go on unevenly and fade away fast. Tiny lines around the mouth can trap color, causing lipstick to "bleed"—never a good look! Use a soothing lip treatment or lip balm to moisturize and heal your lips, providing a smooth base for your lip color. Look for calming lip treatment with essential oil of sweet marjoram, lavender, and tarragon, which goes on with a warm tingle and promotes healing. With soft, beautiful lips, your lip color will look and feel better than ever!

Lipstick—a million colors to choose from!
One of the biggest makeup challenges is choosing the right lip color. Some women vary their lipstick in accordance with their wardrobe—a big no-no, since your lipstick is supposed to complement your skin tones!

It's not hard to choose lipstick colors once you know one simple fact. All you need to know is whether your skin tones are "warm" or "cool". It's not about how dark or light you are, or even about your hair or eye color, but what the undertone of your skin is—is it bluish (cool) or yellowish (warm)? Everyone is either warm or cool and it's all about your facial coloring: blondes, brunettes and redheads can be either one.

So how can you tell if you aren't sure? Dig through your makeup bag and find just two shades of any kind of makeup—lip color, eye shadow or blush. Find one color that is orange or rust and another that is pink or lavender. Rub one color on the apple of your cheek and the other color on the apple of the other cheek and then compare. Does one look more "right" than the other? Does one look garish or just wrong? The color that works will show you your skin tone. If the orange color looks right, you have warm tones; if the pink color looks right, you are cool.

Now that you know your skin tone, you are free to choose any lip color in that color family. But that doesn't mean you'll only wear one lipstick shade: you still have plenty to choose from! Take a look at this list of potential lip shades for either coloring:

Warm Colors
Coral, Peachy, Russet, Rust, Amber, Brown, Brick Red, Melon, Salmon, Orange, Sandalwood, Red with yellow undertone, Taupe

Cool Colors
Pink, Raspberry, Cherry, Mulberry, Lavender, Plum, Rose, Strawberry, Crimson, Amethyst, Lilac, Red with blue undertone, Mauve

As you can see, the color names associated with warm and cool tones tend to fall into two groups. The warm tones tend to be earthy, woodsy, with only a couple of fruit names (peach and melon). Cool tones tend to contain the names of berries, which are often shades of pink or purple or reds with blue undertones. Warm and cool women can both wear red lipstick, but the "true red" tend to be bluish, so warm women should look for reds with a slight leaning towards brown or orange. Once you understand your skin tone, the trick is not to fall for a pretty name when the shade doesn't flatter your skin. Lipstick makers know that a lush name, reminiscent of flowers or jewels or romance, can sell a lipstick even when the color looks terrible on most women. So beware!

Don't let the name fool you into buying something that looks wrong on you. Read the name after you've looked at the color!
The best way to get every shade you want is to buy a whole palette of lip colors. But lipstick palettes usually have two or three colors that work and another fifteen that look just awful. If you've ever bought a lip palette, you know what it's like: there are a couple of colors you want, and you have to buy the rest of the palette to get them. They're the two spots where the color's worn to the bottom of the case in a few months while the rest of the compact is untouched. When you're out of the colors you love, the rest goes into a drawer. "I'll think about it later," we say to ourselves while the little pots of unused, unwearable color pile up inside our vanity drawers.
Wouldn't it be great to get a lip palette of every shade you love? To choose each individual color based on what looks great on you? To know you can mix colors with the confidence of knowing that they will blend beautifully because they are in the same color family? And when a beloved color runs low, wouldn't it be great to just replace it and keep the compact! Guess what? You can!

Use a lip pencil or liner to before putting on lip color.
While you don't want to stray too far from the natural shape of your mouth, lip pencils can add clean definition while subtly but powerfully redefining your mouth. Drawn just outside your natural lip line, lip pencil adds fullness; drawn just on the inside, your lips appear slightly thinner.

Want to achieve a luscious pout? Add fullness to the bottom lip with a lip pencil two shades lighter than the one you use on your upper lip.

Love the Julia Roberts look? Soften and enhance your upper lip line by drawing with your lip pencil in a heavy stroke, then smudge ever-so-slightly upwards with the end of your pinkie. Blot, then apply your lipstick to the edge of the original line.

For total freedom in lip color, make sure you have lip liner pencils in several colors. One lip pencil just can't cut it: you'll want to use slightly lighter or darker lip pencils to create the illusion of fullness or to slightly thin out heavier lips.

Great Lip Gloss
You can't buy lip gloss from a drugstore—unless you want a gloppy, sticky, slimy mess, perhaps adorned with little bits of sharp glitter and a heavy bubble-gum scent. Store brands can have lots of confusing ingredients, but we have decoded the makeup terms for their true meaning. Perfect for 'tweens, lip gloss for grown-ups should add subtle shine and color. But the best lip glosses do more than shine you up: they add essential organic oils like tangerine, clove, peppermint, lavender, vanilla, grapefruit and rose. Essential oils not only add health to your lips: their natural scents create instant aromatherapy when applied to the lips. Vanilla and peppermint have been shown to increase happy feelings; grapefruit and tangerine give you a boost of energy; rose and lavender are perfect for calming and soothing stressed nerves. Lip gloss with essential oils that does more than make you look wonderful: it makes you feel wonderful too!

Warm and cool shades apply to your lip gloss choices as they do your lipsticks. Choose colors one shade lighter or darker than your favorite lipsticks for an extra layer of light-loving color, or wear them alone for a natural, pretty look.

Want to maximize your lip color wardrobe? Choose your lipsticks first, then add lip pencils one shade darker than each lipstick, and finish by picking lip glosses one shade lighter than each lipstick. Make sure your lip pencils, lipsticks and glosses are all from the same color family that matches your skin tone. Don't forget a calming lip treatment to protect and smooth no matter which colors you wear!

For Work to Dinner to Dancing: A Lip for All Reasons
Your daily lip color should be more muted than your night-time look, but we often dash from work to an evening out without returning home. With a small, portable lip palette, you can bring a daytime and a nighttime shade along with complementary lip pencils with no extra hassle—they fit into your purse! Take along a miniature compact with your daily shade, and add a second, more dramatic color alongside it. Or wear a gloss for day and add a lipstick for night. When you're getting ready for the evening, your glammed-up lip color will be right—and right where you need it.

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Makeup Expiration Dates

Do you want to know when it’s time to clean out your makeup bag? Although each makeup manufacturer has a suggested expiration date for their product, below are a few suggestions as to the average shelf life of beauty products once they have been opened and used:
Blush 2 years
Cleansers 1 year
Eye Liners 2 years
Eye Shadow 2 years
Foundation 1 year
Lip Liner 2 years
Lipstick 2 years
Mascara 3 months
Moisturizers 1 year

Keep in mind that using expired makeup products may cause skin irritation and breakouts.

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STRETCH MARKS

Stretch marks are really common for girls in their teens. Your body hasn't finished growing and during your teenaged years, your hips will get bigger, your thighs, your breasts, etc. The marks you have now are like "growth marks" to show where your limbs have lengthened and your body has gotten more womanly curves as you've grown from your little kid's body. It's likely that at least half the girls you know have stretch marks somewhere on their body, even if you haven't seen them.

The good news is, these stretch marks eventually will fade away. It's just a matter of being patient. It's sort of like waiting out the pimply period - lots of teens go through a stage where they get tons of zits, and then one day they just stop getting them and the marks fade. Stretch marks are the same.

To hide your stretch marks until that time, you can use waterproof concealer over the marks on your skin. You use it just like you'd use concealer on your face to cover up blemishes. The good thing about getting the waterproof kind is, if you go swimming or get sweaty from activity, the makeup stays on. Companies that make waterproof concealer include Lancome, Avon and Rejuvana - check for them at your local drugstore or department store cosmetics counter.

Finally, try to keep things in perspective. Don't let your stretch marks stop you from wearing anything that you feel like putting on. Chances are, no one notices your stretch marks except you. Other girls are too busy worrying about their own so-called "flaws" - and guys just don't notice stuff like that. Trust me! One day, those marks will go away, but don't wait until then to live your life and wear whatever fashions you admire. Life's too short to stress over a few little lines.

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LONG LASTING MAKE-UP

There are two secrets to long-lasting foundation. The first is choosing the right formula of foundation your skin type. If your makeup doesn't last between classes, you probably have naturally oily skin. This type of skin loses foundation easily. So switch from whatever foundation product you are using to an oil-free formula that contains salicylic acid (an acne-fighting ingredient). I can recommend two that I think are very good:

Clinique Clarifying Makeup - This is an excellent liquid foundation product that provides excellent matte coverage. It is oil-free and contains salicylic acid to prevent breakouts. The makeup formula is streak-proof and sweat-resistant, so it lasts well and doesn't need frequent reapplying. It is also 100% fragrance free and allergy tested, so it won't irritate your skin. This product is available at department stores and some drugstores.

Neutrogena SkinClearing Oil Free Makeup - This is a very good oil-free liquid foundation that contains salicylic acid to help control oil. It lives up to its advertising, providing a pretty flawless finish and helping to reduce the look of pores. This makeup is very long-lasting - like the Clinique product, it is also sweat-resistant and streak-proof. You can buy this product at most drugstores.

The second secret to long-lasting foundation is powder. If you have problems with makeup not staying on, using powder will be very helpful to you! Pressed or loose powder after foundation will "set" your makeup (giving it lasting power) and minimize shine. After you apply your concealer and foundation, use the sponge or puff that comes with your powder product to apply it all over your face and neck. Cover Girl makes two excellent powder formulas that will work well over with an oil-free foundation. Cover Girl Clean Pressed Powder provides a flawless finish, and Cover Girl Fresh Complexion Oil Control Makeup (another pressed powder in a compact) is good for finish and shine control.

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Hip -T Giveaway

Jenn, over at Wanderlu5t, is having a giveaway. She is giving you the chance to win a Hip-T of their choosing. 


For your chance to win make your way over to Wanderlu5t and enter to win. 


You will need to enter before midnight on June 13, 2010.

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4 Steps to a Flawless Complexion

Want perfect skin? Return to the basics: daily cleansing, exfoliating, and moisturizing.

1. Target your T-zone.

Most women have a greater buildup of cells on the forehead, nose, and chin, which can lead to clogged pores. Sweep a cotton puff or pad steeped in salicylic acid-based toner over your face, concentrating on those areas.

Try True Pore-Fection Skin Refining Toner; Clearskin Purifying Astringent Blackhead Clearing Formula.

2. Do a weekly mask.

Feed skin extra nutrients or anti-aging ingredients with a once-a-week treatment. Masks can penetrate more deeply and are more effective once dead skin cells have been diminished.
3. Use an SPF of 15 or higher.
Consistent sloughing helps diminish hyperpigmentation like brown spots and freckles. To keep skin tone even, you must use a protective product with an SPF of 15 or higher – even for incidental sun exposure.
4. Apply makeup with a light hand.
When skin is properly exfoliated, you don’t need a ton of coverage. You won’t have to worry about the cakey look that can result from pigment clinging to clumps of dry cells.

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