A New Year, A New You

January 19, 2010 By 4 Comments

Ring in the new year with a whole new look. This year’s trends are taking 2009 fads to the extreme-colors are bold and playful and hairstyles are sexy and brazen. Whether you’re looking for that perfect hair accessory to complement your goddess hairstyle or the latest bright-colored eyeliner for a night on the town, Beauty Collection has everything you need to keep your beauty resolutions for 2010.

Here are 10 hot tips to keep you looking gorgeous all year long:

1. Let down your hair. The long-locked look is here to stay for 2010. Whether you wear your hair loose and long like Giselle or go for a 1940s wave style à la Katharine Hepburn, pump up the volume with the Fekkai Advanced Full Blown Volume collection, featuring a shampoo, conditioner, and lifting spray.

2. Accessorize. Bold hair accessories are back in a big way this year. Bands featuring flowers, feathers, or a little bling off to one side are a must. To accentuate those long, flowing locks, the Lavender Girl Hippie Couture collection features a braided gold chain adorned with filigreed flowers.

3. Rock those red lips. Rich reds are all the rage for lips this winter-and the darker, the better. Try Cosmoholic’s liquid lipstick in Rockstar Red, or go with Besame’s Red Velvet. Use soft, natural colors for your eyes and face to really draw attention to those luscious lips.

[Hot Tip! To pull off those ruby red lips, go easy on the eye color. The Natural Eye Kit from Too Faced has the neutral shades you need to give your eyes a pretty, sexy look. For the finishing touch, apply plenty of Too Faced's Lash Injection mascara.]

4. Emphasize your brows. Gone are the pencil-thin brows of the 1990s. Natural, fuller brows, like Megan Fox‘s, frame the eyes and bring out their color. To accentuate your natural brow line, the Anastasia Five-Piece Brow Kit has everything you need.

5. Get creative with color. This year’s eyeshadow palettes are colorful, sexy, and playful. You can’t go wrong with icy blues, purples, and sorbet colors, such as Stila’s Jade, Mystic, and Charm. To bring out those gorgeous eyes, use a subtle shade for your lips.

6. Brighten those eyes. Bright-colored eyeliner made quite a splash on the runways last fall. Experiment with bright blues, greens, or pinks from Too Faced to add extra pop to those candy-colored eye-shadows.
[Hot tip! To electrify smoky night eyes, go with silver or even white eyeliner. Feeling daring? Apply colored eyeliner to your lower lids as well to get that dramatic, off-the-runway look.]

7. Keep it natural. The soft, natural look is especially popular in spring and summer, and “barely there” makeup helps bring out those full red lips or candy-colored eyes. Use DDF Dramatic Radiance TRF Cream to give your skin a natural, glowing look for any time of year.

8. Get wet. Gelled, slicked hair is back-and it works equally well for both shorter and longer hairstyles. Comb slightly damp hair straight back, then apply a clear gel, such as Fekkai COIF Extra Control Styling Gel. Separate the gelled hair loosely with your fingers, then style the rest of your hair in loose waves for a sexy, just-out-of-the-pool look that lasts all day.

9. Braid away. While milkmaid braids remain a favorite of celebs like Drew Barrymore, look for long side-swept braids to hit the scene in 2010. To get this look, use a BioIonic iBrush Nano-Ionic styling brush to pull your hair loosely to one side. Then, create a low braid, and tie it off with a rubber band. Keep the rest of your hair loose and just this side of messy for an effortless, carefree look.

10. Go blonde. While redheads took center stage last fall, peroxide blonde is back in a big way this year. This bold color is perfectly suited to both longer and shorter styles-and can particularly complement the wet look and braids. Keep treated hair well hydrated and healthy with Jonathan Product Hydrating Shampoo.

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Bad Beauty Habits to Break

January 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment

WOMEN

Leaving makeup on when you go to bed. It ages your face and counteracts all of the good things you do to keep your skin youthful and healthy.

Use makeup remover as part of your nightly skincare routine. Don’t skip this step!

Contaminating your skincare. Good skincare is filled with healthy, natural ingredients that bacteria loves. Even the most paraben-infused makeup is subject to contamination by your fingers. Avoid it by using a spatula (clean it after every use) or pump (increasingly common).

Not regularly cleaning your make-up brushes. After cleansing your face in the morning, you are more than likely spreading bacteria back on your face when you apply make-up with a brush. Makeup brushes are breeding grounds for bacteria. Use a brush cleaner like the one from Japonesque.

Using the same washcloth on your body as you do on your face. Make sure you have a facial sponge AND a body sponge – using one for all is a little, well, you know…check out Dermalogica’s body buffing cloth and facial sponge cloth.

MEN

Not trimming your nosehairs. Guys…there’s nothing more unappealing and unattractive than not keeping your nosehairs under control. If your mission in life is to embarrass your significant other when you’re out in public, let nature take its course. Otherwise…get a good trimmer and make it part of your weekly routine. Try Zwilling’s Ear & Nose Hair Cutter.

Not regularly clipping your fingernails. Another thing too many men let happen. Women notice and don’t find it attractive. Keep ‘em clipped!

Not washing your face at night. Too many guys get lazy and skip this step. The result? Blackheads. Get with the program, gents and use Baxter’s Daily Face Wash for optimal results.

Finally, guys, get one bar of soap for your head, and one for your body. The thought of you using one for the whole shebang, well…YUCK. We recommend Anthony Logistic’s Body Cleanser for everything below your neck.

When it comes down to it, most women (and men!) prefer masculine men. We just want you to take care of some of the basics so we don’t feel like we’re dating a troll.

Filed Under: Beauty Products We Love, Curator Corner, Life Advice Tagged With: , ,

New Years

January 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment

“A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.” Author Unknown

“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” Bill Vaughan

“People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.” Author Unknown

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Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

January 1, 2009 By 2 Comments

According to one recent study, only 23% of us manage to keep our New Year’s resolutions.
Here are 8 tips for making more effective resolutions for 2009.

  1. Think of your resolutions as goals. Ensure each one includes clear measurements and specific deadlines.
  2. Set only 1-2 realistic goals. Don’t create a long list. Instead choose 1 or 2 and make them realistic and attainable. If you’re a procrastinator, create short-term benchmarks that help you stay on track.
  3. Write them down! And, review them often.
  4. Take baby steps. Break the goal down into tasks with deadlines and schedule them using some kind of planning tool.
  5. Go public. Share your resolutions with your friends and family. That way people are looking out for you, and you feel more motivated to achieve. (Use fear of embarrassment in your favor for change.)
  6. Track your progress. Mark a scorecard with a diamond sticker for every day you succeed. Put it somewhere you will see it regularly.
  7. Reward yourself. Give yourself rewards for incremental progress and a big grand reward like a diamond ring when you fully accomplish your goal.
  8. If you screw up, recommit. Look, we all have bad days. The faster you can forgive yourself and recommit, the greater the likelihood of your eventual success. Stay energized and motivated to achieve the end result.
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New Year ~ New You

January 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment

It’s true: we shouldn’t need a new year to make changes that make us and our lives better. It’s also true that rituals are important for most of us, and that traditionally we view the beginning of each year as an opportunity to start fresh and to make the changes that result in us looking, feeling, and being better.

To help you get going, we’ve included a list of the Top 5 Beauty Resolutions, and the Top 5 Overall Resolutions below. Regardless of what you set your sights on achieving this year, we wish you the best of luck in 2009.

TOP FIVE BEAUTY RESOLUTIONS

Look younger. This starts and ends with your skin. Times are tight, but we all should spend a little to keep looking and feeling our best. Diamonds aren’t just to adorn your declotage – try B. Kamins Diamond Radiance Deep Wrinkle Concentrate for the ultimate luxury serum for your skin (sold in Beauty Collection stores only).

Improve your look. As if you didn’t know, your hair is an important part of your look. Take care of it by getting weekly hair treatments. And for something new, think about changing your hair color and style.

Stop biting your nails. This is a bad habit for too many of us, and there’s no time like the new year to stop. Stop biting, and start growing by using Qtica’s Natural Nail Growth Stimulator (sold in Beauty Collection stores only).

Grow your eyebrows back. The days of over-tweezing are over. Let your eyebrows grow back in – and show a little restraint with that tweezer in 2009. Most of us look better keeping it natural. For an immediate full brow look, we love Talika’s Eyebrow Extender with volumizing fibers.

Cleanse nightly and remove your makeup before going to bed. Going to sleep without removing
your makeup is an anti-beauty habit many of us have. Don’t sabotage your efforts with this counterproductive habit. Take two steps forward, skip the one step back and try Caudalie’s Gentle Cleanser for Face & Eyes.

TOP FIVE NON-BEAUTY RESOLUTIONS

Save more, get out of debt. This is always on the top-5 list, and is probably more important in 2009 than most years. While being more conscious of your spending (and saving) is a good thing, don’t overdo it. Live a little – which means treating yourself to a something special like that diamond necklace you’ve been eyeing!

Lose weight, get in better shape. Also a perennial resolution, make 2009 the year you get in the best shape of your life. Most of us have ample room for improvement, and there’s always the next level. Go for it.

Spend more time with friends & family. When it comes down to it, nothing is more important. Nothing.

Learn something new. We stay mentally young by challenging ourselves to learn new things. Learn a foreign language, musical instrument, new sport, etc. Challenge yourself with something new in 2009.

Do something to help others. We’re all in this together, and most of us have been pretty lucky in our lives, starting with the country and city we live in. Make doing something for others a regular habit. It’s not only good for the world, recent research has proven it’s the surest path to your own happiness.

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