Tips and Tricks

The sections we have so far are skin, makeup, hands + feet, and hair. Thanks to GL for these. Enjoy!

Skin

  • Make your own body lotion: Buy unscented lotion, and add some of you favorite perfume or cologne.
  • Mask oily skin: Get oil under control by using a clay mask once a week.
  • Powder can look cakey and fake, especially when you have to keep re-applying. To sop up oil during the day, try Bloom Face Blotting Tissues ($8, sephora.com).

    Makeup

  • To lighten up your eyes and flatter them, go for sheer, neutral shadow colors like beige or pale banana-yellow. That keeps the focus on you, not on your eyeshadow.
  • To make a big nose look smaller, don't let your eyebrows come too close together. Start plucking in line with the inner corner of your eyes.
  • Kick up your own lip color by applying a sheer blue lip gloss --- it enhances your lip's own natural pinkish color.
  • Use unfrosted 100-watt bulbs to see yourself in the mirror with the most realistic, natural light.
  • Lengthen your lashes: Hold the mascara wand at the base of your lashes, and quickly blink a few times (just enough to flutter your lashes) while pulling the wand through to the ends. This gets mascara all the way to the tips for a luxuriously long look.
  • Get curvier lashes by heating your metal lash curler with your blow-dryer for a few seconds. When it's cool enough to touch, curl away.
  • Plump your pout: Slick on your lip color, and then grab some pearly gloss. Put the pearly gloss on the outer edge of your mouth and slightly blend it in.

    Hands and Feet

  • Get soft cuticles by heating a cup of olive oil in a small pan on the stove until just warm (not hot!). Pour the oil into a ceramic bowl, and soak your fingers until the oil cools. Then, wash your hands with soap and water. Finish with a hand cream.
  • To avoid streaky polish, paint nails in tow thin coats, using just three strokes --- right, lef, and middle.
  • File like a pro: It's hard to get all your nails exactly the same length and shape. The best way to gauge? When you're filing, periodically flip your hand over so your palms are facing you to check that all the tips look even.
  • To figure out your perfect nail shape, look at the pink line beneath the white tip of your nail, then follow the shape as you file.
  • Keep nail breaks at bay by never filing your nails when you have polish on.

    Hair

  • Smooth away baby hairs: Buy a clean mascara spoolie (at drugstores) and spray it with strong-hold hairspray. Brush back the baby hairs to blend with the rest of your hairline.
  • To get instant volume, spray your fingertips with hairspray, then dig to your scalp, raising your fingers every couple of seconds to lift your hair. You'll get fullness without stickiness.
  • To get the spent-the-day-at-the-beach look, add texture to your hair by dissolving sea salt in water in a spray bottle. Spray on wet hair, and style away.
  • Straighten your curly hair the right way. Apply your straightening product by starting at the ends and working up to the roots. Your hair will be just as straight but with more volume.
  • Balance a long face by getting bangs that are longer and sweep to one side. They help break up the visual line, softly framing your features.