eBeautyDaily » How-to

Halloween Help: Part 2

Aly Walansky — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:44:32 +0000

As promised!

A few months ago, I met Lauren Luke at her Sephora launch event, and LOVE her. So, when I saw she had updated her YouTube with some fabulous new tips for Halloween makeup, I had to share them here!

For those who don’t know, Lauren is the beauty-blog-queen of of the UK. Her YouTube channel has over 300,000 subscribers…just to watch her play with makeup. (Geez. Why didn’t I think of that?)

Her ideas are great, though. Check out some below.

Gothic Vampire Look

Lauren used the Twilight Ash eyeshadow from her My Smokey Classics makeup kit to help create this vampy look.

Angel Eyes

(She uses some of my fave MAC products in this one!)

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No-Fuss Pageant Beauty

Aly Walansky — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:50:28 +0000

Next week is the Miss Black USA Pageant, and millions of girls will look upon the contestants and covet some aspect of their look.

Why not start a week early?

Black Opal

Kebra Emanuel-Autry, Head Make-up Artist for the 2009 Miss Black USA Pageant, says she is in love with Black Opal. “I am so excited that they are this year’s sponsor for the Miss Black USA Pageant. Their products are great– and not just for fashion shows but also for the everyday woman with a “no fuss” approach to beauty!”

Kebra swears by makeup brushes, and says they “are a must for creating a seamless well-blended finish” – but that many woman don’t know how to choose a brush, or when/how to use it. She provided a bit of a cheat sheet for us:

Powder Brush

This is the easiest one to recognize, it’s the full, soft-haired brush used for applying loose powder. Kebra says to try yours with Black Opal’s Invisible Oil Blocking Powder to alleviate shine.

Under Eye Brush

This is the small, soft-haired brush normally used for smoothing the under-eye area where powder can collect in fine lines or wrinkles. This works well with Black Opal’s Fade and Conceal, which is a 2-in-1 concealer, to highlight your under eye area and cover any blemishes or darkness.

Blush Brush

Makeup drawer must-have: It’s a medium-sized, soft-haired brush used when applying bronzer or blush. Swirl yours over one of Black Opal’s Mosaic Bronzing Powders compacts to add luminosity and richness to your skin.

Lip Brush

You already know this one. but this short, fairly stiff brush is a gem for the precise application of lipstick and lip gloss. You can try this with Black Opal’s Dual-Ended Lip Gloss.

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How to blow out your hair!

Aly Walansky — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 07:51:46 +0000

I keep on getting emails with how-to’s on how to blow out your hair. I am grateful..and yet, I know that many of us cannot learn such an invovled task simply by reading a few paragraphs!

I just discovered MonkeySee, though, a free how-to video site featuring real experts offering instruction, demonstrations and advice on almost any topic imaginable. Turns out there’s a whole channel devoted to this sort of thing, and one is … blowouts!

How to Blow Dry your hair, Mona Harb, salon and spa owner:

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HairZing Demo and Review

Christina Jones — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 02:54:52 +0000

I spend my whole life growing out my hair, I think. I love to wear it short and I love it long, so I am always transitioning to one style or another. So, I am growing out now, from this, which was my spring ‘do, to – well, I don’t quite know yet. I have been lusting lately over Gene Simmon’s wife, Shannon Tweed’s, hair – it really is gorgeous – see (and, ahem, Gene isn’t looking so bad after all that surgery either, eh?)? I always cut it off before it makes it that long though. Impatient.
So, I have discovered this wonderful hair *doo dad* – called the HairZing. I was sent a press release about it a while back and took a peek, and was pretty intrigued, but I recently got my hot little hands on one, and WOW. I really do love it. This is the ultimate gorgeous tool for whipping your hair up in the hot TX summer. It is dressy, it is casual – really its just as cute as it can be, and super easy to use. I have a drawer full of doo dads that are NOT so easy to use. Are you like me?

So here is a little clip of me putting it in – I think you can see how pretty it is and how easy it is to put in and truly make an elegant style. Not saying that this particular style is so elegant, it needs a little work, but you can see the HairZing in action at any rate.

The HairZing is available in a ton of different colors, you can see them on the site here. They come in several different sizes as well, so poke around over there for a few minutes and see what they have. The one I have was $12.50, and the most expensive one I saw while poking around at their site was $13.95.

The quality is fantastic – the material they use to string the beads on between the combs (which are on each side, and are made of metal wire), is a super stretchy plastic – not pinchy elastic – think thick stretchy fishing wire. I have given it some pretty rigorous stretch testing, and its all good. The way you stretch it when you put it in makes it stay in so very well – truly, all day – it won’t budge a bit. I love this, and I am ordering a bunch more right away. And if you are the socially responsible type, which I hope you are, don’t miss their company story. They are nice folks and all about taking care of people and giving them a leg up in the world. Good stuff. Let me know if you try these out and how much you love them, ok?

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Bra Size and Fitting

Christina Jones — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 15:15:31 +0000

I remember when my mother took me for a bra “fitting” when I was mucho younger. An old lady was poking and prodding on me in the fitting room, adjusting straps and bands and checking cup size, and well, just putting her fingers all over where they didn’t belong! It was the closest I have ever felt to violated – well, not really, unfortunately, but it was sure icky when I was 12. LOL My new favorite undergarment store, Figleaves, has a great guide to bra size – minus the old lady and her prodding fingers. Start here and work your way through the section to find out more than you ever thought you needed to know about fit and function of your bras! And then hit the store – I have been so pleased with my Figleaves purchases, and they are chock full of new sets for spring!

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Beauty Beat: Shiny Shiny

Christina Jones — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 04:58:02 +0000

Clothes, bags and shoes aren’t the only things that are supposed to be shiny this season. Shiny hair is in fact in style all year round. If you don’t have a model-shiny mane, perhaps it is time to try one of the temporary hair glosses on the market today. Not too long ago this was a service only available at your salon, but now it is sooooo much easier and a whole lot less expensive! John Frieda has a wonderful gloss, and Clairol is unveiling theirs very soon. My best tip so you will get the most out of these products is to use an amount relative to your hair type. Fine hair will need less product than the label specifies, otherwise you might find your fine hair weighed down. Shiny – but weighed down. We are looking for a healthy sheen here, not a greasy grunge look – at least not this season.

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Correct Your Skin Tone

Christina Jones — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:51:53 +0000

My good friend Shannon, over at MakeupMinute, has a *don’t miss* post on correcting your skin tone, that you might want to check out. Even though, thankfully, I don’t suffer from rosacea or any other big skin problems (besides my constant black/whitehead battle), we all have skin tone issues – and evening it out is the major purpose of a whole class of cosmetics. Check out Shannon and see what she has to say about it.

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Esthetic Plus for Beautiful Feet!

Christina Jones — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 15:24:26 +0000

Esthetic Plus (the tweezer folks) have some really great tools for pedicures – the one I have tried lately, and liked, is their Stainless Steel Pedicure File ($20).

This is not your best choice if you have really bad callouses, but is a great choice if your feet are not too bad, or if you get regular pedicures and just need some in between maintenance. This tool is double sided, with a medium-coarse file on one side and a much smoother, “finishing” file on the other side. The handle is exceptionally strong (one of my pet peeves with pedicure files) and ergonomically designed (another peeve). This file does not bend when you use it, at all. I am VERY picky about foot files after 20 years in the nail biz, and this one is pretty good.

One more nifty feature this has is a nail file in the handle. The bottom pulls off and there is a handy dandy file for your toenails.

It may be that you need a stronger file than this – I hate to say that you might have rough feet, but I do, and I usually prefer a little coarser file than this one. Esthetic Plus also has a variety of rasps available – I haven’t tried them, but with the quality of Esthetic Plus products I have tried, I would certainly recommend you try those as well. I would love to try this nickle-plated one here. You can find their wide selection of pedicure tools, as well as many other beauty goodies on their website, EstheticPlus.com.

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Some tips for getting rid of those callouses via physical methods (using a foot file):

1. Soak your feet for 15 minutes or so before you file – either in a foot bath, tub or shower.

2. Use SeaBreeze on your feet (I keep it in a small spray bottle) as a lubricant when using a foot file. I don’t know why this works, but it definitely results in a more thorough job.

3. Err on the side of less filing, more often. If you take off a lot of skin at once, the likelyhood of scar tissue forming increases, and you don’t want that. Keep a file in your shower, and do a little bit every time you shower.

Give your feet some love this winter, and they will carry you well this Spring!

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Beauty Beat: Winter Nail Care

Christina Jones — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 21:09:58 +0000

As you may have noticed, your nails need extra attention in the cold weather to prevent chips and breaks due to brittleness. Switch to a base coat for brittle nails, and keep your nails polished (1 coat of base coat, 2 coats of color and a top coat). Don’t skimp on the moisturizers either – use oil regularly on your cuticles – this has tremendous benefit for your nails. Try a 10 minute hot olive oil soak when you remove your polish – no more often than once a week, as all polish removers are harsh and drying. At night, I often take a dab of my night cream and apply that to my nails as well for an extra boost. Take a little care, and add a little extra moisture through the cold, winter months, and you will enter the spring with fantastic, strong nails.

Get with the Beauty Beat at Glam!

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Straighten Your Hair With Herbal Essences

Christina Jones — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:07:56 +0000

Did you run out and buy that cool pink flat iron the other day? If you did, or if you are a flat iron user at all (or want to be), this is a great video from Clairol’s Herbal Essences on how to straighten your hair. Even if you don’t flat iron it, the use of the hair dryer, as shown in the video, will give you a pretty darned straight look.

That gal is terminally cute, eh? LOL

That is a good video – my only comment is that she made a pretty quick mention of the importance of blow drying down the length of hair (I think she said something like the direction of your hair). It is very important when blow drying to keep your hairdryer pointed towards the end of your hair, because if you don’t, the cuticle of your hair will be roughed up and your hair will look frizzy, and no amount of product will help that.

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