Skin Care GuideThe Ultimate Guide to Skin Care

Mineral makeup isn’t just the newest trend to hit the drugstore shelves – there’s actually so much you can benefit from using it.

In essence, mineral makeup is made from finely crushed minerals from the earth, minus all the harmful, toxic chemicals found in many of the traditional cosmetics widely used today.

Mineral makeup actually dates back to the hippie revolution in San Francisco during the 1970s, created through kitchen experimentation.

Soon enough the rest of the world has caught on, and now there are hundreds of brands of mineral makeup to choose from. They are widely preferred by beauty experts and the regular ladies who just want to look their best.

Benefits of mineral makeup

1. It’s created differently, crushing fine minerals which go on lightweight and smoother on your skin. Additionally, the minerals have an added sheer to them, making your skin seemingly radiant and glowing even if it’s not. The main ingredients in mineral makeup are zinc oxide, mica, and titanium oxide.
2. Mineral makeup is produced with a somewhat purer formulation, eliminating many harmful chemicals and skin irritants found in traditional cosmetics today. This is why many dermatologists recommend those especially with sensitive skin to switch to mineral cosmetics because they do not contain additional allergens and irritants that may affect the skin.
3. The fine characteristics of mineral cosmetics are also great for your skin because they don’t clog your pores. But just like with regular makeup, it is never advisable to sleep in it. Always make sure that you still wash your face very well and moisturize before you go to bed.
4. Also because of its highly-pulverized nature, mineral cosmetics also last much longer on your skin without creating a heavy, cakey feel and look that most traditional cosmetics tend to do when they promise a long-lasting effect.
5. Contrary to what others believe, mineral makeup is very affordable. You can get many benefits at such a reasonable price compared with other cosmetic products.

Because not all brands of mineral makeup is alike, it is recommended to do your research before you spend your money on various types of cosmetics. It’s also helpful to know that some mineral brands still mix quite an amount of synthetic fillers and chemicals to their ingredients, and some remain true to their word: 100% pure and mineral.

At the end of the day it would be your preferences that would matter when purchasing the right type and brand of mineral makeup for you. Just make sure to read the labels and understand exactly what you are buying. Never rely on the brands and labels that scream “All mineral” for making a decision.

Don’t be fooled by expensive and luxurious brands of mineral makeup on the market. There are many inexpensive brands that come in a variety of colors that can still produce the same effect and color you are looking for with traditional makeup.

Remember that more expensive does not always translate to higher quality, so if you are on a budget and still want to reap the benefits of mineral cosmetics, you will surely find something for you.

Natural nails look great with a perfect polish job. Here are the secrets Nail Techs know about getting the most out of a polish job.

1. Dehydrate the nail — Just before polishing nails, douse a cotton swab in acetone (nail polish remover) and rub it over each nail. Repeat the process. This removes any surface oils or particles. Do this step within minutes of beginning the polish job. Waiting more than twenty minutes renders this step ineffective. A dry nail free of oils and particles will allow the polish to adhere better.

2. Use a high-quality base coat — Take a peek in the window of your local salon to see what brand they’re using. OPI and Essie both have excellent base coats. Using a base coat protects your nail from the colored polish. Over time your natural nail will absorb colored polish and become discolored without a base coat. Base coat also creates a perfect surface to which colored polish will adhere.

3. Don’t touch the nail surface during any step of the polish job — Touching the nail before or after any step of the polish job will leave behind oils and cause lifting and peeling of the polish. You may also leave dents or fingerprints in the polish that will ruin a perfect result.

4. Don’t allow polish to touch the cuticle — By leaving a tiny space between your cuticle and where your polish starts improves the longevity of your polish job. When polish runs into the cuticle, oils from your skin will permeate underneath the polish and eventually cause lifting. Avoiding the cuticle also creates a nice clean line rather than one that runs.

5.  Use two coats of colored polish — Most polishes are designed to look best with two coats. Colors will brighten, deepen and become shiniest with two coats. This will also make the polish job last longer.

6. Never shake your polish — Shaking nail polish causes tiny bubbles to form. Instead of shaking, simply roll the polish bottle between your hands to warm and mix it. Do this for about thirty to sixty seconds.

7. Use high-quality nail polish (or lacquer) — Salons use more expensive polishes for a reason. They last longer, and in many cases give of less vapors, protect the health of the nail or have other advantages.

8. Do not wait too long before each layer of the polish job — The quicker you layer your polishes the better  your chances of avoiding particles. Be sure to give each layer a good minute to harden, but by the time you’ve finished one hand, your other hand should be ready for the next layer.

9. Use a high quality top coat — Top coat adds a beautiful shine and protects the colored polish. Top coat also dries differently in order to seal the polish job and protect against particles or dents occurring as all coats dry.

10. Let your polish dry for twenty full minutes — If you don’t have a good forty-five minutes to do the polish job from beginning to end, you will end up with peeling, chips, dents and smudges. A polish job can be ready for gentle activity after twenty minutes, but really takes a full 24-hour period before it is completely dry down to the base coat. Keeping this in mind will help when you’re tempted to reach into your pocket or put on those gloves.

Knowing these salon secrets helps keep nails looking the best they can without getting a professional manicure. There’s no replacement for a professional job, but following these tips will certainly improve the look and longevity of a polish job done at home!

Crèmes, moisturizers, masks, make-up tips … all this effort is being done by women who care about themselves and who want to be healthier and have beautiful and shining skin.

However, consciously or unconsciously, they are certain sins destined to damage their looks.

The 3 capital sins of the beauty a woman needs to avoid are listed below:

1. First, a beauty is complete with healthy shining hair. Although it seems perfect for unsteady and stubborn curly hair, the hair straightener is doing incredible damage to the hair locks. While being heated the hair breaks, weakens, and looses itself. So, it is better to postpone the rendezvous with the charming straightener prince and look for natural ways to dry the hair.
2. After the hair, the overall face health is a complex but important issue to be taken care of. One of the main sins is to wash that beautiful face with soap. Soap has chemical particles (no matter what the producers claim) and takes the skin to a dryer step, which is harder to moisturize.
3. When a man looks for the particular places of a woman’s body, eventually where does he look? Hands! If the hands are not moisturized well, or the worse, nails are bitten, then there is no chance to attract a man with beautiful hands. Right thing to do is getting a manicure session appointment right away.

There are lots of sins that threaten the beauty to avoid. The best thing to do about them is to search them, find the main causes and avoid them.

Acne Prone Skin/Rosacea - Light blue and green camouflage concealer can applied to ruddy toned areas and broken capillaries, and then follow up with a mineral makeup concealer. The green powder downplays the redness from acne flare ups and some natural ingredients can help soothe acne flare ups. Try not to use liquid concealer on acne as it may make the problem area worse, and will crack and be more visible during the day.

Blush – Know “Where You Glow” when applying blush. Bend over for 30 seconds. Slowly straighten up and look in the mirror. The spots where you are flushed is where you should apply your blush for that natural glow every time.

Blush – Make sure your blush is well blended into your foundation or it will look unnatural and add five years to your looks. Yikes!

Chronic Puffy Eyes? Cut up a fresh cucumber! A cucumber is made up of 90% water and it will hydrate your skin and the coolness of it will constrict blood vessels, improving the look of your eyes in only fifteen minutes.

Eyeshadow Primer – Use a primer before you put your eyeshadow on; not only does it enhance the colors of your eyeshadow, but you can go all day without creasing. I suggest Urban Decay’s Primer Potion ($17.00 USD) it comes in nude, and Sin for a champagne color. The best part? Their “Love It or Leave It” money back guarantee.

Eyes and Lips – If you are wearing a dark, smoky eye , downplay the lips with a neutral color. If you have bright lipstick and heavy eye makeup, your appearance can come across as clownish. If you want to wear dark or red lipsticks, keep the eye simple with liner and mascara.

Lips – For a fuller looking lip without the discomfort of botox lip injections or gloss that includes snake venom, apply lip liner just outside your natural lip line, then dab a bit of gloss in the center of your bottom lip.

Mascara – Never pump the mascara wand inside the tube; this action forces air bubbles into the product, causing the mascara to dry out more quickly. Instead, twist the wand a little to collect more mascara on the brush for application.

Nail Polish – Never shake your bottle of nail polish! This will create tiny air bubbles in the formula that will appear during application, making the polish bubble and create craters in the new paint. Instead, roll the bottle gently between your palms.

Tired Eyes – Try a mineral makeup camouflage concealer. Yellow camouflage concealer will hide dark circles under the eyes. Follow up with a mineral makeup concealer.

This spring, bold and bright colors totally rule the fashion scene. Bold look turns to be the key expression for clothes, makeup and accessories.

The designers already included to their latest collection colors that speak of joy, emotions and temper. Hot lips in colors such a pomegranate, fuchsia and orange are the bespoke masters of the makeup, used in the collections of Mark Jacob, Prada and Isaac Mizrahi.

Matte foundation works perfectly with bright pink lips and spectacular eyeshades. Designers as Balenciaga already closed to introduce spicy coral as the leading tendency in the eye-make up art.

Don’t forget your nails and add more colors, just as Alexander McQueen did in his last show. The manicure of the season is more than provocative with bright red, dark and purple colors.

As for the eyebrows – leave them natural and don’t be afraid to use eye-brow pencils, as well as contrasting colors in darker shades.