tag:www.askthebeautyexpert.com,2007://1 2007-09-03T13:02:51Z My name is Girl Friday, editor of www.FreeBeautyTips.org. This blog will answer all the common beauty care, make-up application advice, fashion tip concerns and any other body or clothing care related questions I receive on a daily basis from women, young ladies and teens. Movable Type 3.32 tag:www.askthebeautyexpert.com,2007://1.81 2007-09-03T08:00:18Z 2007-09-03T13:02:51Z

Keeping your hands beautiful hinges on protecting them, moisturizing them and keeping them neat. Protect your hands by wearing gloves any time you're using your hands for housework, art, gardening or home repairs. Protect them out of gloves with moisturizer,...

girlfriday Keeping your hands beautiful hinges on protecting them, moisturizing them and keeping them neat. Protect your hands by wearing gloves any time you're using your hands for housework, art, gardening or home repairs. Protect them out of gloves with moisturizer, and avoid harsh chemicals, including the ones often used on nails such as polish, hardeners and polish removers. Protect them from aging by using sunscreen whenever you go outside—rub it thoroughly into your hands. Protect your cuticles from scissors-crazed manicurists who want to cut them: they should never be cut or trimmed. Keep your hands moisturized by applying lotion morning and night, and once or twice a week put on a serious hand cream and sleep with cotton gloves covering it. Keep your hands looking neat by pushing back the cuticles gently, so your half moons aren't covered. File your nails whenever they get ragged and try to keep them in a smooth, oval shape that's not too long, which can look tacky. Buff your nails to a shine while watching TV: you can rub some Vitamin E into them at the same time for added shine. tag:www.askthebeautyexpert.com,2007://1.80 2007-08-27T08:04:13Z 2007-08-27T08:29:09Z

If you wax and then rewax the same place right away because you didn't get it all the first time, you may bruise the skin. Also, not holding the skin taut when pulling off the wax strip can pull that...

girlfriday If you wax and then rewax the same place right away because you didn't get it all the first time, you may bruise the skin. Also, not holding the skin taut when pulling off the wax strip can pull that delicate skin out and bruise it like that. Only wax an area once: if you don't get all the hair off, wait a few hours before trying it again. Don't pull the waxed strip off without supporting the underlying skin with the other hand: aside from bruising, you may get bleeding and an incomplete wax. tag:www.askthebeautyexpert.com,2007://1.79 2007-08-20T08:03:13Z 2007-08-20T09:17:38Z

Coconut oil has long been used in India and the South Seas for keeping hair soft and shiny. It has the added benefit of a lovely natural scent, that can remind you of Hawaii without the added expense of plane...

girlfriday Coconut oil has long been used in India and the South Seas for keeping hair soft and shiny. It has the added benefit of a lovely natural scent, that can remind you of Hawaii without the added expense of plane tickets. You can also use sesame or olive oil to massage the head and hair. Massage for hair is generally a conditioning activity: you're applying oil to the hair and rubbing it in. it does make the hair softer, but even better, it tends to be relaxing to the scalp and neck. Having your head rubbed makes many people feel the way they did when they were babies. Once we're children, our parents forget to rub our heads, but when we're infants, they smooth our hair, pat us, and nestle us against them. Rubbing someone's head can be soothing, calming and loving. Rubbing someone's head with scented oil can be downright erogenous. Use the oil warmed, and add rosemary or other essential oils to the base vegetable oil. tag:www.askthebeautyexpert.com,2007://1.78 2007-08-13T08:00:09Z 2007-08-13T14:15:30Z

There are all sorts of lovely massage oils. One favorite is sweet almond oil, although people with nut allergies should avoid it. Avocado oil is also considered delicious when rubbed between the shoulder blades. Sunflower oil, olive oil, even canola...

girlfriday There are all sorts of lovely massage oils. One favorite is sweet almond oil, although people with nut allergies should avoid it. Avocado oil is also considered delicious when rubbed between the shoulder blades. Sunflower oil, olive oil, even canola are fine for massage; just add a few drops of a favorite essential oils (sandalwood, patchouli, lavender) for a terrific scent. Any vegetable oil is good for massage, but I don't recommend a highly scented olive oil, unless you want to smell like a salad. tag:www.askthebeautyexpert.com,2007://1.77 2007-08-06T08:00:17Z 2007-08-06T11:38:02Z

Nothing helps eyebrows grow. I know, it's a terrible thing to say, but only God can make an eyebrow. Well, actually, eyebrows grow because of hormones that are responsible for hair growth. There are only a few reasons people lack...

girlfriday Nothing helps eyebrows grow. I know, it's a terrible thing to say, but only God can make an eyebrow. Well, actually, eyebrows grow because of hormones that are responsible for hair growth. There are only a few reasons people lack eyebrows: hormone problems; chemotherapy and radiation for cancer treatment, which cause your hair to fall out everywhere; eyebrow related accidents involving gas burners, drunken friends with razors or overplucking. If you have the money and your eyebrows are irretrievable due to hormones or cancer treatments, you can have them replaced by a cosmetic surgeon, which can transplant hair from your head to where it should be on your eyebrows. This isn't a quick fix: it takes months for the new hair to come in and grow. On the other hand, it's permanent. On yet the other hand, it costs thousands. If your eyebrows are just very thin or very pale, you don't need them to grow: you just need a little makeup. Use eyebrow pencil to darken your brows, and even add a stroke or two where there is no hair—if you do it delicately, no one will be able to tell. Thinner eyebrows are usually in fashion, so don't fret about them anymore: just get a good eye pencil in the right color for your face, and use it every day. If your brows are gone because of overplucking or shaving, the best you can do is wait. Hair grows in six week cycles, and eventually yours will grow back. Use an eye pencil until that happy day, and if you're really looking strange, just tell everyone the story of how you lost your eyebrows. It won't make your face look any better, but you will earn tremendous points in being considered a good sport and a true raconteur. Anyone can grow an eyebrow: who among us can tell a really great story? tag:www.askthebeautyexpert.com,2007://1.76 2007-07-30T08:00:12Z 2007-07-30T12:11:39Z

Put on your foundation, and whatever it doesn't cover can get a layer of concealer. If it still doesn't cover, try a little more foundation on top of the concealer. Let's not be mysterious here: concealer is just a thicker...

girlfriday Put on your foundation, and whatever it doesn't cover can get a layer of concealer. If it still doesn't cover, try a little more foundation on top of the concealer. Let's not be mysterious here: concealer is just a thicker form of foundation. The tricky part is getting coverage without winding up with a big lump of makeup stuck to your face. Powder can be helpful: sometimes, it's easier to start with a layer of powder over the offending spot, then add foundation on top of that. The powder thickens the foundation a bit, giving you a little more coverage. Concealer can be used differently depending on what you want to conceal. If you're trying to tone down the dark places under your eyes, start with foundation and see how that does. Sometimes, concealer used under the eyes turns you into a raccoon face because it's just too light. Because of the way our faces are built, everyone should have a little shadow under the eyes. So go easy on the makeup, even if you had a hard night. Start instead by trying to reduce the puffiness. Apply a tightening eye cream, or lie down with wet teabags on each eye: the tannins will help reduce the swelling. Then, if you still look like something the cat dragged in, put on a thin layer of foundation. tag:www.askthebeautyexpert.com,2007://1.75 2007-07-23T08:00:01Z 2007-07-23T11:16:18Z

The easiest, if more expensive way to get rid of facial hair is to get an appointment at a laser hair removal clinic and have it zapped away about every six weeks, until the follicles give up and the hair...

girlfriday The easiest, if more expensive way to get rid of facial hair is to get an appointment at a laser hair removal clinic and have it zapped away about every six weeks, until the follicles give up and the hair either goes away completely or comes back so fine that it's not worth bothering with. Lasers have the fantastic ability to vaporize hair without messing up the skin around it, although they do work best on people with fair skin and dark hair. Next in line is probably waxing, where warm wax is applied to the face, then covered with a piece of muslin and pulled out. Again, this is something you'll want to have every four to six weeks. A cycle of a single hair is six weeks, but unfortunately, not all hair is on the same cycle, so there will always be stragglers. You can take care of the odd hair that crops up between laser or waxing appointments with a nice pair of slant tipped tweezers. You can do your own waxing at home: just make sure you get the wax hot enough to spread thinly but not so hot it will burn you, and use a good mirror. Tweezing is itself a perfectly legitimate way of getting rid of unwanted facial hair, but it has its drawbacks. Tweezing can cause pinpoint scarring, and if the hair is short but noticeable, there may be hair you can see but can't get at for several days, which may drive you a little crazy, especially if you have a big date tonight. Bleaching is also a good way to deal with facial hair. You can buy cream bleach at the drugstore. Just wipe it on, wait the recommended time, and rinse it off. If you bleach often, say weekly, you'll probably find that some of the hair becomes so thin and fragile that it breaks off, making it even less noticeable. tag:www.askthebeautyexpert.com,2007://1.74 2007-07-16T08:00:59Z 2007-07-16T13:19:17Z

Our great grandmothers knew that to keep hands looking young, one needed several pairs of gloves. Anytime you're even tempted to do housework, don a pair of rubber or vinyl gloves to protect your skin from dust, cleaners and water....

girlfriday Our great grandmothers knew that to keep hands looking young, one needed several pairs of gloves. Anytime you're even tempted to do housework, don a pair of rubber or vinyl gloves to protect your skin from dust, cleaners and water. If you're gardening, put on your gloves before you even touch your pruning shears. In fact, put on a layer of hand cream and then your gardening gloves, and don't settle for the cotton kind that let the dirt rub through: get some lines ones. At night, before bed, rub on the thickest hand cream you can find (some people use Crisco), and slip on a pair of white cotton gloves. Basically, the more time you spend moisturized and gloved, the less time will affect your hands. Aside from age itself causing hands to look aged, sun is the major culprit. Lots of women who wouldn't dream of leaving the house without SPF 30 on their faces forget to put it also on their dainty little paws. There's nothing more aging than sunlight, so anytime you get ready to go outside, rub a nice layer of sunscreen on your hands as well as your face and neck. tag:www.askthebeautyexpert.com,2007://1.73 2007-07-09T08:00:58Z 2007-07-09T08:09:05Z

The best skin care routine for oily skin is to be as gentle as you would if you had paper dry skin. The major mistake many people make with oily skin is in believing that you can beat it into...

girlfriday The best skin care routine for oily skin is to be as gentle as you would if you had paper dry skin. The major mistake many people make with oily skin is in believing that you can beat it into submission with hot water, steam, toners, masks and topicals, when in fact what it truly wants is a little understanding. Oily skin is trying to protect itself from a harsh environment, and making its world even harsher through heat, cold or chemicals, will tend to make it produce more oil than ever. Wash your face with lukewarm water—never hot and never sold—and a cleanser for oily or even normal skin. Don't scrub or rub, just lave with water, the way you would delicate lingerie. Follow with a light, oil free moisturizer. That's right; your skin needs moisture, as in something water based, preferably with skin soothing components like calendula, aloe vera and lavender oil. If you can find products with significant amounts of green tea extract (look in the first six ingredients), you'll also be doing nice things for your skin cells. The best makeup for oily skin is mineral makeup, which goes on lightly, can be easily layered for more coverage, minimizes pores, contains no irritants and absorbs oil. It won't clog your pores, and it has a natural SPF, too. At the end of the day, take off your makeup with a lukewarm splash of water and a light cleanser, followed by a toner that contains no alcohol. Alcohol irritates the skin. If you want to make your own toner, use a combination of green tea you steeped yourself and cucumber juice, which you'll want to keep in the fridge. Just make a cup at a time, to keep it fresh. For blemishes, use straight tea tree oil, preferably at night, so the smell won't bother anyone else. You can buy tea tree oil in dab-on anti-blemish tubes at most drugstores, or just get a bottle of your own and touch it on with your finger. It's a powerful antibacterial, and clears up pimples like nothing else can. tag:www.askthebeautyexpert.com,2007://1.72 2007-07-02T08:00:56Z 2007-07-02T10:30:26Z

The high tech answer to age spots is to visit your friendly dermatologist and let him or her zap your age spots away with a laser. That's the easiest way to deal with age spots, and you won't have to...

girlfriday The high tech answer to age spots is to visit your friendly dermatologist and let him or her zap your age spots away with a laser. That's the easiest way to deal with age spots, and you won't have to worry about covering them. There are creams that fade age spots by the use of bleaching agents, usually some kind of peroxide, but creams take time and persistence, and they may not always do the job you hope they will. Depending on where the age spots are located, you may cover them with your foundation or with a heavier concealer. For hands, backs and other locations, you may want a waterproof, smudgeproof concealer. On your face, you may get by with an extra dot or two of a lighter foundation, followed by your regular color. tag:www.askthebeautyexpert.com,2007://1.71 2007-06-25T08:00:51Z 2007-06-25T09:08:22Z

Some people claim that eating more gelatin can strengthen your nails, but there's no evidence to back that up. But a recent study done in Germany found that people with nail problems who took 2.5 mg of biotin a day...

girlfriday Some people claim that eating more gelatin can strengthen your nails, but there's no evidence to back that up. But a recent study done in Germany found that people with nail problems who took 2.5 mg of biotin a day wound up with stronger nails. You can look for biotin supplements in the store, but the study said that to get the effect, a prescription dose was required, so you may need to talk with your doctor. The other ways to make your nails stronger are not what you might expect. Do not cover them with polish, which you then remove with acetone weekly or even more often. Don't mess with your cuticles, and don't use nail hardeners, which can actually make your nails drier, weaker and more prone to breakage. Use a nice hand cream to keep your hands, nails and cuticles softened and moisturized, and do as little to your nails as possible. Don't soak them in things—that doesn't work. Your nails may be breaking because of the chemicals they're subjected to. Manicures are notoriously rough on nails; emery boards cause splitting and tiny breaks, so use a nice, diamond coated nail file instead. Dish soaps and shampoos dry your nails and may even cause allergies, so consider switching to milder household soaps. tag:www.askthebeautyexpert.com,2007://1.70 2007-06-18T08:00:48Z 2007-06-18T08:29:34Z

It's better to wear lipstick that complements your facial coloring than to choose your lip color based on the whiteness of your teeth. Come people claim that lipsticks with some orange in them will help your teeth look whiter, but...

girlfriday It's better to wear lipstick that complements your facial coloring than to choose your lip color based on the whiteness of your teeth. Come people claim that lipsticks with some orange in them will help your teeth look whiter, but what good will that do if your lipstick color makes your skin look sallow? No, the thing to do is wear lipstick that looks nice with your skin tones, and whiten your teeth. There are oodles of toothpastes that claim to whiten your teeth, but if you want to see a real difference in a short period of time, buy the whitening strips and use them. Some stay on for a half hour each day for a week: you can use them while watching TV or reading. Toothpastes and bleaching systems all use peroxide of one kind or another to do the bleaching, but the toothpaste has a much lower concentration, so it doesn't work as fast. If you do go the toothpaste route, look for one with the highest level of carbamide peroxide. It will probably also be the most expensive: it will also probably work the best. Don't take a toothpaste that claims to whiten but doesn't contain peroxide: all toothpastes white teeth to some extent, in that if you use, them, you do manage to scrape away the day's accumulation of nastiness. But if your teeth are stained, a regular toothpaste won't make a difference. If you have the money, forget at home whitening and get yourself down to the dentist. The dentist uses a bleaching system in combination with a light that speeds the process, so you walk in with dingy teeth and walk out with a bright, white smile. tag:www.askthebeautyexpert.com,2007://1.69 2007-06-11T08:00:44Z 2007-06-11T10:06:22Z

'80s female punks wore what the'80s boy punks did, only they did it better, being more experienced with makeup in the first place. Dead white foundation—if you can't find any theatrical supply stores, you can buy some zinc oxide diaper...

girlfriday '80s female punks wore what the'80s boy punks did, only they did it better, being more experienced with makeup in the first place. Dead white foundation—if you can't find any theatrical supply stores, you can buy some zinc oxide diaper ointment to get the same effect. Black eyeliner pencil does nearly everything else. You can use it for lipstick, sculpting harsh edges around your lips—think points interrupted by flat lines, not curves. Line upper and bottom eyelids, thinly, and don't smudge or blend—you're looking for a crisp harshness. If you're looking for a sexier punk fashion, add some mascara to your look. Give yourself long, thick lashes, but make them look as natural as possible, because the idea is to look sexy without anyone thinking that's what you were trying for. Punk is a highly ambivalent style: who else but a punk would spend so much time on their looks while trying to look bad? If you want to look punk but don't want all your looks destroyed by the black-and-white theme, you can cheat. Use deep blue around your eyes instead of black (but really midnight blue). You can't substitute a nicer lip color for black without it being noticeable, but you could try white—the contrast can look nice—sort of ghoul next door. tag:www.askthebeautyexpert.com,2007://1.68 2007-06-04T08:00:40Z 2007-06-04T11:38:00Z

The 1940s look was controlled but longer and romantic. The boys were off to war: every woman was waiting for some man to come home. She was keeping the home fires burning, and if she worked in a factory for...

girlfriday The 1940s look was controlled but longer and romantic. The boys were off to war: every woman was waiting for some man to come home. She was keeping the home fires burning, and if she worked in a factory for the war effort, it only meant she tried to be ultra-feminine on her shifts off. She was capable but soft, wise but wistful. And they said it all with their hair. For long hair, use big rollers to achieve a soft wave, and flip the ends under. Bangs weren't in: part your hair on the side, and sweep it over, using a barrette to hold it. Make it glossy with one of the silicone based gloss gels, and coat generously with hair spray to keep it in place. The everyday '40s hairstyle for women was a roll that sat loosely at the nape of the neck, often hiding the ears. For work, the roll was essential, to keep hair from being caught in machinery or otherwise getting in the way. Tight rolls were for work and daytime chores, like doing laundry on the weekends. Looser rolls are more elegant, and harder to maintain. You can make even medium length hair into a roll by teasing it to fullness, then combing the top layer around a large, round brush, filling it with teased hair. The top layer should be very smooth: the teased part underneath creates the needed volume. Pit it into place using long hairpins and spray it to keep it there. tag:www.askthebeautyexpert.com,2007://1.67 2007-05-28T08:00:35Z 2007-05-28T08:16:54Z

Thick foundation gives the most coverage, or you can achieve a covered look with several layers of mineral makeup, which feels much lighter but gives a soft-focus look. I guess the main question is, why do you want heavy coverage?...

girlfriday Thick foundation gives the most coverage, or you can achieve a covered look with several layers of mineral makeup, which feels much lighter but gives a soft-focus look. I guess the main question is, why do you want heavy coverage? Most of the time, women want heavier coverage because of acne or acne scars. If that's the case, you can spend your life trying to cover it up, or you can get down to the dermatologist and solve the problem. Some people don't know it yet, but the work doctors are doing with lasers is extraordinary. Lasers are being used to cure—yes, I said cure—acne. Apparently, acne is caused by bacteria, and lasers kill bacteria. Some people lose the acne entirely after a couple of treatments, and periodically, you just get another treatment. It's hard to believe it if you've spent your life struggling with acne, but the future is here, and there's no reason to live with it if you don't have to (except money—laser treatment is a lot more expensive than makeup.) Laser treatments for acne are not painful, take very little time and cause no downtime. Lasers are also being used for skin resurfacing, which removes acne scarring. This is a bit more intense: like microdermabrasion, your skin will be burned and will have to heal. But heal it will (especially if you use Vitamin E after your treatments). These treatments are also good for sun damaged skin, and can be used to get rid of lines on the face. Do you still need "heavy" coverage? If so, go lightly, with mineral makeup, which is a fine powder applied with a brush. After a lesson from an expert, you'll learn how to apply this fairy-dust light makeup to cover with fine effect without the cake-like qualities of other types of foundation. It's hypoallergenic, too.