Saturday 1 September 2012

30 out-of-the-ordinary beauty tricks


If you’re anything like me, you probably read beauty tips every week – and sometimes it seems like you’ve read them all before! Well, here are a few that you may not have heard…
1. Sprinkle your roots:
Sprinkle a bit of baking soda into oily areas of your hair as a dry shampoo, if you don’t have time to wash with regular shampoo. Comb the baking soda through your hair gently to avoid clumps, and then blow-dry with cool air for several seconds.
2. Super-glue a split nail
Instead of tearing off your nail when it breaks, put a tiny dab of Super Glue over the split, and paint a generous layer of your favourite nailpolish shade over it. Go for an opaque option (like red, purple, or coral) to camouflage and seal the crack.
3. Fix calluses with Vaseline
Slather petroleum jelly over rough spots on your feet, and put on socks before bed to dissolve tough calluses overnight.
4. Spot-treat smudges
Dip a cotton bud in eye-makeup remover, and trace it along your lids to quick-fix any slipups or smudges when there’s no time to redo your whole look.
5. Fix foundation overload
If you apply too much foundation, simply press a damp facecloth over you face to stop it from looking like a make-up mask!
6. Soften your skin with avocado
Take a ripe avocado, remove the pit and skin, and mash it up in a bowl. Slather it all over your body, let it sit for 20 minutes, then rinse off. Your skin will be sooo soft as avocado is a natural moisturiser.
7. Scent your hair with perfume
Spray a light shot of fragrance into the bristles of your brush. Brush your hair from roots to ends and your hair will smell amazing throughout the day.
8. Use makeup remover on stubborn lipstick
Don’t try to rub off red lipstick (which makes it smear across your mouth — not a good look). Instead, take a cotton ball or tissue, dip it in makeup remover, and just dab to erase the dark stain fast.
9. Tame eyebrows with your eye cream
Pat any kind of rich eye cream over brows to help keep them hydrated and stop those icky white specks that look like dandruff.
10. Fade away fake tan
If you find yourself streaking (not glowing) after applying self-tanner, put some baking soda on a loofah, and buff away the stripes.
11. Brush on hair spray
For the final step of your blow-dry, spray hair spray onto your brush, and run it through strands from roots to tips. This way, your hair isn’t so plastered and stiff but still holds volume and shine.
12. Boost your body lotion with baby oil
If your skin dries out in winter, blend a drop of baby oil into your normal body lotion to add  extra moisture.
13. Dab essential oil on neglected cuticles
Put on apricot oil, the kind found in health-food stores, to protect cuticles from turning rough and raggedy.
14. Freeze your eyeliner
If the tip of your eyeliner pencil crumbles and smears all over your eyes, store your eyeliner in the freezer for 15 minutes before use so the tip is firm and goes across your skin smoothly.
15. Use toothpaste on a zit
Use just a pea-size amount. Let sit for 15 minutes to absorb the oil so the pimple won’t get more clogged, then wash off.
16. Heat up your curler
If you have stick-straight lashes, try blasting your metal eyelash curler with a hair dryer for a couple seconds to heat it up so your lashes bend more easily. And use a waterproof mascara. The formula dries faster than other mascaras, so it sets the curl better.
17. Use soap without water
You know those cute soaps that are actually too pretty to use? Toss them in your underwear or tee-shirt drawers to make your skin smell delicious.
18. Groom your eyebrows with a toothbrush
Mist an (unused!) toothbrush or eyebrow comb with hair spray to help flatten and tame and shape your eyebrows.
19. Put nappy-rash cream on dry spots
Slather on a thick layer of nappy-rash cream to heal cracked elbows and feet.
20. Lubricate your lashes
If you’re not a fan of wearing masacra every day, comb petroleum jelly lightly through the tips of eyelashes to get a subtle sparkle.
21. Steamroll frizzies and flyaways
Spray on hair spray, then roll the hairspray can over your hair. The round bottle fits the curved shape of your head, locks in the spray, and flattens out frizz.
22. Plump your kisser
Cinnamon is the active ingredient in many expensive lip plumpers — add a few sprinkles of cinnamon to your gloss or use cinnamon oil on your lips, which you can get at natural-food stores. It’s a lot cheaper and does the same thing.
23. Press a teabag on splotches
If your skin is sensitive or just looking irritated and puffy for some reason, steep a bag of green tea for a minute or two, let it cool down, and dab it over your face. The antioxidants in the tea take down inflammation.
24. Shave with conditioner
Apply a thick hair conditioner to your legs before you shave. It acts like a shaving cream and softens the hair so it’s easier to shave off and makes legs feel amazingly silky.
25. Boost your hair’s shine with vinegar
Mix one part vinegar with four parts carbonated water, and soak dry hair. Leave on for 15 minutes before you shampoo to lock in shine and combat dullness.
26. Customise your lipstick
When you’re tired of a lipstick shade, melt a few old ones together. Just cut off the stubs, pop them in the microwave, and pour into a little tin. Rub it on like lip balm.
27. Use every drop of perfume
When you get to the bottom of your scent and it won’t spray out anymore, pour it into your body wash or an unscented moisturiser to get more use out of it
28. Make an egg-white mask
To revive tired, dull skin try this: Crack open an egg in a bowl, separate the yolk, and use the egg whites to make a face mask. The proteins help to heal and restore skin’s moisture. Leave it on for five minutes, and rinse off.
29. Dry sensitive skin with toilet paper
Instead of drying your face with a scratchy towel, pat with toilet paper-it’s ultrasoft on delicate skin (and bums!).
30. Treat your feet
Add epsom salts to a foot bath to soothe tired feet and reduce swelling after a busy day!

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