When life gives you lemons use them! The health benefits of this fruit are amazing.... everything from anti-aging properties to helping with asthma. A glass of water first thing in the morning with a squeeze of lemon helps purify the blood and there's a whole lot of other uses and benefits it has that you might not know about. Sometimes your beauty regime doesn't always require expensive beauty products. It truly is a wonder fruit!
It aids digestive problems. Warm water and lime or lemon juice is the solution to most digestive problems. Lemons detoxify the blood, reduce the chance of indigestion or constipation and reduce phlegm. Is anti-aging. Lemon water reduces the production of free radicals which are responsible for aging and skin damage. Lemons are a great antioxidant. So drink up! Lightens age spots. By applying lemon juice directly to the area and leaving on for 15 mins, it is a safe way to to lighten the skin. Works well on liver spots and freckles. Cleans and whitens nails. Add the juice of half a lemon to a cup of warm water and soak fingertips for 5 mins. After pushing back the cuticles rub some lemon peel across the nail . Cleanses the face. You can use lemon juice to apply to spots to draw them out. You can also wash your face with lemon juice to naturally cleanse and exfoliate. Your skin should improve after a couple of days of this treatment. This I use regularly and it is extremely effective. Treat flaky scalp with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice massaged into the scalp and rinse with water. Then 1 tbsp of lemon juice with 1 cup of water and rinse your hair with it. Repeat this until flaky scalp disappears. Can reduce asthma symptoms. 2 tbsp lemon juice before each meal and before retiring can reduce the symptoms of asthma. Definitely worth giving a go to see if this works. Lemons also stops bleeding gums and reduces toothaches. Lemon water can lift your mood and help with depression and stress. I would recommend though if you are going to use lemons in any of these ways that you buy organic due to the conventional lemons being exposed to pesticides.
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pic courtesy of Harpers Bazaar
The one look I have noticed alot here this summer in London is red and orange/red lips - everywhere. I love this picture of style queen Alexa Chung. This is makeup at its best. Subtle eyes paired with strong lips and luminous skin. And her hair is just the right amount of messy with a soft side fringe to frame the face.....love love love. pic courtesy of makeup.com
When it comes to putting a base on the face sometimes it's not just a case of applying foundation. To really make the most of the shape of your face often it requires some shading to play down parts and enhance others so that the skin looks completely flawless. This pic explains the process very easily. A highlighter reflects the light giving the skin a nice glow on the forehead and right in the cupids bow of the lip, and hides the darkness under the eyes. The matt (no shimmer) bronzer along the nose defines the line of the nose and can make your nose look slimmer if it's broad. And bronzer around the edge of the face defines it . The secret to making it look good is making sure it is all blended so there are no harsh lines anywhere and it all just magically blends in together. One of my favourite highlighters is the YSL touche eclat pen and Nars bronzer. Both easy to apply and natural on the skin. If you follow this easy guide you will notice the difference that contouring makes to your face and your skin will simply glow. I found this piece in Stylist mag here in the UK while I was flicking thru and thought how perfect it was as they have saved alot of women many months of trial and error. The color of your lips definitely changes the colour that the lipstick will look like once applied and this takes all the guesswork out.... just decide which colour you are and try whichever one of the choices they give you that you like... thank you Stylist mag. (great free mag btw. So many new products, articles and fashion.) Summer has definitely arrived in London this week and walking around the look is very casual and makeup is surprisingly very natural both young and older. I have seen no stand out looks so far or any one trend....one of the things I actually love about this place is that there are so many different looks and everyone is comfortable wearing it.
I did some test shots with photographer Julie Healy of Mitzi afew weeks ago and I love this shot. We did a number of different looks on her but this was my favourite. I gave her these strong eyes using a dark blue eye pencil all over the lid and a black shadow over the top and kept the lips quite soft.... and her thick brows are beautiful. She looks a long way from 14.
I found this pic and wanted to share it because it seems to shed some light on why we get spots in certain places on our face. I have always just tended to blame it all on hormones (or chocolate) and felt it completely unfair that not only do you have to contend with the fine lines now but the adolescent spot stage does not seem to have passed either so it's double whammy!
So clearly the only area that can be blamed on hormones is the chin region and anything else is an indication that we need to pay attention to a specific part of our body..... so great to know, I'm completely fascinated. Will be in London next week and looking for makeup/beauty inspiration there to pass on.....til then, have a great week :) pic : courtesy of Irving Penn
One of my friends was in NY last week and was visiting a beauty spa and had taken a pic of a Collagen bed on her fb page. It looked like a tanning bed , and fascinated , I wanted to find out more. It turns out it is red light therapy that is meant improve skin tone and texture, control pigmentation, help reduce pore size and encourage healthier looking skin. The therapy stimulates circulation and repairs elastin fibers within the skin to help keep it firm. They also say it is safe for all types of skin. So basically it is helping the body to produce its own collagen, which is what alot of laser treatments do. Unlike laser though it does not cut or burn the skin , it is non- invasive. They also do not have harmful UVA or UVB rays. I guess they had to find a new use for tanning beds by changing the type of light since we all discovered they were bad for us.... I have been online to see if they offer the treatments here in Australia , but cannot find anyone here offering it....yet. Will definitely be keeping an eye out for it , I always love to give something new a go! If anyone does know of a place here please leave a comment . The pic above btw is in no way related to the topic but reflects my mood today - indecisive so why not try it all.. :) Have a good week . x I don't think that alot women realise that brows really frame the face so it's important that they look better than good, they should look perfect. I know for me, it's one of the first things I look at on someone's face and find myself wishing I could just tidy them up, or stick more on. (No-one is ever going to talk to me again). Thankfully we have left the phase of plucking eyebrows into a '70's thin line and have gone back to more natural brows. I have been working with afew models lately who have the Brooke Shields brows and they look amazing. If you're lucky enough to have these they should be left alone and only the straggly few tidied up to give them great definition. They are a gift! If you want great brows but not sure how to get them here are afew tips that should help you achieve the look...... Make sure you have a good pair of tweezers that actually grab your hairs and not your skin. My preferred ones are the Tweezerman brand. They have a firm grip on them with a fine pointed slant that actually grabs the hairs properly and you can single out perfectly with them . They also don't loosen up after awhile like alot of other brands. They maintain their firmness and work efficiently for a long time. Hold a pencil for guidance to see where your eyebrows should start and end. They should start inline with the corner of your inner eye so don't over pluck them from the middle and make them too far apart. Just remove the strays that grow in the middle. Then end at the point that is 45 degrees from the outer corner of your eye. The arch should be in line with the outer side of your iris. Don't make too much of a curve as it will make your brows look unnatural. Keep the shape quite thick and I am not a fan of removing brows above unless they grow unnaturally thick and need some real shaping on top to reign them in. I like to just take from below, taking them from right underneath first where the strays grow and then slowly working my way up always keeping an eye on the shape as I go to make sure I'm not removing too many. Take your time. Style your arches with a brow brush and brush them upwards and then gradually out towards the end of your eye. If you have patchy brows you can use an eyebrow pencil or a brow shadow to fill in the gaps. Do this very lightly and then brush over them with the bristle side of the eyebrow brush to even out the colour into your brows and make them look natural. On brunettes I like to go a couple of shades lighter than their hair so the brows aren't too dark. On blondes I like a taupe colour and red heads a soft mid brown. If your eyebrows tend to fall down and look abit messy you can use an eyebrow gel to keep them in place. Otherwise a little trick if you haven't got any is to put a tiny spray of hairspray on your brow brush and comb them up. If you have overplucked I suggest you leave your eyebrows alone for about 3 wks to let them grow back in and then re-shape. pic: Vogue UK My friend Martha sent me this video and I thought it was so great and funny that I had to share it . If only we could lay it out in front of us and dive into it, looking fabulous in 10 seconds...:) |
About...I have been a makeup artist for over 20 yrs and am passionate about beauty and helping women to look the best they possibly can. I believe that women are beautiful at any age , and being older myself, am constantly on the look out for products that will help the skin retain its glow and beauty. From a very young age I have paid attention to my skin and have always gone looking for new, innovative - or even tried and true products that make a difference. I take inspiration from my friends and women I meet in my work. These women are the reason I started this blog , so that I can pass on my knowledge and help women to keep looking, and feeling amazing . I love finding new looks that inspire and you can adapt to your own style . I am also a mum with 3 boys which keeps my life very busy ... and never dull as anyone who knows me will attest to! All items posted on this blog are chosen because I have personally tried them and like them. I hope you find something here that you will love and will work for you. Archives
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