How to & Tips

New reader N (welcome!) stumbled upon Beauty Fool and wrote me an e-mail asking one of her beauty dilemmas – and I think that this may be a ‘popular’ beauty dilemma so I thought I should make a post out of it! N writes:

Do you know any ways of cleaning the nicks and cuts on my legs due to shaving them? I have no allergies at all, but after the first time I had my legs shaved, I get cuts and nicks all over. Now I am extremely self-conscious to wear short skirts.

Yes, I hope I can help! I’ll write what I think would help but I’m also gonna open this up to my wonderful readers, because I might not be correct. Basically, my first thought is that the skin on your legs are extra dry with dead skin building up, and therefore are prone to cuts and nicks when you shave. What I would recommend is to exfoliate, then moisturize your legs every night so they are soft for the next day, and also to make sure you use a conditioning shaving cream.

The second thing I would say is to change the way you shave your legs – I know shaving against the hair root makes for a closer shave, but it makes your legs prone to nicks, cuts and ingrown hair. Try to shave in the direction that the hair grows and that should help a lot.

For those who might have this same problem but in other areas of your body, I would still say the same: make sure the skin isn’t dry and flaky, use a conditioning shaving cream and shave in the direction of the hair root.

I really hope my tips would help a little, N! If not, I’m gonna open this post up to all of you reading: do you have any advice to give N? How do you get a ‘flawless’ shave?

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Want lips so red you can literally stop traffic?! Maybe not, but there is a trick to having super, sexy red lips that last hours upon hours.

This trick is so simple to do, yet no one ever thought of it (at least I didn’t until a few weeks ago!)

For super red lips, apply a red lipstain underneath your red lipstick. When your lipstick color starts to fade, the lipstain will still be there, providing enough color for super-red lips.

And that’s it. Simple, no?

Do you like sporting red lips? When do you ‘wear’ red lips? What do red lips mean to you? Personally – red lips is all about class and sophistication for me, so I tend to sport red lips at more “dressy” and formal functions.

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I began wearing glasses at – gasp – the age of 9, so you can be sure I got a lot of “four-eyed” jokes at school. And I’ll be honest with you, I was so ashamed of them that I started wearing contacts at 13, which is apparently too young. (If you feel self-conscious about wearing glasses, check out some of the celebs wearing glasses below – glasses are sexy, too!) Thankfully, I’ve gotten over being self conscious wearing glasses and I’m happy to wear my glasses out if I’m too darn lazy to deal with my contacts!

The thing is, glasses and makeup tends to be a bit tricky topic. Glasses can either make your eyes look bigger or smaller, depending on your lens. I’m near sighted, so my lenses tend to make my eyes look small, so full on smokey eyes tend to make your eyes look even smaller – lining my inner rims with glasses on is a no-no. (If only someone had told me that earlier!) Thankfully, I’ve learnt some makeup tips for glasses wearers.

Face

Complete your usual foundation makeup. It’s probably best to keep your skin matte for the day, as makeup can be smudged as your glasses slide up and down, especially near your eye and nose area. Anything shimmery/dewy/shiny might become too messy to deal with.

Glasses can cast shadows under your eyes, so if you already have dark eyecircles or eyebags, this can make them look even worse! (And no, there’s nothing you can do about eye circles!) Instead, remember to apply concealer and sweep a layer of loose powder on top of the concealer to really ‘set’ it – concealer tends to slip and stick onto your glasses, so it’s vital that it stays on!

It’s best to avoid any shimmer of any kind – be it illuminators, shimmer blush, highlighters. It makes the whole face a tad ‘clown-like’ as there is so much going on. The idea is that your glasses are already a big ‘accessory’ to your face, so your makeup should compliment it, not try to overpower it.

Eyes

Depending on your diagnosis and glasses frames, there are two options for this one. If your eye glasses make your eyes appear larger, then it’s best to skip heavy eyeliner and dark shadows – talk about raccoon eyes! Likewise, if your eye glasses make your eyes appear smaller, this is vital too – skip the dark makeup! It will only make your eyes seem smaller and give a ‘squinty’ look (been there, done that.)

Instead, try to keep your eyes looking naturally pretty, as they are! Sweep some light colored shadow on and then apply a thin line of eyeliner (liquid is wonderful, if not, pencil is best). After, apply mascara on your top lash line only. (Applying mascara on your bottom lash line could look like dark circles.)

Probably the best thing to do is this: keep your brows groomed. Your face looks instantly polished with groomed brows. Simply choose your eyebrow product of choice and fill in any sparse areas, leaving a nicely defined brow.

Lips

Anything goes with lips!

In general, makeup should be natural looking. Like I said earlier, the general rule is to keep it simple because your glasses are already a big statement on your face!

Do you wear glasses? What type of makeup do you wear whilst wearing your glasses? Do you change anything about it from your ‘normal’ makeup? Personally I do, when I wear my contacts anything goes but I find when I wear glasses everything is more natural, meaning I skip the eyeliner and instead load up on a bold lipcolor.

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If you, like the rest of the world (myself included) shed a tear after news broke that despite all the creams and claims, there is no cure for cellulite, then this may offer a ray of hope.

Take a peak at your nearest beach and unfortunately you will spot this one out quickly: those without a tan or those with generally paler skin-tones tend to have the most cellulite, and it’s only because the shadows of the dimples contrast with the light skin tone.

So since cellulite is camouflaged a little more on darker skin tones, what can the rest of us with lighter-to-medium skin-tones do? Apply self tan, of course! Applying self tanner and making your skin-tone slightly darker and diminish the dreaded orange peel look and the tiny shadows it creates. (Remember, fake tan only!)

Will you be trying this out since it’s bikini season soon? Sure, this may not be that ‘ground-breaking’ of a tip but I tried this myself and it made a world of a difference. Better than nothing, no… What other options do we have?! (Damn you, cellulite!)

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I am such a drama queen when I get sick. I lie in my bed, prophesying that the world is ending because little old me, ordinary Renee in Singapore, is feeling like crap. Dramatic, no? So I really loved N’s small question about being sick and wearing makeup.

Do you wear makeup when you are sick? I still need to go to work when I’m sick (but can still function) but still want to look decent!

Unfortunately, skipping the day and spending it in bed is a rare moment now, because life still goes on: school goes on, work goes on, driving lessons, interviews, you name it. And even though you feel like crap – you really can’t look like it. I’ve read countless tips on makeup to wear when you’re sick, but they were a bit too unrealistic – the last thing you want to think about is if your mascara is smudging when you feel like hell, no?

Here’s some of my advice on what beauty products to wear when you’re feeling under the weather, that can hopefully get you through the day feeling a little more comfortable.

First of all, as much as I would hate to recommend a full foundation face, when you got a runny nose, full of zits, or a general ‘sick’ look on your face, it just makes it look worse. Try a tinted moisturizer instead. You can close you eyes and just apply it on while you lie in bed. Just remember that before you walk out the door, check that they are no harsh lines. If so, blend.

And that’s totally it for face!

For your eyes, unless you can be bothered, try on a bit of mascara to open up your eyes. If you can’t be bothered (like me!), just make sure your eyebrows look a bit groomed. You know what they say … groomed brows complete the whole face.

Next, here’s a bit of makeup application required: no matter what you’re sick with, a bit of color will be lost to your face. Get a very light, natural pink and sweep some blush on your cheeks so you don’t look like death.

Last but not least, apply some tinted lip balm. It makes pale lips look alive instantly.

So to recap: a little tinted moisturizer, groomed brows, blush and tinted lip balm. It will take about 5 minutes and is really simple and quick to do, no matter how crappy you’re feeling. With these tips, if you happen to reveal to someone that you are feeling under the weather, they will say you still look great. (Which we all love, no?)

I hope my tips have helped.

Do you wear makeup when you’re sick? I apply those tips above when I have to go out and face the world while I’m sick, but if I’m at home – hell no! I am lying in bed, face bared and being dramatic as usual.

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As someone obsessed with eyeliner, nothing is more painful than seeing it brittle and all broken up! Luckily, for any pencil-type makeup – eyeliner, brow pencil, lip liner – there is a simple way to making them work again.

If your pencil keeps breaking as you shapen – or worse, as you’re applying – it could be that the lead inside is brittle and prone to breaking completely.

But one way to harden it again is to keep it in the fridge for 2 hours. When you take the pencil out again, it’s a miracle! However, it is quite ‘hard’ afterward, so warm the pencil by drawing a few circles in your palm… your pencil then should be as good as new.

Have you tried out this tip yourself? I did recently and it works like a charm.

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