If you have dry skin, winter — and all the bitter, dry winds that come with it — can feel like torture. As it turns out, a simple thing you do twice a day isn’t making it any better: washing your face.
Still, by now, you probably know that soap isn’t the most hydrating thing you can put on your skin. In fact, traditional bar soaps can be quite drying thanks to harsh detergents and alcohol, especially if you’re not following up with a moisturizer as soon as you pat your face dry. But you don’t have to give up washing your face — instead, just ditch the harsh stuff.
Ahead, we found seven soaps for dry skin that won’t strip your face of the oils and moisture it needs. Oh, and it should go without saying, but the same goes for your body too, ladies. Our favorite picks for dry, easily irritated skin below.
I've waxed poetic about how difficult my hair is many times over on this very site — it’s thin and flat and wimpy and requires at least half a dozen products to look decent. Among those products are a leave-in conditioner (Alterna Moisture Milk), a volumizing mist (Davines Volu Hair Mist), a volumizing mousse (IGK Trust Fund Foam), a heat-protectant spray (GHD Heat Protect), a texturizing powder (Sexy Hair Powder Play), a wave spray (Kristin Ess Wave Spray) and a finishing cream (Ouai Finishing Crème). If that sounds ridiculous, it’s because it is — and before you suggest I rearrange them or cut some or just let it air dry, please know I’ve spent the better part of the last two decades figuring this out, so when I say I’m not very open to change, believe it.
That us, until a few weeks ago, when a new product landed on my desk, as they’re wont to do. I often take new releases home to test them for my beauty editor Chloe since we have very different hair types, but I usually report back with mixed reviews. This time, it was R+Co’s Trophy Shine and Texture Spray on the chopping block, which is an oxymoron if I’d ever heard one. The release promised both volume and a glossy shine thanks to a mix of Fuller’s earth, a type of clay, sea kale and sweet almond oil, but it just sounded like a recipe for sticky, greasy strands.
Image: ImaxTree
Before I could even take it home, it had to pass the desk test. I flipped my head over, spritzed it on my already-dry-but-also-now-flat hair, zhooshed it around and looked in the mirror. I looked great. Suddenly, I had that mix of beachy and sexy and unfussy hair that magazines tell you is possible by just falling asleep with your wet hair in braids (LOL no) and it somehow didn’t look crusty, dry or fried — or all the other adjectives that come with daily heat styling. Chloe, ever the beauty skeptic, caught me looking in the mirror for the sixth time in as many minutes and assured me it’d probably look like crap in an hour.
The day was just about over, and I had to head to the gym, and in my tote bag went the spray. The next morning, I decided to forego my entire hair routine in favor of Trophy. I towel-dried my hair, spritzed it on after my heat-protectant spray, then blow-dried. Once it was mostly dry, I spritzed it again, scrunching my hair to force beach vibes into it. I waited for the crunchy feeling that usually comes along with texture sprays, but it never came. Then I waited for the weighed-down feeling that usually comes with shine sprays. Again, nothing; with the exception of some limpness near the crown of my head, I looked great. Like, really great. So great, in fact, that I needed to photograph the evidence even though I was already late for work:
Image: ImaxTree
See? My hair is at once beachy, shiny and touchable — no crunchiness or greasiness in sight. I still needed to apply some Powder Play to my crown — which, to be honest, I don’t think I’ll ever quit — but beyond that, I think I’m just about able to pare down my seven-step routine, especially on mornings when time is short.
Surprise! It’s that time of the month again! Chill—your ovaries are fine…but your wallet might not be. Because Ulta just released a bunch of brand-spakin’-new products for March, and we want approximately all of them. We understand, though, that this moment might be overwhelming for some of you who live and die by the “new arrivals” filter on Ulta’s website, so to make it easier on you, we’ve gone ahead and picked seven of the best, coolest, and cheapest (they’re all under $20!) beauty products for you to try a.s.a.p.
We won’t pretend that you’ll want every single one of these products, because who in the world could ever want a $9 L.A. Girl brow kit, or a $4 Vichy face mask that promises to give you super glowy skin? Who in their right mind would want amazing products on a budget? (Note our thick-as-hell sarcasm, here.) In case you haven’t already skipped below, click through to see our favorite under-$20 products that may or may not already be in route to our doorsteps, then come back in April so we can corrupt your bank account all over again. Happy splurging!
If you have short hair, you know the struggles of attempting an updo without every layer popping out, let alone trying to recreate one of the intricate braids seen on your Instagram feed. But trust us when we say doing braids on short hair is totally possible, as long as you have a bit of patience (and a ton of bobby pins).
And to prove it to you, we rounded up our favorite braids tutorials that are specifically done on short-haired vloggers, so there are zero reasons for you not to be able to try one of these out on yourself. Just grab a mirror, take it slow, and then marvel at your handiwork. We promise you’ll get at least a billion compliments on these styles.
If you have fine or thinning hair, you know how frustrating it can be to style an updo or even a ponytail without showing off your scalp to the world. And though we’re totally down with scalps, we’re also here for you if you’d rather master a hairstyle that gives the illusion of thicker hair without relying on that tiny clear elastic you’ve used for the last decade.
So we rounded up our favorite updos for fine hair that even beginners can do. If your hair is especially slippery or thin, blast the roots first with thickening texturizer spray, such as Living Proof Full Dry Volume Blast, to amp up your hair’s thickness before attempting the style. Then scroll down to see the tutorials below and try them out on yourself today.
Shopping for jeans often inspires a level of dread usually reserved for trying on swimsuits—which is a little strange, when you think about it. After all, you’re not forced to strip down to basically nothing and evaluate the relative merits of a few strips of stretchy fabric under unforgiving fluorescent lighting. They’re just jeans.
But still, I get it: Finding a pair you love usually means trying on and rejecting a few dozen that you don’t. Ones that cinch your waist like a vise grip or require CrossFit-level upper-body strength to pull over your thighs. Ones that may say they’re the same size as a dozen pairs you already own, but are clearly made to fit another body entirely.
Such is the menace of inconsistent sizing, but since that’s not likely to be resolved any time soon, the smartest thing to do is arm yourself with as much information as possible so you can cut down on the dressing room agony (or living room agony, if you’re the online shopping type.)
From talking with friends and colleagues, one brand we’ve all found particularly challenging in the fit department is Levi’s—perhaps because every last one of us has been bitten by the vintage-cut-denim bug in recent years. While every cool girl we follow on Instagram seems to have a tidy collection of well-worn 501s and 505s, figuring out the vintage equivalent to your modern size can be notoriously headache-inducing, especially when you’re doing your browsing on eBay or Etsy. And even buying brand new doesn’t totally eliminate the guesswork; a coworker has developed a habit of buying three sizes at a time to ensure at least one of the bunch will fit.
So, what gives? And is it possible to find your perfect pair without endless trial and error?
According to Chief Product Officer Karyn Hillman, the fit discrepancies in vintage Levi’s are only natural. “Every pair of vintage jeans is unique and a lot of that character can be attributed to its past life,” she says. “Denim molds and takes the shape of the previous owner’s body—if the original owner of one pair of vintage jeans had a small waist and wider hips, the seat may be more stretched out on that pair than on another pair with the same ticket size that was worn by someone with slim hips and a fuller waist.”
The rule of thumb is to go up two sizes from your modern size when buying vintage, but she cautions not to get too hung up on the waist size: “You might have to go up or down depending on each pair and how you want to wear them—whether you’re looking for a super snug fit or something more relaxed and ‘boyfriend-y.'” (My favorite vintage 501s are three sizes bigger than my usual jeans, but for someone with a curvier waist-to-hip ratio, going up just two sizes may make for a closer fit.)
Also pay attention, if you can, to the era in which the jeans were produced, as that can influence the cut. “In general, the fit of the 501 has evolved over the decades in keeping with the style of the time – legs get narrower or wider and rises fluctuate slightly depending upon the year,” says Hillman. “Currently we are loving the 501s from the ’80s and ’90s, which have a higher rise and a nipped-in waist.” In general, older jeans will be stiffer have a higher rise, though again, that can vary with prior wear.
In December, the heritage brand launched the 501 Skinny, a modern reboot on the vintage classic, with a slimmer leg and cropped inseam, designed to better fit the women scooping up thrifted pairs in droves. “Though Levi’s started making jeans specifically for women in 1934, the vintage styles that are most popular today—the 501, 505, and 517—were originally introduced as men’s fits,” says Hillman. “While both women and men bought and loved these styles from the men’s line, we use a different sizing method today for our women’s products that allows us to provide a more consistent and precise fit.”
While generally this is true—you shouldn’t need to go up three sizes when buying a new pair—take note of the composition and online reviews before assuming your “normal” size will fit. Even among the new 501s, certain washes are 100 percent cotton, while others are 99 percent cotton, 1 percent elastane—and per the reviews, that 1 percent makes a big difference: you may want to size up one or two sizes with the non-stretch versions. (I had a similar experience with the Wedgie Fit jean the brand introduced last year, and went up a size for a less constricting fit.)
“The ‘feel’ of a jean with little to no stretch will likely feel a bit slimmer because it does not flex or give like the advanced stretch denim fabrics being used today,” explains Hillman. “Mid-to-high stretch denim fabrics work really well for a great range of shapes and curves, as they are a bit more flexible and forgiving. But it’s really all about preference.”
So no, you may not be able to eliminate the try-on process entirely—but hopefully you can feel a little more prepared before hitting “add to cart” on your next pair.
Is it just us, or does it feel like the majority of hair inspo pics that we see pretty much only ever feature straight or wavy hair? Like, sure, those side-swept bangs and sleek, long ponytails look pretty, but they’re not at all attainable for someone who likes to wear their natural curls. And if we’re being honest, it kind of sucks, because as you know, curls are beautiful and deserve love too.
So we decided to round up our favorite hair tutorials that are perfectly and wonderfully wearable for anyone with curls. And no, these don’t require five years of beauty school or a billion fingers to do on yourself. Scroll through to see our favorites, and try them out tomorrow morning.
First things first: I have pretty whatever hair. It’s flat and limp and usually requires the perfect cocktail of seven different products to look decent—but if I go for eight, it’s a disaster. Still, most people would never know how much labor goes into my strands. In fact, it’s my one feature I’m most frequently complimented on, if only because I spend half an hour every morning trying to make it look like I couldn’t be bothered to fix it. I’ve officially fooled the world—save for my boyfriend—into thinking I’m low-maintenance.
But two hours into a short weekend trip, I realized I forgot to pack my step four: my sea salt spray—shout out to Kristin Ess for making the best non-crunchy wave spray ever that I’m now 100 percent addicted to—which is basically a recipe for a crappy hair weekend. At first, I figured I’m only in Boston—which isn’t, how do I say, as demanding as NYC—but I still wanted to look good. The nearest drugstore was half a mile away (related: WTF, Boston?) and I usually hate most drugstore salt sprays anyway, so I did what any self-respecting editor does: I DIY’d it.
Image: ImaxTree
I’d been down this road before: After John Frieda discontinued Beach Waves in the late-aughts, I began making my own with a little warm water and those coarse Maldon Sea Salt Flakes—and it was better than the expensive stuff. In the winter though, I’d always have to add one secret ingredient to keep my hair from getting staticky as hell: rosewater. Yep: It moisturizes hair enough to keep it from frizzing, but won’t weigh hair down like other conditioners can.
So I grabbed the spritz bottle that was holding spray-gel (not totally necessary, if we’re being honest), dumped it out, and filled it up with a little hot water and Glossier’s Rosewater Spray (sorry, Glossier). I emptied two packets of salt from the cafe downstairs, shook it up, et voila: the perfect DIY salt spray for winter. It’ll make your hair beachy and mussy, but without the annoying crunch-factor—or, my absolute bane of cold weather, static.
We’re just going to ask the questions all of you are constantly wondering: Why the hell are anti-aging products so insanely confusing? Is it too much to ask that someone just tell us exactly what to slap on our faces to make us look like glowing, ethereal cherubs? Why aren’t there flashing neon signs in the skin-care aisle? Does the world hate us?! Yeah, we get it. And we’re finally here with answers.
Well, maybe not answers, because most of it has to do with marketing, sales, blah, blah, but we are here with a list of the best anti-aging night creams for all skin types, so you can be told exactly what to use, without the headache of guessing. Each of these moisturizers is formulated with superhero anti-agers, like retinoids, peptides, antioxidants, and fruit acids, so your skin will look smoother, glowier, and definitively less lined after a few weeks of consistent use. So keep reading to find the best formula for you, then get slathering.
Ideally, we’d all have limitless amounts of time in the morning for an incredibly intricate and precise makeup routine. We’d also ideally have the skills and finesse of a celebrity makeup artist and the patience of Buddha, but we are only human, and pretty makeup continues to be a struggle to achieve in the mornings.
So to keep you from getting so flustered in the morning that you skip your makeup routine altogether, we rounded up our favorite so-pretty (and so-easy) makeup tutorials that can and should be done every single day. Scroll down to see our favorites, and then try them out on yourself tomorrow!
Fast and subtle brows, eye shadow and contour
Smooth, airbrushed-looking skin and mascara
Softly contoured and bronzed skin (plus blemish coverage)
Simple highlighting and easy eye shadow and eyeliner
Alright, so the idea of a pregnancy glow is so blown out and overplayed at this point that it’s almost a cliché in itself. Because, really, what is a pregnancy glow, other than an increase in oily skin and blood flow, due to hormone fluctuations? Oh, wait, that’s literally all it is. (Plus, you know, the fact that you’re growing a human out of nothing, which is pretty glow-inducing.)
But there’s no denying that most pregnant women tend to radiate, and we feel that it’s unfair to relegate that glow to only a nine-month block of time. So we’ve broken down our three favorite tricks for getting a year-round glow, with or without a baby. Keep reading to find out how to fake perfect skin, really, really quickly—and painlessly.
OK, so 99-percent of the time, oily, shiny skin isn’t a super-desired look. But when it comes to getting a glowy complexion, you want to embrace facial oils—so start your morning with them. After cleansing your face and moisturizing, massage three drops of a lightweight facial oil, like Biossance Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Oil for dry-to-regular skin, or Plant Superfacial Organic Superlight oil for oily skin, across your face, avoiding your eyelids. Give the oils 15 minutes to sink in before applying makeup. If you’re short on time, save this one for the weekends.
Switch up your primer.
If you’re not already using a primer, then please excuse us while our brains explode into a thousand tears. Not only is primer one of the most-important products for keeping your makeup smooth, crease-free, and long-lasting, but the new wave of primers are also filled with a bunch of glow-enhancers, like tiny, tiny light-reflecting specks that give your skin a true, lit-from-within finish. And if that sounds too poetic for you, then you’ve clearly never tried Pur’s No Filter Blurring Primer or Erborian’s Glow Crème, both of which are formulated with micro-fine, pearlescent reflectors that leave your skin with the most subtle of warm glows. Before applying your makeup, gently rub a few drops of an iridescent primer over your skin (including your eyelids), wait a few minutes, then dab on your tinted moisturizer or foundation.
Lean (hard) into blush.
Hey, you should give blush a call sometime, because it’s your best friend, and you’re neglecting it. Listen, flushed skin is happy, youthful skin, and the new generation of blushes is nothing like the heavy, powdered formulas of your grandmother’s time, but is instead filled with creamy, hydrating ingredients that literally plump your skin and fine lines as soon as you massage them on. Our favorites: It Cosmetics CC+ Vitality Brightening Crème Blush and the Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Cream Blush. Use your fingers, or a damp BeautyBlender, to blend a sheer layer of blush over the apples of your cheeks and across your cheekbones, and then marvel at the fact that you now have the glowiest, prettiest, is-that-my-face skin you’ve ever had. And you didn’t even need to get pregnant to get it—huzzah!
I'd like to have a moment of silence for 7th-grade me who thought the crunchy, stiff waves I wore to school every day was “cute.” And you should probably have a moment, too, because I know that you also spent the better part of middle school scrunching obscene amounts of mousse through your damp hair, until your head resembled uncooked ramen. That look was the only, and I mean only, way I thought I could use mousse in my hair. But a decade (and a few celebrity hairstylist friends) later, I’m here to tell you that not only was I completely wrong, but I now know that mousse is truly one the best products that will ever happen to your hair…if you use it correctly.
Understandably, mousse gets a bad rep, thanks to emotionally scarred individuals like me. “There’s always been a stigma surrounding mousse,” says hairstylist Kristin Ess, who is responsible for literally every excellent hairstyle Lucy Hale and Jenna Dewan Tatum have ever worn. “Most people just throw blobs of mousse in their hair and miss a bunch of spots, making it feel dry, sticky, fluffy, and dirty all at once.” But when used correctly, mousse can fix your most-annoying hair problems (like frizz, dullness, and flatness), while making your hair will look like the very definition of inspo-worthy. Seriously.
The trick, says Ess, is to apply the mousse evenly throughout the hair, and, most importantly, to make sure you’re using the right formula for your hair type. And because we love you (and mousse), we made her tell us in painstaking detail exactly how to do both of those things like a pro. So click through to find your new best friend, and high-five your inner 13-year-old while you’re at it.
"You want to use a volumizing mousse that can give your hair hold and lift. Using your fingers, rake a golf-ball-size puff through your damp roots, then flip the hair over and blast the roots with a blow-dryer for volume. For all-around volume, spray a thickening spray through your mid-lengths to ends before blowing it dry."
Kristin Ess Instant Lift Volumizing Mousse, $14; at Target
"You'd actually want to use a curl-defining mousse, since it's going to help define your waves and lock them together, so they don't go rogue. With a wide-tooth comb, comb a baseball-size puff of mousse through your sopping wet hair, from root to tip, then let it air-dry. As it dries, wind small sections of damp hair around your fingers to create smooth, rope-y waves."
MoroccanOil Curl Control Mousse, $23; at MoroccanOil
"Rake a small ball of mousse through your wet hair with your fingers, then, after rough-drying it with a blow-dryer, rake another ball of mousse through your dry hair for extra texture. The mousse gives slippery, fine hair some grip and support, so it won't fall flat when you try to work with it later."
"Always use a lightweight curl-enhancing mousse! It adds definition, shine, and hold for curls that go limp or fall out really easily. With a wide-tooth comb, rake a baseball-size puff of mousse through your damp hair, from root to tip, then air-dry. If your curls tend to really deflate, though, you can diffuse the roots for a couple minutes while tilting your head side from side to side or upside down, then let the rest of it air-dry naturally."
"It sounds weird, but a volumizing mousse can actually make extensions blend in better with your natural hair, since it adds a bit of space between your roots and the start of the extension. Just gently massage a bit through your roots and, with a round brush, blow the top layer of your hair up and out for volume."
Big Sexy Hair Root Pump Volumizing Spray Mousse, $18.95; at Big Sexy Hair
Let’s get real, here: Pregnancy is a wonderful, beautiful, magical thing…that makes about a billion tiny facets of life really challenging for nine months. Like, of course, the fact that your clothes don’t fit, or that your chin is covered in zits, or that you haven’t slept well in almost a year are all worth it, because you’re creating a freaking human being, but it’d also be super nice not to have to deal with something as outwardly annoying as acne, right?
Unfortunately, though, treating breakouts while pregnant isn’t as simple as it was a few months ago, because almost all of the main anti-acne products on the market contain ingredients that have been deemed unsafe—or, at least, highly risky—for pregnancy, like retinoids, salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, AHAs, and BHAs. Which basically leaves you with an empty medicine cabinet. But don’t freak, because there are ways to treat acne while pregnant, as long as you know where to look…and have a dermatologist friend willing to very explicitly point it out for you.
Image: ImaxTree
“Yes, there are definitely ways to safely deal with acne during pregnancy, though you need to be diligent and consistent in order for them to work,” says dermatologist Mona Gohara, queen of Yale School of Medicine. Unlike most acne treatments that are as easy as popping a pill or slapping on some zit cream, pregnancy-approved treatments require a bit more patience. Gohara’s weapon of choice? Light therapy. “Light devices, which can come in the form of masks or handheld devices, emit a blue and red light that are target the bacteria in your skin that causes inflammation,” she says. “They act as topical antibiotics and are incredibly anti-inflammatory, which can be really beneficial for the inflamed hormonal acne that comes from pregnancy.”
This is one of those times were price really does matter, so if you want faster results akin to those you’d get in the derm’s office, we suggest investing in the Tria Positively Clear Acne Clearing Blue Light for $169, though you can also get cheaper results with the Neutrogena Light Therapy Acne Mask, which will only cost you $35 (although it only lasts for a month). Either way, though, you’ll need to use your device every single day—and each session can take up to 15 minutes—to notice results, so consistency is key, here.
Image: ImaxTree
Of course, if your acne is truly bothering you, and the therapies aren’t working fast enough for you, Gohara notes that other prescription-level treatments may be available, though you’ll need to head to your derm to get them. “I’ll often prescribe topical azelaic acid to my pregnant patients, which is a type of antibotics, in conjunction with light therapy,” she says, “but you’ll need to speak with your dermatologist to make sure it’s right for you.”
Yeah, yeah, yeah—none of this is as easy as giving you a magical pill and tonic that washes away your acne overnight, but the alternatives are definitely not worth the risk, especially when that risk involves your baby. So try out a light-therapy device at home, or head to your doctor to see which treatments are safest for you. Just remember: Acne (thankfully) isn’t forever.
I am incredibly, incredibly picky with my dry shampoos. I mean, if I’m going to be spraying something on my head every other day for the rest of my life, it better be hella freaking effective and also relatively affordable, because I refuse to let my greasy roots be the cause of my bankruptcy. But unfortunately, as anyone who has ever used a dry shampoo knows, no dry shampoo is created equally and some brands just really, truly, honestly suck.
I don’t want a dry shampoo that feels like a clear, sticky, texturizing spray, or one that makes my head smell like a billion dead flowers in an attic, or one that’s so powdery and thick, it leaves white splotches all over my scalp. So that eliminates about 70-percent of all dry shampoos in the world, and about 99-percent of all drugstore brands.
And though I had convinced myself that I was cool with spending $30 every month on the wonderful Rene Furterer Naturia dry shampoo and just never saving for retirement, I pretty much lost my shit when I tried a new drugstore dry shampoo that was not only significantly cheaper, but also better than any brand I’ve tried in a long, long time. So, guys, I’d like to introduce you to my new love: L’Oréal Paris Extraordinary Clay Dry Shampoo.
Image: L’Oréal Paris
L’Oréal Paris Extraordinary Clay Dry Shampoo enjoys long walks on the beach, heartfelt conversations under the stars, and hanging out on my vanity. And yes, I know—another L’Oréal product, you ask? How different could it be from the billion other L’Oréal products you’ve tried in the past? But trust me when I say this dry shampoo ticks off all of my little judgmental boxes. While most dry shampoos use alcohol, corn starch, and rice starch to soak up grease, this one is formulated with a bunch of oil-sucking minerals and clays (including kaolinite, montmorillonite, and magnesium aluminum silicate) that really absorb excess scalp oils without feeling heavy, sticky, or too textured.
Even during one particularly shameful weekend when I tried to go three days without washing my curls, I blasted this on my roots every single night (fun fact: Dry shampoo works best when you spray it on before bed, so the starches and clays can really soak up your scalp oils while you sleep), and my hair still felt ridiculously soft and even looked relatively clean and shiny by the time I washed it.
Oh, and the big plus? It’s only $7. (That high-pitched noise you hear faintly in the wind is me crying happy tears of joy.) But, hey, I’m not saying this dry shampoo is perfect. It does have a pretty strong scent that sticks around for a good 15 minutes after you spray it on, but it’s fresh and light, like a mix between cucumbers and clean laundry, that it really doesn’t bother me. Just make sure to shake the can really well before each use, or you’ll end up with a few white patches on your roots that will derail your morning if you have curly hair that can’t be brushed out (*raises hand*). Now, please—just go out and try it so my bandwagon can finally feel full. Thanks.
In a world where women like Cara Delevingne and Lily Collins are lauded for their bold eyebrows, it can be tough to look at your own and feel like they don’t measure up. Still, natural brow density isn’t the only road to great arches. That’s right: You can fake it too.
To get all the info on how to fill in your brows in four super-easy steps, we chatted with makeup artist and brow connoisseur Ashleigh Ciucci. See how she can make even the sparsest arches look well-endowed.
A post shared by ashleigh ciucci (@beauteousmax) on
Pick favorites
Ciucci believes we all have a “good brow" and a “bad brow” — and you probably already have a favorite. “Pick the brow that you like the best and use this brow as your guide for how to shape the other,” says Ciucci.
Get in shape
That old-school pencil trick you’ve probably heard? “It really does work,” says Ciucci. “First, place the pencil vertically along the bridge of your nose, almost in the indentation of your nostril. Where it passes through the brow is where you should begin shading. Then line it up vertically with your pupil — where it passes through your brow is where your arch should be. Lastly, line it up vertically at the outer corner of your eye. That's how far out you should shade the tail.”
Seal the deal
Not sure if you should use a brow pencil or a gel? Ciucci says it’s best to use both for a natural look. “I like to brush with a tinted brow gel first, like Glossier’s Boy Brow, and then go back with pencil to fill any empty spots. I like Benefit Precisely My Brow Pencil.” She finishes by brushing them up with a spoolie for a fuller appearance. But if you’re truly brow-challenged with a lack of hair, “use a tinted pomade like Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade along with a stiff angled brush, like Chanel Angled Brow Brush No. 12 to draw tiny little hairs."
Clean it up
If you’re trying to grow out your brows, you should avoid plucking or waxing, but once you’ve got your shape, “cleaning up those spare hairs will open up the eye and keep the shape looking clean,” says Ciucci, who says stray hairs can look unkempt if you’re not careful.
We'll DIY anything, as long as it's easy — bath bombs, homemade hand and body soaps. Hell, we'll even build a coffee mug holder out of pallets when the mood hits. But should we attempt to make our own face scrub? We're talking about our faces here.
The answer is yes, you should totally attempt to make your own scrub. While using a DIY exfoliant seems a little iffy, they're actually really helpful when made and applied correctly. Not only does exfoliating slough away dead skin cells, but it also unclogs the oil and dirt that lives in your pores and causes breakouts. Most store-bought exfoliating products contain harsh chemicals and dozens of questionable ingredients that have unknown benefits — another reason to make your own. As with any other exfoliating treatments, these should be used two to three times a week, not every day. And keep in mind that when trying a new skin-care product (or in this case, recipe), test it out before you go to bed. That way, if you have an adverse reaction, you can give your skin time to recover while you sleep.
To keep things cheap and easy (and totally pinnable), we've put together four of our favorite natural exfoliators you can make at home.
1. Basic baking soda scrub
Image: Geo-grafika/Getty Images
The range of what baking soda can do just seems to be getting wider and wider. It can freshen the air, remove stains, clean showers and sinks and trigger explosions in science fair volcanoes. Oh, yes, we can use it to bake too. But there is one more non-food-related use to add to baking soda’s resume: face exfoliant. The grains in baking soda are just the right size to act as a gentle exfoliant, and many claim that it has helped clear up acne.
Ingredients:
Baking soda
Facial cleanser
Water
Directions:
Mix baking soda with your facial cleanser to make it an exfoliating cleanser. (You can also make a paste of just baking soda and water.)
Gently rub it onto your skin and leave it on for 5 to 10 minutes before rinsing off.
Originally published August 2015. Updated March 2017.
2. Nourishing sugar scrub
Image: fatihhoca/Getty Images
Granulated sugar is another wonderful, natural exfoliant. Mix it with honey, which contains powerful antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, and a little lemon for clarifying purposes, and you have a wonderfully nourishing and effective face scrub.
Ingredients:
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon raw sugar
Fresh lemon juice
Directions:
Combine the honey and sugar and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
Mix the ingredients well.
If the mixture is a little loose, add a bit more sugar.
Coffee is another fantastic natural exfoliant. It contains caffeic acid, which has anti-inflammatory effects and can boost collagen production. Just as coffee stimulates our body in the morning, it can serve as a skin stimulant as well.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon ground coffee
1 tablespoon water or olive oil
Directions:
To make the scrub, combine the coffee and water or olive oil. (To make this inexpensive face scrub even more economical, save the wet coffee grounds from your brewed morning coffee and use those.)
If you use olive oil, skip applying a moisturizer afterward, as olive oil will leave your skin super-moisturized.
Side note: Since coffee grounds can clog drains, apply the scrub and buff off the grounds over a plugged sink so that you can wipe them out or use a mesh drain strainer to catch them before they go down your pipes.
People who use oatmeal as a natural face scrub swear by it, and now I know why. Ground oatmeal not only serves as a wonderful exfoliant, but it also absorbs and removes surface dirt and impurities while leaving your skin nourished and hydrated. It has been known to soothe and heal everything from acne to sunburn to dry, flaky skin. Given its gentle nature, it is also ideal for those with sensitive skin.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon ground oatmeal
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon water or paste
Directions:
Combine ground oatmeal with salt, which boosts the face treatment's exfoliating properties.
Add water to make a paste.
Gently rub it onto you skin in circular motions, let sit for 5 to 10 minutes and rinse.
You can cleanse, moisturize and put on masks 'til the cows come home — but if you don't have a regular exfoliation routine, you're not doing your skin right.
Exfoliating — which is really just a fancy word for removing dead skin cells — helps expose the new and radiant skin underneath the surface. It's also an excellent way to prep your skin for any creams, serums or treatments you slap on. The truth is, if you're looking to give yourself a natural glow, exfoliating from head to toe is one of the easiest ways to achieve it.
And when we say head to toe, we mean head to toe! We so often pamper our faces, but forget to do the same for the rest of our skin below the neck. Whether you are seeking to rejuvenate winter skin, trying to get bikini ready or getting prepared to apply tanning products, proper exfoliation is key.
Before stepping into the shower, brush your dry skin with your loofah, body brush or exfoliating gloves. This will help remove the loose skin and prepare your skin for the exfoliating process. Begin with the soles of your feet, working your way up your body.
Get into the shower and wet your body from head to toe. Don't exfoliate your skin if you are sunburned or have any open cuts or wounds.
Use a pumice stone on your feet to eliminate rough spots and calluses. If your feet are extremely rough, soak them in a basin of warm water mixed with a cup of milk for 30 minutes before getting into the shower.
Apply your exfoliating cleanser to your loofah or gloves. Begin scrubbing your body in a circular motion starting with the bottoms of your feet and working your way up. When you reach the bikini area, don't scrub too hard because the skin is very sensitive.
Use a body brush to exfoliate your back and other hard-to-reach places.
Be gentle on your face, particularly around your eyes and mouth. Use an exfoliating product especially formulated for the face, which is gentler than products designed to be used on the body.
Don't forget about your hands. You want them to look and feel soft and smooth too!
Rinse your body with lukewarm water, and follow with the coldest water you can stand.
After stepping out of the shower, apply a moisturizing body lotion all over. Body lotions and facial moisturizers containing alpha or beta hydroxy acids are ideal choices because these acids continue to remove dead skin cells.
Use body moisturizer once a day. Exfoliation is drying to the skin, so you must keep your skin hydrated.
Select exfoliating cleansers that contain sea salt and/or sugar. They key is to select an exfoliator with regular, round grains because exfoliating with square or irregular grains can cause skin lacerations. These abrasions may not be visible to the human eye, but they can cause serious damage.
Karen Asquith, aesthetician and national director of education for G.M Collin Skin care, explains, "[When] they are damaging the skin, they activate the repair mechanisms. If the repair mechanisms are activated regularly for a long period of time, they are unable to keep up, they become exhausted... This 'burn-out' of the skin’s fundamental functioning causes pre-mature skin aging."
Exfoliating once or twice a week is usually enough to achieve silky skin. However, women with oily skin should exfoliate more often than those with dry skin. If your skin becomes excessively dry or irritated after exfoliation, don't scrub so hard. Cut back on how often you exfoliate, and explore the possibility that you may be allergic to the products you used.
"Over-exfoliating is also a concern," says Asquith. "The skin needs time to recuperate, therefore 2-3 times per week is sufficient. Following exfoliation, a body cream should be applied. Depending on the treatment, a slimming, firming, or hydrating cream will penetrate better following an exfoliation and the results will be increased."
So, it's not just about properly removing dead skin. It's about what the new skin gets to soak in. So, Asquith suggests exfoliants that contain other active ingredients.
"[Look for] hydrating, anti-septic, soothing and nourishing components thereby addressing more skin concerns and achieving multi-functional actions," she recommends.
Here are some of our favorite exfoliating products:
Whether you’re new to the bang game or you’ve been wrestling with your bangs for the last few years, we can pretty much guarantee that you’ve been annoyed with them at least once (or one million) times. Because unlike the rest of your hair, bangs seem to have a life of their own, looking phenomenal at random times of the night and like a wildebeest in the morning before you have to head to work.
Thankfully, though, all bangs can be easily styled and tamed as long as you have the use of a blow-dryer, a straightener or a curling iron. And, of course, your hands. To help you out, though, we rounded up our favorite bang-styling tutorials so you can see exactly how to style your bangs three different ways.
With a blow-dryer…
A round-brush, some hair clips and damp hair, and you’re ready to go.
With a curling iron…
We promise, you won’t end up with sausage-like prom curls.
With a flat-iron…
With a little wrist action, your bangs will be full of swoopin’ volume.
I firmly believe that all people look better with a swipe of blush, and I will fight anyone who disagrees with me, because they have probably never seen themselves with a sheer wash of color on their cheeks, then. I mean, there’s a reason why your skin glows after sex, and why kids and babies have perpetually rosy cheeks: Flushed skin is happy, youthful skin. And a quick dab of blush is the easiest way to fake a five-year younger appearance—that is, if you use the right formula.
And that means staying the hell away from the heavy, powdered blushes that your grandmother used to own and switching to the new wave of creamy, hydrating blushes that seriously make your skin look years younger. Or, at least, really, really pretty, thanks to their hydrating formulas that are loaded with skin-plumping hyaluronic acid, cell-repairing ceramides, and lightweight fruit and nut oils. Basically, the product of your skin-care ingredients and your blush making a baby.
So we rounded up the five best anti-aging (or, anti-looking-old, we should say) blushes that seriously make your skin glow. Just tap and blend them over your cheeks with your fingers or a damp sponge for a sheer finish, and then wait for me to tell you “I told you so.”
It’s easy to get the idea that if you want to work in fashion, you have to live in New York City—maybe Los Angeles if you want to dress celebrities. But try telling that to Kristen Lee Cole, creative director of not one, but three of the country’s most ahead-of-the-curve boutiques: Tenoversix in LA and Dallas, and By George in Austin, the city she now calls home.
While she did get her start on the East Coast, studying first at NYU and then at Parsons School of Design and working in New York through her 20s, she says moving west—first to LA and then to Austin—provided a welcome change of pace, particularly after becoming a mom. “I left New York because I was a little burnt out on the city and was really curious about LA,” she explains. “LA was wonderful and such a great experience, and Austin was kind of the same thing. It was a little bit of a life curiosity, what would it be like to live in smaller city, especially now that I have a son.”
Laid-back environment aside, Cole herself has hardly had the chance to slow down. In her role, she oversees buying, marketing, and e-commerce for all three stores, hand-selecting pieces that fit the unique aesthetic of each—not an easy task when you consider how different the customers are, something Cole is clearly finely attuned to. In LA, Tenoversix caters to a creative crowd and stocks emerging, offbeat designers—think wide-leg jumpsuits by Breelayne and hand-painted leather jackets by Veda. “Our main kind of clientele, they generally have very individual style,” says Cole. “They’re not afraid to take chances, but they also like to be cool and relaxed. We understand that aesthetic pretty well as this point.”
At the Dallas store, which opened in 2013 inside The Joule hotel, shoppers tend to be more interested in capital-F fashion. As Cole describes it, “Makeup is always done, hair looks nice—head to toe they are always put together—much more so than with LA women. LA women are more causal, relaxed, and eclectic. In Dallas they like to dress.” Both stores also stock arty housewares and lifestyle goods, a reflection of Cole’s own interests in interiors and design.
By George is the most recent addition to her resume; while the store was founded in 1979, she took the reins as creative director in 2015. There, established brands like Marni and Chloé share the racks with rising stars like Sies Marjan and Jacquemus. Austin, she says, “is a very unpretentious city, a very low-key city—so different from New York, Paris, or London.” That said, “The women here are pretty refined … We sell beautiful pieces and here, women are a little more prone to invest in a really high-quality piece more so than a trend.”
So, how does one person balance such distinct aesthetics? Well, as you might imagine, it takes some serious organization. Working out of either her home office or her office at the boutique, she says, “I basically just wear my By George creative director hat for half the day and then my Tenoversix hat the other half of the day, so I literally split my schedule between the two businesses. I really compartmentalize my days with that work, except for the creative stuff, which falls into both categories.” On a typical workday, she negotiates orders with designers and showrooms, makes buying appointments, approves marketing collateral for stores, advertisements, and events, and produces and oversees e-commerce photography—all the elements that go in to giving a boutique its unique voice.
This, of course, is on top of raising a family, and Cole is currently pregnant with her second son. “Once I started being a working parent, my time became a lot more precious and I worked a lot harder to fit in everything I wanted to fit in in a day,” she says. “I do have to be pretty meticulous … there’s no downtime, with is a bummer.” She credits her success to schedules, discipline, and a whole lot of lists, and adds that in the time she does get to spend with her family, she does her best to fully disconnect—no iPhone, no email, no distractions.
Sometimes this means cooking at home, and sometimes it means passing along some of her other interests. “I’ve always dragged my sweet little son around to galleries and museums with me. That’s something been really fun for me because I love art and my husband loves art and we both collect, so we bring him along,” she says. Austin’s famous swimming holes also provide a favorite weekend activity.
Usually, Cole would be in the midst of the fashion-week circuit this time of year—a schedule that typically involves jumping between different market appointments, meetings, shows, and presentations every hour—but with her second child due this spring, she’s letting her teams handle the running around while she holds down the fort back home. With another boy on the way, she won’t be going too crazy with the kids’ clothes shopping—her son mostly wears American Apparel and J.Crew, she says—but she does have a few insider tips for cool childrenswear brands: Sweet Williams, Nico Nico, Boy+Girl, and Bobo Choses—plus, of course, the stuff for the little ones they stock at Tenoversix.
