Beauty Tips For The Festive Party Season

The weeks leading up to the Festive Season are some of the busiest in the social calendar for many of us - and its fabulous, we see friends that we haven't seen all year, socialise with our work colleagues and party with family and best friends. I tdoes lots for our heart and soul - but it can also ravage our looks and particularly our skin. With excesses of food and alcohol and lack of sleep and rest, our bodies can suffer and so can our faces. Here are some of the causes of lackluster looks and some great tips to ensure you sparkle and glow throughout the party season.

Dull And Flaky Skin Caused By Poor Cleansing

Yes, its easy to preach that you must cleanse, tone and moisturise twice a day - but when you totter in during the early hours of the morning with the dreaded work-day alarm looming not too many hours away - who can really be bothered to do this. But waking up the next day with skin still smothered in blotchy foundation and mascara is not pleasant and more importantly this will cause dry patches and clogged pores. The simple solution to this is to keep some facial cleansing wipes handy - even by your bedside or next to your toothbrush. Even the most tired or tipsy of us can manage a facial wipe - you can give your face an extra cleanse or even use a gentle facial scrub in the morning to remove any bits you have missed.

Shadows And Bags Under Your Eyes

Excess alcohol can cause eye bags and shadows - as can lack of sleep. Once you are up and about in the morning fluids will begin to move around your body which can help to reduce bags, as can massaging and tapping in gently a soothing eye cream. Its also useful to have one of the caffeine enriched moisturising roll-ons for around the eye to sooth and refresh the area.

Spots And Blemishes Appearing On Normally FlawlessSkin

I particularly notice that I will get spots or blemishes in my t-zone area at times of excessive partying. A combination of rich foods, alcohol, lack of "good" sleep and burning the candle at both ends results in an immune system that doesn't work as well as normally. Try taking a Vitamin C supplement or eating foods rich in Vitamin C such as papaya, mango, peppers, strawberries, oranges and chillies as this vitamin is top-notch for your skin's health.

Pale and Dull Skin On Arms And Shoulders

At this time of year, unless you've been lucky enough to take a winter-sun break, its probably quite a few months since you saw some sunshine. If you feel a little pale and dull and you are wearing a strappy or strapless party dress, don't panic and definitely don't head for a sunbed. Try exfoliating your skin with a good body scrub and then applying an instant bronzer - try one such as Lancome Flash Bronzer Shimmering Instant Body Tan which I can recommend. There are also some amazing sparkling body powders which have a great shimmering golden effect.

Dry and Cracked Lips

Dry and cracked lips can be caused by dehydration (again too much alcohol!), but also some long-lasting lipsticks can be extremely drying and the combination of the two can lead to dry, crinkly and sore lips - not very attractive under the mistletoe. Look for long-lasting lipsticks which also contain moisturisers or a built in finishing gloss. A good tip is to keep a small tin of Vaseline with your cleansing wipes and before you dive under the duvet apply a good amount to your lips last thing at night. This will soak in and moisturise during the night and your lips will be plumped and smooth by morning.

How To Make Your Eyes Sparkle With Makeup Tips for Shimmering Eye Makeup

Tis the season to be jolly and also to think about how we are going to spruce up our makeup and make it sparkling and festive for those Christmas and New Year parties which are nearly upon us. Glamour is very on trend this season, so lets glam-up our eyes to match our gorgeous sparkling and shimmering party dresses. Jennifer Lopez looks super glamorous here with silver sparkling eye-shadow and black mascara and eyeliner, and here are some easy to follow steps showing how this look is easily achieved.

• Step 1: Apply either an eyeshadow base or your normal foundation, if you are using one, ensuring a light covering all over your eyelid area. This will cover any imperfections and give a perfect blank canvas for your eye-colour.
• Step 2: Apply a silver sparkling eyeshadow over your whole eye lid working from the middle to the inner corner and then out to the outer corner of your eye. Then work the colour up towards your brow bone, but applying more lightly as you work away from your eye. Using a small eyeshadow brush also lightly apply this colour along your lower lash line.
• Step 3: To give some definition to your eye socket, using a shade darker shadow - in this case a smoky-silver-grey sparkling eyeshadow and apply this to the outer corner of your eyelid up to the crease line and to the middle of your eyelid and blend this in with your base shadow. It is important not to apply too much shadow at once, gradually build it up.
• Step 4: Using a liquid black eyeliner apply this along your upper lash line only from the inner corner of your eye to the outer corner. Look at this earlier blog entry for some tips on applying eyeliner.
• Step 5: Jennifer Lopez is blessed with long and curly eyelashes, but if yours need some help, use a lash curler, and then apply two coats of black lash lengthening mascara to give a glamorous finishing touch.
• Step 6: Although these are tips for applying sparking eye makeup, its worth thinking about your lip colour. With dramatic eye makeup such as this your lip colour should be toned down, and ideal colours to wear are corals or natural shades of pink, rather than bright reds and pinks.

How To Create The Movie Star Look Of Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson is blessed with a perfect complexion and movie star looks of the old fashioned kind - she has sworn that she will never be pressurised into losing her curves and for someone who is only 24 she carries her sophisticated style very naturally. Her makeup is relatively simple but very effective and is just a perfect look for glamorous parties or nights out. So if you have a cocktail dress or two lying around and you would like your makeup to have the sophistication to match - Scarlett's look is the one to create, especially if you team it with an up-do of softly waving hair and some sparkling hair pins. Just follow these easy steps:

• Cleanse and Moisturise: A perfect face needs a perfect canvas - cleanse away with a gentle facial scrub to create a complexion as soft as a baby's and then apply your favourite moisturiser and allow to soak in.
• Foundation: If your skin is perfect then apply only a concealer where needed around the eyes, or if you are not confident without your foundation, apply a light foundation with your fingers or a sponge, ensuring a perfect finish before you proceed to the next step.
• Eyeshadow: Scarlett often uses coloured eyeshadows, but subtly. Using an eyeshadow brush and a silver-grey shadow, sweep this over the whole of your upper eyelid and blend out towards your eyebrows.
• Eyeliner: Using a liquid eyeliner in black or dark brown sweep the liner from the inner third of your upper eye-lid to the outer corners of your eye making the line wider as you go. A steady hand is needed and you might want to practice this beforehand if you are not used to applying this kind of eyeliner. No eyeliner is applied to the bottom lid.
• Mascara: Using a shade which matches your eyeliner, apply two generous coats to your top eyelashes, and finish your lower lashes with one coat of mascara - the emphasis is on the upper lashes to create a glamorous look.
• Blusher: Using a large round blusher brush, apply a rose pink powder blusher along your cheekbones finishing on the apples of your cheeks.
• Powder: With a translucent powder and a large powder brush set your makeup and also create a "finished" look - you are nearly there now.
• Lipcolour: Using a plummy pink lipstick carefully fill in your lips with a long-lasting lipstick and then finish this off with a clear gloss.

Gorgeous...

How To Create The Cheryl Cole Smoky Eyes Look

Cheryl Cole has been voted the "Sexiest Woman in the World 2009" and has also been labelled "the nation's new sweetheart" and the reason for this is no surprise when you see pictures of her looking amazingly well groomed and perfectly presented. One of her greatest trademark features is her smoky eyes which can be seen here. She wears the look perfectly, not over the top but just cool and sultry enough. If you want to try and create the Cheryl Cole look yourself it is pretty straightforward and you will need the following products:

• Loose face powder
• Eye primer
• Good quality medium grey and charcoal eyeshadows
• A high-lighter
• Eyebrow pencil
• Black length building mascara

How To Create The Cheryl Cole Smoky Eye

• After applying a light foundation or eye primer apply your grey eyeshadow to your upper lid working from the centre of your eye to the outer corner and winging the colour out from your eye.
• Next, using the darker charcoal eyeshadow line this along your upper and lower lids, blending with an eyeshadow brush along your lash line, leaving no harsh lines.
• Using your highlighter apply this along your outer brow bone and then using your eyebrow pencil carefully darken your eyebrows along their natural line. Darker brows are required for definition when creating a smoky eye look.
• Using a lash lengthening mascara, apply two coats in black, allowing the first to dry before applying the second.
• Match this up with a nude, but glossy lip colour, and there you have it - the perfect Cheryl smoky eye look with glossy lips.

Earlier on today, I listened to an interview with Lauren Luke, the amazing lady who has become a celebrity in her own right making YouTube clips with great tips on how to create celebrity make up looks. Have a look at her Cheryl Cole video for more in depth detail on creating the Cheryl Cole make up look.

If you want to see more of Lauren Luke's great tips for celebrity make up they can be found in her great book on Amazon.co.uk with free delivery.

 

For A Special Evening Out - Turn Yourself Into A Hollywood Princess

You don't have to spend a fortune to turn yourself into a red carpet goddess for an evening - put in a little effort ahead of time and you will feel like an "A" list celebrity for the evening.

How To Create Hollywood Hair

Hollywood loves the elegant, retro hair look. Try back-combing your hair at the roots to create body if you have straight hair or leave in waves if they are naturally there, then create either a side or middle parting at the front of your hair. Pull your hair back over your crown and back from the sides smoothing with a large brush, being careful not to lose any of the volume you created by back-combing. You can leave some tendrils of hair loose around the front for a softer look. Use hairspray to fix in place and if hair is long fix at the back with a jewelled clip.

How To Create The Old School Hollywood Make-Up

What could be more glamorous than to look as good as Audrey? To create this look you will need to:

• Use black eye-liner along your top lashes and wing this out past the outer corners of your eyes.
• Using a brown eyeshadow and small liner brush, apply this along your bottom lash line.
• Use black mascara to apply three thin coats to build up volume and length on your lashes, allowing each application to dry before applying the next.
  
• Create dramatic Hollywood lips by using a lipliner the same colour as your lipstick and lining around the natural line of your lips. Then using a lip-brush apply the colour in layers, blotting between each application. Two to three applications is recommended to create a total block of colour. If you can't get away with a scarlet lipstick, go for a dark raspberry shade.

How To Dress Hollywood Style

• Again you don't have to spend a fortune on a designer dress, look for a simply designed halter or strappy dress, without any fuss or frills, in either black, dark red, emerald or sapphire blue.
• Simple diamante jewellery at the wrist and ears will look sophisicated and elegant, along with a matching clutch bag

Try out this look for a special night out - I hope you have a great time x