With These Top Beauty Tips For Summer You Will Want To Head For the Beach ... Now!

Whether you are holidaying at home this year and reducing your carbon footstep, or whether you plan to get away to a glorious and glamorous foreign beach destination, it's time to plan your time away and make sure you have all the essential items you need to make your holiday beauty routine run like clockwork.

With these sweet little beauty tips, you will have all the knowledge you need to turn yourself into a summertime princess that turns heads on the beach. In this article we are talking about holiday preparation - don't worry - its all fun. Next time, we have some fantastic tips for you when you are away in the sunshine.

Beauty Tips For The Week Before Your Holidays

• Get yourself to the hairdresser. The least you can do is have your hair trimmed, getting rid of any dry ends which will only split in the sunshine. If you are feeling more adventurous and want to get into the summer spirit, ask your hairdresser if they can add a few high-lights to your hair, giving it a "been on the beach all day" look before you get away. If you are light brown or fair haired, go for a few blond high-lights, and if you are darker ask for some caramel tones to be worked through your hair - either of these give your head an instant sunshine boost.
• It might be a nasty experience at the time, but get waxed rather than shaving. This will last much longer and means you won't have to deal with any nasty stubble on holiday. You should have the waxing done approximately five days before you head away to give your skin time to calm down afterwards.
• Buff your skin all over in the shower everyday with either a skin polisher or body scrub - this will get rid of dead skin cells and promote an all-over smooth glow to your skin. For the week before your go away, apply a moisturiser with added self-tan every other day, to build up a nice glow for the start of your holidays.
• If you want to go a step further, take yourself off to the beauty salon for a spray-tan, especially if you feel this will give you confidence when you first get out your bikini on your hols.
• Try to treat your nails (toes and fingers) nicely for a few weeks before going away, rubbing in some jojoba oil as your nails love this, and let them grow out if your can. The day before you go away, treat yourself to a session at a nail bar and have either a bright polish applied to show off your tan, or have the classic french polish in nude or light pink.
• Lastly, as you might be getting up in the middle of the night catch an early flight or set off on a long drive, try and get an early night. Yes, we know its difficult when you are excited about your holidays, but sleep really is beauty sleep, and you can look forward to a great first day of your holidays feeling refreshed and lovely.

We'll see you next time for some great tips on how to be the glamorous one by the pool!

Tips On The Best Way To File Your Nails Into A Perfect Short Square Manicured Style

More and more of my friends seem to be having false nails applied lately which looks great but which does cost quite a lot of money even if you have a convenient friend who will fix them for you. In these days, when we are all looking to be stylish but maybe hold back a few pennies, it's probably worth looking at some of our favourite celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston or Gwyneth Paltrow and noting that they look super cool with natural and also quite short, neat nails.

Currently darker shades such as navy blue and black are also on trend, and these colours certainly look the job when applied to neat, short and squared off nails. Really, black or blue long talons don't really do it for me.

How To File Your Nails Into A Short Square Well Shaped Glossy Manicure

• Firstly, if you are suffering from broken, or even worse chewed, nails - leave them until there is at least 3mm of white nail showing from the pink part of the nail. If you file them any shorter than this then they can be weakened.
• Do not file your nails from side to side - this is the way you always see people filing their nails on TV - it is wrong! File your nail only from the corner of the nail to the centre in one direction only. Filing from side to side will cause splitting and peeling.
• Ideally for the style we are creating start with a 3 to 4mm white nail tip. Working from the corner of your nail, file to the centre in one direction, creating an almost level tip, with only a slight curve towards the centre.
• When you are happy with this, work on the corners of the nails, rounding them off slightly. Yes, false square cut nails generally have pretty sharp corners, but in real life with real nails a totally square cornered nail is likely to catch, split and break, so a rounded corner is preferable.

What Sort Of Nail File Is Best To Care For Your Nails?

• Don't use the nice shiny metal nail file that you were given in that manicure set at Christmas. They are much too harsh and stiff and can cause splitting and damage, especially in inexperienced hands.
• Choose a nice wide and soft emery board, which is much easier to handle, and gentler on your nails.

What Colour Should You Paint Your New Short and Square Manicure?

• Here I think the world is your oyster as with short nails you can use the most vibrant colours that would look pretty tarty on long talons, but which just look funky and young on a short square manicure.
• Alternatively, a natural look is beautiful and if you fancy applying a french polish, you should be able to apply yourself a neat, well manicured style to rival those from a nail bar. Read here on how to apply a french polish at home.
• If you are on trend, look for black, dark purples and navy polishes which are super cool this season.

Baby Pink Nails - How To Create The Perfect Pink Polish

Just the thing for Spring - perfect baby pink nails. Ideally nails should be finished with a short square or slightly rounded manicure.

How To Choose The Correct Shade Of Pink Polish For You

• English rose complexions suit baby pink polishes.
• Olive toned complexions look lovely with pink based nude colours.
• Darker complexions are lucky and look beautiful in any shade of pink.
• A quick way to check whether you are wearing the wrong shade for you is to look at your cuticles - if they look yellow then the shade is the wrong tone for you.

The Benefits Of Wearing Pale Pink and Nude Coloured Polish

• Light colours minimise any flaws in your nails.
• Pinks are pretty rather than dramatic and are perfect for both day wear and evenings or special occasions.
• Light coloured polishes are less likely to show last minute dramas when you are on your way out such as a chip or a smudge.

How To Get Naturally Pink Nails

• Use a nail buffer which will give your nails a natural shine, increase the blood flow to the nail which will make them grow faster and also stop them from splitting and breaking.

My Picks:

We Wish You All A Very Merry Christmas - Best Wishes From Fashion Tips

It's finally arrived and the festive season has begun. It's Christmas Eve and shortly we will be heading out to meet our friends and families and wish them all a beautiful Christmas. I can't wait ... and my only fashion tips for the next couple of days are:

• Dress warm and cosy in festive colours if you are going carol singing - you don't want a cold for Christmas morning!
• If you are like me and can fall over nothing at all - maybe save those high heeled party shoes for when you arrive at the venue - remember one of my first blog entries many months ago - keep a pair of those oh-so-funky wellies handy, they look brilliant with a party frock :-)
• This morning I have just had my nails done in a french polish - it will last me until New Year, so no worries about broken nails and chipped polish - I will be enjoying myself far too much to spend time on nail polish maintenance.
• Remember, if you don't have all the party outfits you wanted, maybe because of the credit crunch, then don't worry, just remember to accessorise diffently and your outfit will look new on each outing.

I'm off shortly to drink a glass of mulled wine and sing carols around our local village Christmas tree, so I just want to say a Merry Christmas to you all, I hope Santa brings you lovely gifts, and that you spend lots of time with those you love!

Sarah xxx

Choosing The Best Nail Polish Colours For Summer

There are some great shades of nail polish which are just fantastic for summer and I have some great tips about colours which are just made to be worn with a tan (whether it comes from your Mediterranean holidays or from your summer glow body lotion). Wearing these shades will certainly brighten up your summer days, whether the sun shines or the rain comes down and will enhance your outfits - be careful of clashing colours though!

Here are some great nail polish colours:

• Tangerine - this is brilliant with bright summer clothes, bikinis and a tan - it looks great with lots of different colours so its pretty versatile to mix and match holiday outfits with.
• True red - nothing looks more classic than pillar-box red painted nails peeping out from the latest sandals - just make sure your nails are neatly manicured as nothing looks more nasty than ragged or long toenails painted in a bright colour.
• Hot Pink - this "look at me" shade has regained popularity this season with many of the stars in Hollywood sporting the colour.
• Coral - always a favourite, again this shade looks fabulous with a tan, especially on the toes.
• Baby Pink - always delicate and cute, again worn with a tan, highlights the nails and gives a very flattering appearance to shorter nails.
• Bronze - this is a great summer colour, especially for toes which are clad in fashionable, gladiator style sandals.
• Blue - brighter shades of the darker blues worn for winter can look fantastic with the right outfit - I would suggest on toes with silver sandals.
• Fuschia - brilliant as it makes a statement but its also girly and looks fantastic on shorter, square nails.

Whichever shade you choose just follow these simple rules for success:

• Make sure your nails are neat, filed and smooth before applying any polish and preferably apply a nail polish base to avoid staining your nails.
• Check the colour doesn't clash with the outfit you are wearing.
• If possible use a top coat as well over your nail polish as this will help avoid chips and cracks.

Happy painting and polishing - here are a few polishes I have found in some brilliant summer shades.