making waves

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Warm weather is the perfect time for umbrellas in drinks, suntan lotion and beach parties.And all those fun-in-the-sun parties you’ll soon be going to call for beachy hair. From straight strands to unruly curls, create the look pre-party with these sea-spray inspired products:

• Frederic Fekkai Marine Summer Hair Beach Waves hydrates tresses while creating soft, shiny waves, plus it has a protective UV shield to prevent hair color from fading. For those with straight to wavy hair, spray in product, scrunch and let air dry.
• Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray has been the cult-favorite when it comes to creating surfer girl texture and body. For straight to wavy girls, work through damp hair and scrunch, letting hair air dry. For curly girls, I find this product works best if you blow dry hair straight, then spray and scrunch in sections.
• Sally Hershberger Supreme Head Wave Spray for Wavy Hair creates soft definition and boosts body in naturally wavy hair. Shake well to mix the mineral ingredients with the emollients and spray on damp hair. Use fingers to set sexy waves.
• Sunsilk Waves of Envy Sea Mist gives hair a textured wave for less than $5. For those with wavy to curly locks, shake up the bottle and spritz a generous amount onto damp hair and let air dry.

bask in the glow

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Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial beginning of summer. Whether your weekend plans include a trip out of town or a BBQ, why not kick off your festivities with a pre-summer glow? A dusting of bronzer gives skin a healthy dose of color and quickly enhances your complexion. (To achieve the most natural look, sweep onto areas of your face where the sun naturally hits: cheeks, forehead, chin and nose.)

Here’s a roundup of budget-friendly bronzers that will give your skin a sun-kissed glow, at least until Labor Day:

• Neutrogena Healthy Skin Blends Natural Radiance Bronzer: This multi-colored bronzer flatters almost any skin tone.
• Physicians Formula Multi-Colored Bronzer Multi-Colored Powder Palette: Known for its range of fantastic bronzers, this one has the perfect blend of complementing shades to give skin a warm, natural glow minus that awful orange tinge.
• mark Bronze Pro Bronzing Powder: Skin gets a subtle healthy glow and a light shimmer from this sheer bronzing powder.
• Rimmel Natural Bronzer: Creates a natural beachy bronze with a slight shimmer.
• Wet N Wild Bronzzer Ultimate Bronzing Powder: For less than $3, this bronzer goes on smooth and imparts a pretty hint of color on all skin tones.

on the line

Whether the look is smoky and dramatic or a clean subtle line, black eyeliner has become my go-to product when it comes to getting ready for a cocktail party or a girls' night out. There’s just something about it that looks so chic and sexy. (See Angelina Jolie, not Amy Winehouse.) Celebrity makeup artist Amy Nadine (who dolls up The Hills’ Lauren Conrad) shares her tips for three easy ways to update your party face with a little black eyeliner:

• Kohl pencil. For a classic look, use a kohl pencil like Shu Uemura Drawing Pencil in ME Black 1. Start in the inner corner of the upper lash line and drag the pencil tip outward, slightly winging it up at the end. Draw a thin line across the bottom lash line and finish by rimming inside the lash line with the pencil. For a thin line, use the point of the pencil, holding it almost perpendicular to your eye. For a thicker line, slant the pencil to a 45-degree angle, using more of the side of the pencil’s tip.
• Wet shadow. For a softer look, take a slim, angled eye liner brush like NARS Angular Eye Shadow Brush 04 and wet it with water until it's soaked. Next, swirl the brush around in a black eye shadow until it’s loaded with color. On the back of your hand, draw a couple of lines to ensure you are happy with the consistency of the wet shadow while smoothing out any powder clumps. Sweep the brush across your lash line, starting at the inner corners and increasing the width as you approach the outer corners. For more intensity, re-wet your brush, load it with more shadow and go back over the line.
• Gel liner. For the ultimate definition without the extremity of a liquid liner, use a gel liner pot like Elizabeth Arden's Color Intrigue Gel Eye Liner in Black. It glides on smoothly and comes with its own liner brush. Use the same method as the wet shadow liner. One coat for a more subtle look, two to three coats for extra drama!

Whether you’re partial to pencil, shadow or gels, take a cue from the pros and have fun experimenting until you find the method that suits your party mood and perfectly complements that little black dress.

happy-hour beauty

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Everyone loves a good happy hour. But if you’re like most, you don’t have time to reapply a full face of makeup between leaving the office and meeting for a round of post-work cocktails. So what’s a girl to do? Here’s a start: Save time by concentrating on your favorite feature and play it up. Celebrity makeup artist Amy Chance (who glams up Lily Allen and Kat Dennings) suggests some simple tips and products to take your look from the office to happy hour in no time:

• Start your morning routine off with a makeup primer to help your foundation last all day. Make Up For Ever HD Microperfecting Primer does a great job of minimizing pores and fine lines while moisturizing skin. Plus it gives skin a radiant glow under foundation and helps for an even application.
• A quick way to glam up your office look is to add a bright, fun color to your lips. It's spring and color is in! Try on a hot pink or red lipstick. For an extra dramatic look, coat your lipstick with Make Up For Ever Matte Lip to take away the shine and create a full color, matte lip. If gloss is more your style, apply a dramatic color like Chanel's Aqualumiere Gloss in Cherry Blossom.
• If you prefer to concentrate on your eyes, you can quickly add drama with a kohl liner like MAC eye kohl. For a smoky look, line your top lid along the lash line and then use your fingers or a brush to blend the color up onto your lid. You can also intensify your look by lining the inside of your eye. It might take a little practice, but once you've got the hang of it, you could do it in the dark. Finish off the look with a couple coats of a layering mascara like Lancôme Hypnôse in Black.
• Simply want to liven up a dull tired face? Use your fingers to apply a tinted moisturizer like Stila Sheer Color. Brighten up by applying color to the apples of your checks with a cream blush like Stila Convertible Color which can be used on lips too.
• Finish of your nighttime look by adding a touch of fragrance. You can now buy most of your favorites in a size perfect for your purse, like Marc Jacobs Daisy or Fracas by Robert Piguet.

happy feet

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With wedding season approaching, we ladies get to look forward to what is my least favorite thing about weddings: dancing the night away in horrifically uncomfortable shoes. If you're one of those people who's either barefoot or in flip-flops by the end of the evening, here are some tips for saving your feet from the clutches of those evil (but adorable) stilettos:

• If your shoes are new, wear them around the house for a few days before your party. You'll break them in a little and figure out if there are any trouble spots where you'll need reinforcements, such as...
• Band-Aid Friction Block — my new best friend. It looks like a tiny stick of deodorant, and it's packed with emollients that keep friction from causing blisters in places where your shoes rub.
• If your shoes are slightly big and your heel comes out, stick an insert in your shoe at the ball of your foot. The extra padding pushes your heel back slightly. (I like Tip Toes from Foot Petals because they're cushy and cute.)
• Slingbacks are lovely, but by the end of the night, the straps tend to slip. Plan ahead by cutting a strip of double-stick tape in half and putting the pieces into your clutch. If you find yourself yanking the straps back into place, duck into the powder room and stick on the tape. Violà — your straps stay put!
• Whatever you do, resist the temptation to slip your shoes off under the table unless you have no intention of putting them back on. Once your feet are free, they swell immediately. And you thought your shoes were uncomfortable before you took them off!
• At the end of the night, calm your barking dogs with a hit of Peppermint Cooling Foot Spray from The Body Shop. The combination of peppermint oil and menthol soothes your puffy skin and feels fantastic.

nailing it

Spring is in the air, and nothing makes me happier this time of year than the look of lacquered fingers and toes. It’s time to stash those dark, vampy shades and lighten up with the bright bolds of spring.

Celebrity manicurist Ashlie Johnson, who paints the nails of Reese Witherspoon, Eva Mendes and Liv Tyler, says that anything bright is a good way to go. She recommends bright pink, coral and turquoise. Barielle, OPI and Essie all have spring collections that include fresh, wearable shades that range from soft to bright. You might even be inspired to dress up your nails in lavender for Easter, and opt for pink or blue for a baby shower. (I’m just throwing it out there.)

While I tend to reach for more neutral shades, even I’m welcoming spring with a surge of color in the form of "IM Beauty," a buttery yellow from the Sephora by OPI Digital Diva collection — it’s like sunshine in a bottle! Go ahead and add a little color to your day.

get your green on

As I've said time and time again on this blog, I'm not exactly into festive holiday dressing. When I was younger, my mom always insisted on pinning a dreadful, knitted shamrock to my shirt on St. Patrick's Day. Once I was at school, I'd shove it in my book bag and suffer the pinches for not wearing green because anything was better than sullying my outfit with a sad-looking clover. Later on, I'd settled on the fact that I couldn't be pinched because my eyes are green.

Now I've converted and am here to spread the gospel of green. All you need is one cute accessory to keep those annoying pinches at bay.

For the lassies:

• Accessorize your work wardrobe with a simple, green scarf. Just keep the rest of your outfit neutral with black, white and shades of gray to make the green pop.
• Channel your inner Blair Waldorf with a headband. Etsy has loads of handmade ones — go for feathers if you're flashy or green silk for something a little more demure.
• If cold weather is plaguing your holiday, stay warm with this button-up hoodie. More fashion-forward than a traditional sweatshirt hoodie, you'll be chic and toasty on your pub crawl.
• As an addict of Tory Burch's flats, my St. Patrick's Day would be complete with this pair of green-patent-leather Revas.
• When all else fails, grab a green clutch. Sling this mint-green wristlet on your arm and keep your hands free for a pint (or a Shamrock Shake).

For the lads:

• You can't go wrong with a classic — these Adidas Sambas with kelly-green stripes are the perfect addition to your jeans-and-T-shirt ensemble.
• This baseball hat takes a much more subtle approach to Irish-themed headwear. I get that it's St. Paddy's Day and all, but do you really want to look like a leprechaun?
• Attention label lovers: Your French-cuff shirts need these Paul Smith cufflinks!

blending in

I am totally that girl with the embarrassing line of foundation on the jaw. In my attempt to banish this beauty blunder, I discovered the Sonia Kashuk Blending Sponge.

Don’t let the name deceive you because it’s so much more than just a blending sponge. This is a sponge that multi-tasks. Its rounded end works wonders for applying foundation, powder or cream blush. Its pointed end can be used for smudging eye liner, blending concealer in areas that require more precision like under the eyes, or even blending eye shadow. The secret to achieving a truly flawless finish? Use the sponge damp and press it into the skin in a dabbing motion, not a wiping motion. And unlike traditional sponges, this one is reusable. (You can keep your sponge bacteria-free by washing it in between uses with gentle soap and water and letting it air dry.) For under $10, you can at least look like a pro.

oscar beauty: miley cyrus

Makeup artist Mai Quynh kept Miley Cyrus looking young and fresh on the Oscar red carpet with a selection of mark cosmetics. To get her look: 

• Apply mark Face Xpert Flawless Touch Makeup in Natural.  Follow with mark Matte-nificent Oil Absorbing Powder in Buff/Natural.
• Dust on I-mark eye shadow in Latte all over eyes. Blend I-mark eye shadow in Espresso lightly in the crease and smudge it underneath as eye liner. Add two coats of mark Make it Big Lash Plumping Mascara in Raven.
• To give cheeks a subtle glow, Mai used a combination of mark Good Glowing blushes in Golden Glo and Star Glo.
• Mai created a nude, glossy lip with mark Dew Drenched Moisturlicious Lip Color in Mist.

Image via WireImage

oscar beauty: jessica biel

Makeup artist Pati Dubroff created Jessica Biel’s romantic red carpet look from the Oscars by pairing soft eyes with glowing skin. To get her look:

• Keep skin glowing and bright with a product like Sensai Brightening Crème. Apply little foundation and powder only where needed.
• Skip the eyeliner and brush on just one coat of mascara.
• Apply Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in Gossip then layer a very soft haze of pewter and lilac. Pati used Dior 5-Colour Eyeshadow in Petal Shine 809 on Jessica.
• Pati gave cheeks a soft flush with Kevyn Aucoin The Creamy Moist Glow in Nuelle. 
• For Jessica’s pretty plum lip, Pati used Dior Addict Lipcolor in Infamous Pink #623.

Image via WireImage