Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Today's Nails

By Request.

So I am doing this post for my Grandmother who asked me the other day what she can do about uneven skin tone.

First off:
Skin tone comes from melanin, a compound that produces the pigmentation in your skin cells. Melanin reacts to ultraviolet light, such as that from the sun or from tanning beds. The more light that you are exposed to, the darker your skin’s pigmentation becomes. However, some areas of your body may contain more melanin than others, and some parts of your body may receive less exposure to light. When this happens, you may experience an appearance of uneven skin tone.


What you can do to improve your skin:
Exfoliate!
The best way to improve skin tone is to exfoliate regularly. Exfoliation is the removal of dead skin cells from the outer layer of the skin. The top, outer layer of skin is usually the sole cause of discoloration because of its direct contact with sunlight. Once you remove this top layer, the skin underneath should be even and normal.


Chemicals!
Chemical exfoliation uses enzymes, such as fruit acids, beta hydroxyl lotions or chemical peels to strip away your top layer of dead skin. They clean your pores from the inside out and fix uneven skin tone, but it is important to start this process slowly. Begin with occasional use of a very mild product. Look for a product that contains alpha hydroxy acids (AHA). Common types of AHAs include glycolic acid (found in sugar), malic acid (from apples) and tartaric acid (in grapes). 


Reduce Cellulite!
Another cause of uneven skin tone is cellulite. No matter what you may hear on late-night infomercials, there is no way to truly get rid of cellulite. But there are things you can do to improve your overall skin tone and, thus, minimize its appearance.
The key to reducing cellulite, like so many other things in life, is nutrition and exercise. Eating a healthy, balanced diet that is high in protein
 and vitamin C will keep your body active and your skin radiant and glowing. And what is the top mainstay of a skin-friendly diet? Water! Drinking lots of water helps expand your muscles, which minimizes the cellulite’s puffiness.
Keeping your muscles toned through exercise is one of the best ways to fight cellulite and improve skin
 tone. Running, squats and other leg exercises are especially important for women who have cellulite around their buttocks and thighs. If you can reduce your overall body fat and tighten your skin, your cellulite will be much harder to see.
For cellulite quick-fixes 
you can also indulge in mud baths, steam baths, or massage therapy. 



Also try a moisturizer with SPF to help block sun damage. 
Witch hazel can help reduce the appearance of uneven skin tone.
Stay away from benzoyl peroxide, this can cause unevenness in skin tone. Many acne medications contain this.





Sunday, September 19, 2010

Tropical Summer Nails

I was playing around and did this really fun tropical neon summer nail design.
It was really cute and bright.











Monday, September 13, 2010

MAC VENOMOUS VILLAINS

The collection launches in the U.S. on September 30 and internationally in October.

When designing the four Venomous Villains sub-collections — The Evil Queen from 1937′s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Maleficent from 1959′s Sleeping Beauty, Cruella de Vil from 1961′s 101 Dalmations and Dr. Facilier from 2009′s The Princess and the Frog — MAC based the color stories on the original Disney character sketches and Pantone color guides. They took it all into consideration — the attitudes of the characters, their skin tone, clothes and style — and not just the colors Disney used to ink them. MAC sought to take full advantage of purple in the collection, as three of the four villains feature the color. They wanted to maintain a cohesive color theme that remained distinct for each of the characters.For Maleficent, they went with cool plums; for the Evil Queen, warm, smokey plums. With Dr. Facilier, they choose to go with brighter shades of purple.


















































































































































































































































Enjoy!
xoxoxoxox




Saturday, September 11, 2010

This Summers Swim Suits

Heres some of this summer's most trendy and neat bathing suits, that are cute and wearable.






These are adorable and there is one for almost every body shape here. I really love the aqua and purple and patterned one. 












You can even get away with darker colors and some more bold patterns.
All of these are made by H&M.












Here are some body shapes can help you find the proper bathing suit for your body type.


Small bust - What works and what doesn't? For small busted women, the best way to go is to look for triangle bikini tops and v-shaped necklines. Also, when you're in the skinny side aside from the fact that you have a small bust, I suggest you try out stringed ones as they are the most flattering of all the types. Basically, the key to looking for the best swimsuit top for you is to choose ones which has a smaller cup and has padding. I do not particularly suggest going for the ones with the scrunched up fabric at the bottom like that one in on the right --> When you have small busts, instead of making it bigger, it makes it look smaller because you'd have "spaces" on the bikini top. Bandeaus also look very good too on small busts but be careful if you're a little chubby on top as you'd have these fat "overflows" in your underarm area which is so not good! Last advice: Try to go for printed bikinis for a fuller look :)


Big Bust - If your like me finding the right bathing suit when you're so gifted is a task too. You should stick to tops that give you full support and avoid stringy ones unless you're going for that "Baywatch" look. I suggest you go for halter tops with wide support in the bottom and stick to neutral colors with small prints. The key here of course is support so do look for tops that would give you the coverage you need!


No waist - So maybe you have an athletic type of body. Well, no worries! There are still great swimsuits for you! If going for a two-piece swimwear, choose ones with plunging necklines and high cut legs. But really though, the most flattering suit for you is a one-piece bathing suit. Yes, yes! The monokini! The monokini is a one-piece suit with holes in the side that'll expose your waist in the right areas. It will give straight waists the image of being curvy! But if you really insist in picking a two-piece suit, why not try a tankini instead? ;)


Large thighs (pear shaped)- When you have large thighs, you have to be smart and buy a top which would take the attention to it rather than your bottom. Go for fun and light colored tops and stick to dark colored bottoms. It is advisable to choose bottoms which are high cut so as not to emphasize the wide hips however if you're not comfortable with wearing such revealing bottoms, I suggest going for brief cuts and hipsters instead.




These are Basics every girl should know if not take the time to learn them they will help you.



Summer Nail Colors








These colors are great for summer.
Orangespinksyellowsteal, bright and flashy colors
There are so many options that are fun and fearless!




























xoxoxox

Friday, September 10, 2010

Les Khakis de Chanel (Released Today!)



There were rumors in the beauty world during the last couple of months about a new coterie of nail colours from Chanel. Tentatively dubbed “the camouflage collection” while in development, the threesome were finally named Les Khakis.














Khaki Rose, Khaki Brun and Khaki Vert are all flat cremes and are variations on a muddied, muted military theme. They’re limited edition. Get them while you can!