Beauty 101: Simple Skincare Secrets

Lupita N'yongo

All summer long, my skincare goal was to recreate the smooth glow of Lupita N'yongo's gorgeous skin. Lupita's skin is so even and rich that it can make any girl enviable. However, not even the strongest products would give me the perfect glow. So, of course, I went on a Google search to find my answer. That answer ended up being two basic necessities: water and sleep. I never realized my lack of sleep and water, especially during the summer, and how much it impacted the appearance of my skin! I made it a goal to drink at least 16 oz. of water a day and get in my bed by 10 p.m. on week days. After 2 weeks of this new ritual, my skin began clearing up and looking a bit brighter. Today, my skin feels smoother and looks visibly brighter. So, I literally took it back to the basics of skincare.

1. Water! Skin is like a plant that needs a lot of water to keep it hydrated. As I increased my water intake for the day, my skin was visibly clearer, brighter, and healthier!
2. Sleep! I never realized how important sleep was to skincare as well as my overall health. Once I began getting a good night of sleep, my skin began rejuvenating itself to a greater health state. I even noticed that I felt more energized throughout the day!

What are your simple skincare secrets?

DIY Nails: Keep Your Natural Nails Pretty

Okay so this is definitely my nail look from last week, but I like it so much that I'm  keeping it this way for my birthday on Saturday. The only difference for this week is that I did an all purple ombre and used a ton more glitter, glitter is girl's best friend though, right? Anyways while I was going through a struggle taking the glitter polish off I noticed that my nails are looking much more healthy than usual. For the past few weeks I have recently been trying out new nail routines because I began to notice that my nails we're breaking and peeling so easily which resulted in my polish looking not so hot. Now that my nails are all about the same length, have very little to no peeling, and don't seem to breaking so easily, I'm ready to share a few things that I've been doing to them.

• Check the remover! I've always known not to use nail polish remover containing acetone on the regular, but it takes the polish off so easily that I caved in to using it every time. Big no-no! Use a remover without acetone so your nails will stay super strong.
• Beneficial Base Coats! Base coat that have vitamins or moisturizes the nail really do work to protect and help your natural nails, plus they prevent your polish color from staining your nail.
• Stop Excess Filing! There is no need to file your nails every day, only file about once a week to shape up your nails. Do not use a nail file to drastically change nail length or shape, it will weaken your entire nail.
• Picking Your Cuticles! This may not apply to your nails, but your cuticles are so close to your nails that it should. Picking at your cuticles is actually a health risk because it can cause cuts, bleeding, and allows bacteria a way into your skin. Leave your cuticles to the professionals and extremely clean tools.

I really hope you enjoyed this post and that these tips help you to achieve great looking natural nails. If you try out any of these tips or have any of your own please let me know in the comments below!

Beauty 101: 5 Tips for Luscious Lips

Rihanna

Taylor Swift

Fall 2012 is all about playing up your eyes and lips with dark, dramatic colors. Ruby and reds lips are so dark and beautiful and paired with shimmery golden eyes it instantly becomes gorgeous! However, if you go deeper into the new beauty trends, it is becoming more popular to "reshape" your lips, with concealer and foundation that is. Keep on reading for tips on how to reshape your lips, make them fuller, and look amazing:

• The Basics! Before you can do anything special with your lips they need to look healthy. Use chapstick, sugar scrubs, and stay hydrated for healthy lips.
• Moisturizing Lip Products! If your not using moisturizing glosses, stains, or chapsticks, your lips are just going to dry out and become chapped again. Use moisturizing products to keep your lips from chapping.
• Primer! A primer will allow you a nice canvas to make your lip product true to color and last longer.
• Lighter and Darker! Using a lighter shade lip color or gloss to the middle of your 1st lip color will make your lips appear fuller. The contrast will look gorgeous especially from the way the light will hit the colors, just be sure to blend!
• Concealer! Use concealer along with an angled brush and foundation to reshape your lips and make your lipstick lines look perfect! Cupid bow shaped lips are so in right now and concealer will help you achieve the shape.



Health 101: Feed Your Skin

Beyonce at United Nations

Although I have always noticed Beyonce's nice skin, I am now mesmorized by it as I look at this photo of her at the United Nations. Her skin is incredibly smooth and glowing, almost perfect! I know that she probably has on the best concealer and foundation, but there still has to be more. I have decided that maybe the appearance and health of your skin is determined by what you eat. As you may or may not know, I stopped drinking soda six months ago and the amount of break outs that I usually have decreased. Now that I have traded in snacking on various chips and candy for apples and grapes I have also seen improvement in not only my skin but my energy and overall health. I now have the idea that maybe it's not what you put on your skin, but what you feed your skin that makes it look and feel better.

 What do you think?

Health: Be Healthy!



Kim Kardashian

The base of fashion and beauty is always health, the base of anything is health! The best start to gettinng healthy is cutting back on all the unhealthy stuff. Instead of snacking on loads of chips and sodas, try fruits and soda! Also, since it's summer it is good to be more active so try out running, biking, dancing, or any other physical activity! Remember to start slow and put your on personal health first.

Clinique Dark Spot Correcter and Neutrogena Visibly Even Review

Confidence Booster #9

Amber Riley

Body image has a major impact on anyones confidence. Body image does not just deal with weight, but how a person sees themself in the mirror despite what everyone else thinks. The best confidence booster for dealing with body image is to spend time just looking at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself that your are beautiful, smart, and unique, after a while you will begin to hear those words in your head everyday and it feels great. Also, find one body part that you love and find a way to make it stand out and look great. I love the Body Peace campaign that Seventeen Magazine is a part of which girls pose appropriately in their bikins with a pink peace sign showing on their favorite body part. I love this campaign because it is showing girls to love their skin their in, even celebrities like Glee's Amber Riley are a part of Body Peace. Remember to love the skin your in because everyone is beautiful.



I am no affiliated nor associated with Seventeen Magazine any way.All opinions of the Body Peace campaign are my own.

Beauty 101: Tips for Healthy Skin

Jourdan Dunn

I am in love with supermodel, Jourdan Dunn's skin! She has such a natural glow and smoothness to her skin which only enhances her make-up. Just about everyone wants skin just as gorgeous so here are some tips:

1. Drink more water! Water hydrates the skin and will even help out with hair growth and your overall general health.
2. Take your vitamins! Vitamins help to nourish you and give you back nutrients and minerals you may be lacking, there are even vitamins specifically for skin.
3. Pull your hair back! It's great for your hair to generate natural oils to give it a nice shine, but it's not always great to lay on top of the skin. Try pulling your hair up or back away from your face.
4. No make-up! Try going without make-up for at least one day each week and let your skin rest and rejuvenate.
5. Make a routine! The best thing for staying on a good track to healthy, glowing skin is to make a routine. Wash your face, exfoliate, and moisturize should be included in your schedule.
6. Keep your hands off! Don't touch all over your face because oils and bacteria will do major damage to your skin and cause breakouts.
7. Listen to your skin! If your skin becomes dry from product lay off for a little bit and minimize the product use.
8. Moisturize oil-free! Always use an oil-free moisturizers during the spring and summer season, no need for any extra oil on our faces.

Gorgeous skin is always in!

Confidence Booster #8

Jordin Sparks

Health is a an important factor in the gaining confidence and even happiness. Good health makes anyone stand up taller, smile more, and just feel a much better about themselves. Jordin Sparks weight loss has seemed to give her more confidence about her self and the ability to do much more. She has even been supporting trendier clothing and trying out new daring hair trends! Good health can included a healthy hair journey, a goal to having better skin, or even something as simple as growing out your nails. Sometimes people may get wrapped into so many things that their own bodies and health can be forgotten which results in being tired and sluggish. Keep your confidence up by remembering to exercise and treat all aspects of yourself with lots of care. Boost up your confidence ladies!

Natural Beauty Challenge Week Six

The Natural Beauty Challenge has ended, well kind of. The Natural Beauty Challenge may only be six weeks long, but to maintain healthy skin and hair you have to keep it going. Througout the six weeks my skin has been through ups and downs while my hair has gotten progressively better and better. Now I have a definite skin regimen for day and night, but while I still have break-outs I know how to handle them better. Also, I don't wear make-up everyday which is great for the skin because it has time to breath. I haeve learned how to keep my hair from being tangled and lots of new hairstyles. The flat iron is only used on my hair about once every two weeks! Start the challenge now or tell about how it has helped you!

Natural Beauty Challenge Week Five

There is only 1 more week left of the natural beauty challenge! My skin has gotten much better than when I first started although I still get the occasional break-out. As of rigt now my skin is mostly blemish free, but not what the average person would call great skin. I am really hoping to try out the Clinique acne make-up, I have some sample sizes of the foundation and it works great. It really does help with the acne that already there while making it less noticable. Another great thing for skin that is not getting as much acne, but still has scars or dark spots would be a great moisturizers or toner. It needs to actuallyy ork into your skin rather than lay on top of it, I use Neutrogena Visibly Even moisturizer and it is fantastic. My hair is great and is still looking healthy and growing. I have been wearing it up lately in buns and ponytails which works best for anyone who works out frequently. Keep up with the Natural Beauty Challenge ladies!

Natural Beauty Challenge Week Four

The Natural Beauty Challenge has gone by so quickly, there are only 2 weeks left! During this week my skin has been getting better as I found how to balance cleasning my face throughtout the day. I now only use a cleanser and spot treatment at night and every other day I use a scrub in the morning. Also because I do workout, I keep facial wipes in my purse to keep the excess oil and bacteria off my face. As for my hair, I have been making sure to comb through to prevent my usual head of tangles and decided to wear it down the entire week. I advise everyone to try out facial wipes, spot treatments, and/or a nice daily cleanser or scrub. Those product will do wonders for your skin, but be sure to think about your specific skin type such as oily, normal, or dry. Try out different comb and brush sizes for your hair because I have discovered that it can make a huge impact on the smoothness and amount of tangles in the hair. Keep it going on the Natural Beauty Challenge!

Natural Beauty Challenge Week Two

How are is your Natural Beauty Challenge going? Are skin is now becoming cleaner and healthier now that we are beginning to wash are face and moisturize. Our hair is should also be appearing healthier and have more bounce. Throughout the week my skin has gone through a break out, I couldn't believe it! After all my face washing and cleansing my face was not doing what I expected. Since I know I was actually was sticking to my plan, I'm just going to blame it on being a teenager. One huge accomplishment for my Natural Beauty Challenge is that I went and had my hair relaxed and trimmed. After my relaxer and trim I finally got to see how much my hair has grown, it's touching my back now! Now I know that technically isn't long for some people, but my hair has never been this length before or this healthy, I am so excited! Now on to week two, we should start daily routines and find a good skin care and make-up products that do not damage our skin. As for our hair we should start moisturizing, conditioning, and continue laying off the heat.

Confidence Booster #5

Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande has a magnificent voice, is a great actress, an is also absolutely gorgeous. Ariana is never seen with tons of make-up on, she always has natural make-up and lets her natural beauty shine through. I love how she stands with confidence and although she never does anything too crazy, but she is always bold. Ariana colored her hair magenta and she rocks it! A trait of confidence is being bold. No matter how bold you are, do something that stands out. I always felt bold when I cut my hair and no one else did, I now feel bold by doing things such as crazy nail designs. You don't have to do too much to be bold, just do whatever suits you. Boost up your confidence ladies!

Natural Beauty Challenge Week One

And the Natural Beauty Challenge begins! Week One will consist of keeping clean and starting slow. Make sure to wash your face in the mornings and when you are getting ready for bed, if you play sports or have oily skin you may need splash your face with water in the afternoon as well. Be sure to use warm water and not scrub the face, but gently rub it with your fingers or a soft facial cloth. You can also add in a good facial soap, but be sure it is a soap specifically for your face. Using warm water on acne spots will also help for acne to go away and open up pores so they can breath . When you are done, splash cold water on your face to help close back your pores so bacteria and dirt will not seep back through. As for our hair make sure ot keep it moisturized and get the split and dead ends trimmed or cut off now. Trimming off dead and split ends will instantly make your grow better and look instantly more healthy. Join the Natural Beauty Challenge chicas to start looking your personal best!

Natural Beauty Challenge!

Every girl is a natural beauty, but sometimes it tends to get a little damaged. Our hair may break off or gain split ends and our skin might break out like crazy! The challenge is to renew our natural beauty and look good for summer and the days beyond.  Week One will officially begin 2-11-12, but anyone may start whenever they feel the time is right. Sometimes we need to prepare for the beginning and with the Natural Beauty Challenge we're going to prepare by going back to the basics. For the next few days be sure to wash your face in the mornings, at night, and even in the middle of the day if it is neccessary. Also, lay off the heat and try wearing your hair up to protect it from any future damage. Get ready for the challenge to begin!

Beauty Tip #6

Soft, smooth, lusicious lips are always in. During winter days the harsh winds and dry air can cause our lips to become very chapped and rough. A quick trick to repair your lips are with a sugar scrub. Any type of sugar works mixed with a little water will peel off the dead skin off your lips. Be sure to wet your lips beforehand! Another tip can go along can go right along with your dental routine. While your brushing your teeth, brush you lips softly and your chapped lips will disappear!

Confidence Booster #3

Be fearless! Just for one day, weekend, or even an entire week take risks. Sometimes confidence is about doing the unexpected or trying something new. It doesn't just have to be a new fashion or beauty risk, but anything from rock climbing to taking crazy asking your crush to hang out. Confidence has many different sides to it and for some girls trying new things is a part! You don't even need to do anything too crazy, if your still scared or on the shy side, try reading out loud in class or telling a new joke at the lunch table. Risks are differet for everbody and so is the meaning of confidence. Whatever works for you, go for it chica. Boost up your confidence!

Hair 101: Winter Damage!

Winter can do harsh damage to any hair type and cause hair to become brittle and dry. A tip to stop winter's hair damage is condtion your hair once to twice a week. Conditioning will help soften and moisturize your hair and stop the brittle, dry feeling. During winter, hair becomes dry and can easily break off due to your hair becoming very cold and weak. Any type of conditioner that specializes in moisturizing your hair will help stop the damage and keep your hair soft and smooth. A bonus tip is to keep your hair up in protectivve styling during winter. The wind blows you hair all around causing it to be a frizzy mess! Try wearing cute hats or styling your hair in chic buns and fun ponytails. Keep your hair looking healthy year round chicas!

Confidence Booster #2

Stand straight, shoulders back, and head up! No one can just become super confident overnight, but acting confident is a start. The more confident you look, the more people will believe you are, and after your inner self will become just as confident as you look. Looking confident makes you look 3X better and even a little taller and who wouldn't want that?! Especially if your having a bad day, standing tall and feeling like the Queen of the World will definitely help the confidence meter boost up high.