Get Your Skin Ready For Spring

Now that the weather is getting a little warmer and the snow is melting we are realizing that spring is right around the corner.  Here are some tips to get your skin ready for it's great spring unveiling.

 1.  Exfoliate your skin

 After a long harsh winter you need to slough off that dry, dead skin from both your face and body.  For your face try a glycolic or lactic acid peel.  It is a gentle, yet effective method of removing dead skin.  These peels even out skin tone, are healing to help clear up acne, lightens pigmentation, and leaves skin with an overall glow.
For your body use a salt or sugar scrub while in the shower.  This will scrub away the dry skin left by the dry winter air.  Follow up with a nice shea butter body moisturizer while your skin is still moist.  Your skin will be soft and smooth and ready to be seen in a little less clothing.

2.  Sunscreen
Sunscreen is so important!  The number one cause of wrinkles and skin aging is sun exposure.  It's crucial to be using a sunscreen with an SPF 30 or higher on your face.  Your face is the first thing that everyone sees first, you should be preserving it. Even if its purely for vanity reasons, wear a sunscreen everyday - your skin will thank you later.

 3.  Have a Facial
It's great to go to a professional and have a relaxing, deep cleansing facial.   An esthetician can analyze your skin and give you a treatment completely customized to your skin's needs.  They also have all sorts of professional products that will exceptionally improve your skin, like seaweed and vitamin enriched masks and enzymes.  It's really beneficial to have a professional facial at the very least at the end of each season.

4.  Eyebrow Sculpting
It may seem pretty simple but a good eyebrow shaping can honestly take years off your face.  Go to a professional.  An esthetician will take the time to consult with you and give you a perfect arch that suits your face.  Well shaped brows open up your entire eye area and even makes your eye makeup look more polished.

 5.  New Makeup
Nothing puts a little extra spring in your step than wearing a new lipstick or trying new shadow shades.  There are great new colorful palettes for spring.  They are fantastic for both day and night.  Go for a light wash of color for daytime then add another layer with some liner for evening.  Nothing says spring more than a little splash of color.

6.  Get A Spray Tan
Definitely don't bake yourself at the beach or fry your skin in a tanning booth.  There is nothing pretty about a sunburn or overly tanned, leather looking skin.  Have your tan applied by hand with an airbrush.  You will get a healthy, glowing look.  In just a few minutes you will have a beautiful, bronze tan without the risks of cancer or wrinkles.

7.  Get A Pedicure
There is nothing worse than dry, cracked heels and unpolished toes.  Pamper yourself with a massaging, hydrating pedicure.  It will definitely put you in a happier mood to look down at some pretty, brightly polished toes.  A little toe love goes a long way.  You want to make sure your feet are ready for sandal weather!

 

Straight From Hollywood to You!

Just as hair extensions are the secret behind so many magnificent celebrity manes, eyelash extensions are often the explanation for the spidery, smudge-free eyes fluttering on red carpets and catwalks. The eyelash-extension trend, which originated in Asia and then swept through Hollywood, is now making inroads on the east coast.

Are eyelash extensions destined to become yet another essential beauty ritual along with manis, pedis and bikini waxes?
The early adopters are dancers, actresses, models and fashion executives, but eyelash extensions also are filtering down to other working women. 
Celebrities are cashing in on this look, but you don't have to be Jennifer Lopez or Kim Kardashian to get it. Eyelash extensions are designed to give anyone the look they want, and no one will even know their not your own!  You will wake up in the morning looking doe eyed and beautiful without having to do anything!  This new eyelash rage is HOT and sounds impossible, but possible it is!

The procedure itself is painless and the look when finished is out-of-this-world glamorous! In the end you will have noticeably longer, thicker, and darker lashes.

How do they work? A skilled esthetician uses tweezers to meticulously attach 80 to 140 eyelashes, one by one, to the base of the natural eyelashes (not the lid) with medical grade glue made out of acrylic resins. The fluttery, flirty finish looks natural, just… better. The lashes fall out gradually, one by one, over the next two months.  
  Eyelash extensions come in a variety of colors, lengths, and thickness. It is up to you to decide exactly what you are looking for. These lashes are just like your own, you can sleep in them, swim and shower in them; and the nice thing is this, they are designed to imitate your own lashes.  Extension wearers  love never having to apply mascara or worrying about raccoon eyes.

If you are in the Boston area and are looking for a little of your own Hollywood glam try out Lash L'Amour for eyelash extensions.  They are a brand new eyelash extension boutique in Newton Center.  Lash L'Amour also offers other posh services such as eyelash perming                                                        and eyebrow extensions.
Lash L'Amour 
55 Langley Road
Newton Center, MA 02459
617-916-1209
contact@lashlamour.com
www.lashlamour.com

Modern Wedding Beauty

You can ignore the old school rules about wedding day beauty and try some fresh ideas.

Old School: Perfectly powdered extremely matte foundation.


Now:  A more radiant complexion.  So resist the urge to use that wedding day staple - flat matte foundation - and go for something a little more natural, something that will give you more of a glow.
Then, as the day unfolds, instead of caking on more powder, use facial blotting sheets to tone down any extra shine. 

Old School:  Precisely outlined    lips.


Now:  Go for a less defined look.  Using a pencil to outline the lips before using a bold color can give a two toned 80's look.  A lip liner that is the same shade or very close to the lipstick color can be used to fill in the entire lip.  This will help keep the lipstick on longer.  Also us a folded tissue to blot and soften lip edges.  This will also leave the color smear-proof.

Old School:  High contrast French manicures

Now:  Single Shades.  Some brides are staying away from the French manicure, which was the traditional bridal nail look.  Instead they are going with sheer, light pinks and neutrals, and keeping their nails shorter.  A more natural nail look.

 
Old School:  Stiff styled, over sprayed updos.


Now: The "messy" undone updo.  Hair worn in an updo does not have to be as formal as before.  Hair used to be so tucked under, over sprayed and pinned into place.  Now hair can be looser.  The style is softer and more romantic looking.  It is modern and pretty but still looks special.

Old School:  Tight Ringlets

Now: Loose waves and soft curls.  Brides aren't going for the tight spiral curls any more.  These days when brides wear their hair down they are wearing a much looser look.  Wedding hair is much simpler and sexier.  Hairdos are much less contrived and much softer and freer.

Spring 2011 Nail Polish Trends

Here are the hottest must try nail trends for 2011.

1.  Natural Nude

 

This season there is a fresh take on the classic nude manicure.  Flesh and peachy pink tones are updated in different ways, high shine for luxe perfection, iridescent, or with a satin finish.  Nude-as-naked nails look refreshingly demure, yet provocative. Make sure your polish comes in a high-gloss formula so you don't end up looking like you have mannequin hands. 

Luckily this type of color is extremely easy to wear.  It's flattering on all skin tones and unlike darker shades it doesn't show knicks or chips easily.  By the way, need a polish that will make your tan stand out?  This is it, ladies!

2.  Cheerful Pastels

What says spring more than Robin's Egg Blue or Lovely Lavender?  This splash of color will wake you up for spring.  

This splash of color will wake you up for spring.

Purple nails are our secret weapon. Dusty purples, saturated lavenders, and shiny heliotropes look great with most skin tones.

This delightful baby blue color, inspired by the iconic Tiffany box, is one of the most popular shades and a perfect pick for spring and summer. It’s a great soft, feminine color that looks amazing on any skin tone. If you normally lean towards reds and pinks but want to reach outside of your comfort zone, this is a great color to start out with.

3.  Matte Black

 This season there is a new twist to the French Manicure, "Black on Black" a subtle but enticing combination.  

It’s powerful, elegant, iconic and very modern looking.  This is a great way to do something totally different this season. 
Actually matte colors seem to becoming a trend and some brands are selling a mattifying polish topcoat.  This will take away the shine and matte out any nail polish.

4. Metallics

The future is here with shiny metallic shades.  You'll definitely

be noticed wearing these colors.  If you like shiny things

(and who doesn't?) this is the spring trend for you!

5. Moon Manicures

 A daring manicure has become just as statement-making as the of-the-moment accessory or the season's most-wanted shoe—it's a dip into the outrageous without being over the top.These moon manis made for a beguilingly fun, retro feel: Butter London kept the vibe refined with a nude base color while model's at Ruffian sported nails with a rounded, black French tip and monogram, matching the 1940s French Foreign Legion-themed collection.

6.  Decorated Nails

From intense sparkle to a single diamond decals, these looks are eye catching!

Fun pop art graphics were featured on nails all over the runways at fashion week.

 Have a little fun this spring, and step up your boring manicure with one of these hot new trends.

Bold Eyebrows are in for Spring 2011

Along with bright, pastel eyeshadow hues a thicker, stronger eyebrow is all the rage for spring.  During fashion week there were many bushy eyebrows spotted marching up and down the runway.  So put down those tweezers and let your brows grow. 
If you've over tweezed or waxed don't fret!  There is a solution for your sparse brows, its eyebrow extensions!  Brow extensions are similar to eyelash extensions.  A single strand extension is adhered to your own brow hairs to form darker and/or fuller brows.  Your search  for perfect brows is over!  
Brow extensions are available at Lash L'Amour in Newton Center.  Pricing starts as low as $55.00.  It all depends how full you would like to go with your brows.   You can do a slight enhancement to fill in sparse areas or correct a tweezing error.  Or you can embrace your inner Brooke Shields and try a full set of brow extensions.

Lash L'Amour
55 Langley Road
Newton Center, MA 02459
617-916-1209
www.lashlamour.com
contact@lashlamour.com

Get Over The Winter Blues With New Spring Makeup Looks

Forget all the snow outside and let's talk spring....makeup that is!  You will definitely get over those winter blues with all of the new, bright, spring color trends.  One of the biggest trends on the runway of fashion week were bright, bold eyeshadow shades.
The looks shown here are all by Christian Dior but this look is something you can easily achieve at home.

 

  Choose your favorite colored eyeshadow, blue, green, pink, orange and purple work great.  A bold eye color will definitely attract some attention to your face.  Warm bright shades help brighten up the complexion, which we could all use after a long winter! Apply the bright shadow color, apply a black eyeliner close to your upper lash line, creating a cat eye look.  Then coat your eyes with black mascara. You can leave your lips bare or enhance the lips also using a red shade of lipstick.  This make up look will be sure to wake you from your winter hibernation!