Beauty Tips

Beauty Tips

for their insider know-how and grooming wisdom. We asked our burning questions like how to choose the right eyebrow color, how to make foundation thicker, and how to keep mascara from clumping. Read on for 30 beauty tips from stylists and experts—and you can actually use them! 

Beauty Tip #1

"Put aluminum stop in the freezer. Once chilled, apply cold sheets of foil to your face. The cold halt will reduce puffiness and tighten pores."

Beauty Tip #2

"You can make your own concealer in a nip by mixing a bit of translucent powder into liquid foundation to solidify it. This also works well if you do not like heavy concealer."

Beauty Tip #3

"If you have thirsty, penetrating or dull-looking skin, you can use raw honey as a facial mask. Raw, unpasteurized honey contains mild alpha hydroxy acids, such as gluconic acid, which can exfoliate, promote collagen renewal and increase bounciness.

Not only does raw honey exfoliate, the natural sugar in it also retains moisture. Slather raw honey all over your face as a mask and leave on for 30 minutes. Rinse with warm water and pat dry."

Beauty Tip #4

"Eyebrows should start soft in color, become dark in the middle (arch) and then again become lighter at the end. Brows should not be the exact same color and strength through the entire brow. It’s good to use your choice of pencil or powder, and then go back with a lighter powder and sweep through on top. This will highlight the brow hair as your natural hair is highlighted by light."

Beauty Tip #5

"Blondes must use a grey eyeshadow to fill their brows."

Beauty Tip #6

"I am a huge fan of beautifully curled lashes and I have several heated eyelash curlers from ones I special order from Japan to the wonderful Dior heated curler.

But if my battery wears out in these curlers and I still want the heated effect, I take my regular eyelash curler and heat it with a blow-dryer for about five seconds. Test the curler on your hand before using it on your eye. The heat acts like a curling iron on your eyelash hairs and gives even the straightest lashes staying power.

Remember, use waterproof mascara first before using a heated curler of any type. This works to help keep the curl. It's like hair spraying your hair before using a curling iron."

Beauty Tip #7

"When putting mascara on, start with the bottom lashes. Most people put mascara on their top lashes first, and then tilt their head down to do the bottom ones.

The problem is usually that the mascara isn't quite dry yet and you end up with little black dots all over your beautifully applied eye shadow. Doing it in reverse order assures a mess-proof application."

Beauty Tip #8

"To add extra volume and drama to eyelashes you have to start off by curling them. Then apply a coat of mascara to each eye, and add a light layer of loose powder using a brush across the entire top and bottom lashes. Give it a few seconds and apply a second layer of mascara. Repeat these steps until you achieve your desired effect."

Beauty Tip #9

"Powdering the eyelashes prior to applying mascara helps mascara to go on in a more feathery, non-clumpy way."

Beauty Tip #10

"Having trouble with mascara smudging and flaking, but you don't want to damage your delicate lashes with waterproof mascara every day? Many women put a clear coat over their manicure to protect it. Why not do the same with your mascara?

Let your favorite mascara dry completely, and then put a coat of clear mascara over the top. This simple extra step will eliminate flakes, and your mascara won't budge or smudge until you take it off!"

Beauty Tip #11

"One of my personal favorites is to tint the tips of lashes with a nontoxic black Sharpie, especially in the summer when the tips of lashes seem to bleach out or fade from sun and chlorine.

Gently and carefully brush over the tips of lashes to darken them without adding any bulk or stickiness. Lashes look darker and longer and super natural with no mascara!"

Beauty Tip #12

"Want sky-high voluminous lashes? Here’s my insider trick. When applying mascara, I like to use a playing card as a guide. It sounds crazy. But trust me, it works!

First, cut an arc in the card. Then place it against your eyelid so that the cutout portion is against your lash line and your lashes are in front of the card. This trick allows you to add some major oomph to volumize your lashes without creating a mess and getting mascara onto your lids!

Next hold the wand vertically against your bottom lashes and sweep mascara onto your lower and inner lashes.

Lastly, using a clean spoolie brush with soft bristles, comb through to separate the lashes without clumping your mascara, and direct those luscious lashes exactly where you want them to be."

Beauty Tip #13

"Put a heavy layer of Vaseline around the eyes when flying, and keep the dark sunglasses on. This will keep eyes hydrated on long flights. Just remember to blend before landing."

Beauty Tip #14

"The secret to perfectly blending eye shadows is to prep lids with loose powder first. This will allow the colors you place on top blend smoothly and flawlessly."

Beauty Tip #15

"If you say smokey eyes, most people think black. But it's actually a shading technique, not a color. You can use any color combination of light to dark to achieve a smoky look once you have this sexy routine down.

The first rule of thumb is to apply all shadow from bottom to top; start at the lash line and blend upward. You want to layer on the lightest shade first, from the natural crease of your eye to just under the brow bone.

Then build on this base with a deeper color along your top and bottom lash lines. Finish the look by lining the inner rim of your eyes with a creamy, smudgy liner pencil, and top with a generous coat of mascara."

Beauty Tip #16

"I love mixing skin care into makeup, to alter the beauty looks slightly. This season, I took rejuvenating serum and rubbed it into eye shadow on eyelids for a luminous, lived-in look."

It’s great to learn how to make foundation thicker with serums and moisturizers. It will provide extra hydration without making the foundation look caked or like a mask you put on.

Beauty Tip #17

"Applying bright cream blush under tinted moisturizer or liquid foundation will give cheeks that beautiful, flushing, radiant-from-within look. I love using bright raspberry cream blush underneath liquid foundation. Go more with the blush at first, since it'll be blended down after."

Beauty Tip #18

"To ensure the longevity of your lipstick, apply and blot three times so the lipstick builds in layers, allowing it to adhere better to the lips."

Beauty Tip #19

"Most women line their lips by applying liner starting from one corner and going in a circle. But they don’t realize this actually makes their lips look asymmetrical. In order to properly line your lips, start by lining the very center of the top and bottom lips, and then the outer corners of the top and bottom lips.

Connect the lines starting from the outer corners, and drawing in one fluid motion for each section to the center of the top and bottom lips. Finish by filling in the entire lip with liner."

Beauty Tip #20

"To prevent winter dryness and cracking skin, apply hand cream immediately after washing, to slightly damp hands. This will lock in moisture."

Beauty Tip #21

"Once a month, I leave polish off of my nails for a night (I know, it's hard!). I paint my natural nails with cuticle oil to help them stay healthy and strong. It's just like how you'd use a hair mask."

Beauty Tip #22

"When nails are dry, they become brittle like dried wood and they break so easily. So think of your nails like furniture; when you oil them, your nails become fresh and look stronger."

—Jin Soon Choi, nail artist and founder of Jin Soon Natural Hand & Foot Spas in New York City and JINsoon nail polishes

Beauty Tip #23

"If you want to have matte nails, but don't have the product for the look, you can put water in a pan and boil the water. After polishing your nails, while they are still wet, wave your hands over the steam and this will instantly mattify the polish."

Beauty Tip #24

"Eye shadow can be used as a quick-fix to hide roots! This works best on dark hair with light or gray roots. Simply match your hair color to a shade of shadow, and brush it on."

Beauty Tip #25

"To get soft, curly waves in the morning, put your hair into two big braided pigtails the night before. Release the braids the next morning and shake it off."

Beauty Tip #26

"To flatten flyaways, spray hair spray in your hand, and then rub your hands onto the actual can of hair spray while they are still damp. Then quickly (so it doesn’t dry) use the can as a rolling pin from the center of the head down, which will create a smoothing effect and flatten the flyaways while distributing the hair spray."

Beauty Tip #27

"To remove product buildup from your hair, mix a tablespoon of vinegar in your hand with your favorite shampoo and rub through your hair. Concentrate on applying from the ends up and leave in for three to five minutes for beautifully clean hair with amazing shine!"

Beauty Tip #28

"After rubbing your favorite body lotion on your body, apply the remaining lotion that's on your hands into your hair for beachy-looking locks. Lotion also makes a great hair fix when there are no hair products about (for example, at your boyfriend's house!)."

Beauty Tip #29

"In a pinch, there have been moments when I use antiperspirant deodorant as a mattifier, instead of powder. I gently blend the application with my fingers in hot spots. The texture of the deodorant is one that has a matte quality to it, but it also helps stop or significantly reduce perspiration."

Learning how to make foundation thicker can sometimes call for weird tactics. It may seem strange to mix your foundation with deodorant, but it’s a great last minute way to help prevent a face full of sweat and melting makeup.

Beauty Tip #30

"After securing your ponytail, squeeze a little gel on a hard toothbrush and comb it along the hairline in the same direction that the hair is pulled backed. This helps to keep the hairline looking really clean and stay that way. The toothbrush should be cheap, as they are harder and have straight bristles."