Beauty Tips

The hair is often neglected when it comes to beauty tips. And yet, it’s so obvious.

Debate a combination shampoo/hair conditioner. Although it saves time, that may not always be the best idea. Although speeding things up is a great idea, especially on Monday mornings, it’s not always a good idea. Specifically, by focusing on spending less time in the shower, you are spending less time cleaning your hair, and not performing a deep cleaning, which may end up detracting from the hair’s health in the long run.

Don’t forget to brush your hair every so often. Besides the obvious therapeutic reasons, it untangles your hair, and makes it softer. Also, there is the issue that removes loose hair, and helps stimulate the scalp, which ensures hair growth and knocks out deep-rooted allergens.

Dyeing can be fun, and makes a definite statement. Before you dye your hair, decide on what kind of statement you are trying to make: business or casual. With casual, you have a lot of decisions to make, but try to avoid patterns, especially complicated ones. A subtle one should be okay (say, light brown circles on blonde hair), but more complicated patterns should be avoided, as they usually don’t come out as good as you would hope. A simple stripe of color, however, should do you well, especially if it matches your eyes. However, try to avoid dyeing it to match your wardrobe. Although it makes for some stunning results, you should avoid dyeing your hair more often than absolutely necessary (it can make your hair brittle).

As for business, dye your hair towards the dark rather than the light, and limit the colors you use to something boring. Receptionists can ignore this, but managers shouldn’t. Highlights are always good, and should be encouraged.

Permanents and bleaching should be really debated. Although they can create some really nice hairstyles, they do tend to break down the hair, which can lead to some really bad hair days. Although the damage is temporary, and can be healed, it’s better to not do the damage in the first place.

Don’t be afraid to try something interesting with your hairstyle; definitely change it, however subtly, every few months. Schedule a hair day; it can be fun, relaxing, and can even be a little thrilling. It can definitely get you out of a rut. Your hair will be with you a long time; enjoy it!

Tags: hair care, beauty tips

[continued from a few days back]

The ideal look is one that makes you noticed, but allows you to slip into the background. Try to avoid dress that is too ethnic; it’s fine that people accept you on your terms, but don’t force them. A sari may be a very beautiful dress, but it’s not for the workplace; it limits movement, and it draws too much attention to you. Short skirts should also be avoided; the shorter the skirt, the cheaper you look, and you should never look cheap enough to be rented by the hour.

Ties should be debated, as women don’t need to wear them. If you do, go short; if you can get away with cute, why not go for it? A single color tie is best, one with a simple pattern is okay, but avoid fun ties at all costs; the idea is to be taken seriously, and a fun tie usually detracts from that.

Also, don’t wear a cologne-based perfume; try for something more floral. Floral perfumes don’t usually triggering allergies and thus have people asking you to leave, and they also tend to be more memorable; if they remember your fragrance, then they will likely remember you as well.

Remember that your natural appearance is part of your appearance; skin should be either dark, white, or tan, and you should be somewhat athletic. This is not because you need to adhere some outdated model of classic beauty; it’s because you learn discipline at the gym, and that discipline will show itself in a number of ways. Besides making you a better leader, it also makes your posture better, allows you to move much more efficiently and gracefully, and makes you more aware of your surroundings. Not only are those admirable qualities in anyone, but they also add to attractiveness.

By keeping in mind how you appear to others, you can create an appearance that sets you apart from others, giving you a slight trace of the exotic, which further enhances your appearance. And appearance can be everything!

Something to worry about in the workplace is your make-up and how you dress. You should always be professional, but not all women dress that way.

The first thing you should do is check your make-up. It is far better to apply too little than too much; too much make-up can actually be scary, whereas too little is an actually decent natural look. Avoid foundation; at the very least, don’t use it the same as laying it on too thick. If you have tan (as opposed to dark) skin, have fun with the eye make-up; it creates a sense of mystery. Try to use enhanced natural colors on lipstick; enhance what you have, don’t be a freak show. Use light blush; it gives you that healthy glow, whereas heavy blush makes you look like a clown.

A consideration for black women: DON’T USE MAKE-UP. A powder to take care of a lot of glow, definitely, but you shouldn’t need much more. Not only do you need to go much more extreme just to make it seen that you are wearing make-up, the natural look usually works better. You can get away with some basic eye make-up, and maybe some lipstick a shade redder than your natural lip color, but not much more.

Too much jewelry should be avoided; you should wear no more than ½ ounce per foot of height per decade of age. The older the woman the more she should be able to demonstrate her wealth; at the same time, it’s rather arrogant for a teen-age girl to wear a lot of jewelry simply because she hasn’t earned it (most of it is from gifts and allowance rather than what she bought personally). In any case, you simply don’t want to wear too much due to security concerns; too much jewelry slows you down and makes you a target. Also, too much jewelry detracts from you as a professional; it’s a form of overcompensation for women, and if overcompensation from guys is ugly, so is t from women.

Dress conservatively; the idea is to actually be taken seriously, and women that wear as little as possible usually aren’t. Also, you should always dress with an eye towards the worst; when it comes to running for your life from a a potential assailant, it’s always best if you can actually run. Shoes are your choice, but ask yourself one question before wearing shoes: How fast can I run in these? Fast shoes also tend to be comfortable shoes, and most people tend to stand or walk a lot at work, so it’s not as silly as it seems.

[to be continued]

Okay, so let’s give you your first beauty tip: Assertiveness.

It’s sounds weird, but your personality really does affect your appearance. Assertiveness is arguably the one personality trait that influences it the most. It’s a trait that allows you to look at yourself truthfully, and in a way that allows you growth. By being able to look honestly at yourself, you are able to see that some of the ways that you’re thinking of altering your appearance were wrong, and that others may work better for you.

For example, some women wear too much make-up. This is because they use the make-up to hide parts of themselves that they aren’t proud of, or are least happy with. Instead of accepting themselves for who they are, they hide it under pancake make-up. This is true for men and women; some men may substitute facial hair instead. (Not all men hide behind beards, but some do.)

The amount of clothing that you wear is also affected. Strangely, less assertive women wear less clothing, hoping that the extra skin will draw attention away from areas that they would rather hide. The more skin showing, the more likely they can hide what facets of their appearance. With men, the opposite is true; hiding takes a more literal manifestation, as the man tries to hide behind layers of clothing. A more assertive woman wears more clothing because she has nothing to hide, whereas a more assertive man hides less of himself.

Assertiveness will also allow a healthier mindset, which affects who you deal with stress and enables you to eat healthier. Those that deal with stress with more aplomb tend to be more attractive, and healthier eating habits obviously makes you more attractive as good health usually does.

Being assertive is just simply being who you are, and accepting that. You then ask yourself what you can do to be better, and act on it. You are true not to who you are, but to who you can be. You see the flaws within yourself, and fix those flaws. You decide firmly on what you can change about yourself, in a positive way, and accept that which you cannot change. Above all, you realize that those around must follow their own path, and that you have one that may or may not have them on it. But hopefully will; there is a difference between being arrogant and being assertive…

What makes a person beautiful?

Sometimes it’s something as simple as clear skin. A pair of sparkling eyes. Or a pleasant smile.

The problem with beauty is that it is by nature ephemeral, and requires constant upkeep to maintain. Painting your face, plastic surgery, exercise, you name it; the maintenance is not cheap in terms of time or money. However, it requires an inner luminescence to be evident at some point to go beyond mere beauty and into true beauty. Ultimately, if beauty is your true target, then you need to look inward as well as outward. Like a lot of things, to be truly beautiful, you need to move beyond beauty.

Nonetheless, this blog will strive to show you ways to make yourself more beautiful, and in ways you wouldn’t expect. Any column can tell you how to apply lipstick; this one shall explore beauty a bit more than that, and have some fun with the concept of what beauty is.

The thing to bear in mind is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Even the best maek-up in the world won’t make you beautiful if you don’t know how to apply it. Worse, the best tips won’t work unless you have some measure of beauty yourself. The question is, how do you get that small measure? This blog will answer these, and many other questions.

And, yes, there will be tips for guys. When of the most interesting trends is metrosexuality, where guys are just as fascinated by what it takes to be attractive as women are. Also, as webcams become more popular even guys that don’t deal with make-up want to know how to look good. Hopefully, those issues will be dealt with as well.

The bottom line is that beauty tips can apply to anyone, and that anyone can benefit. This will be a fun exploration, and we will have a lot of fun.