The Ultimate Beauty Guide

We know the rules: The ideal is to visit the salon for a trim every six weeks (or is it?). But whether it’s an issue of budget or life getting in the way, sometimes six weeks becomes eight. Or longer. Here’s how to go longer without visiting the salon (and hide the evidence when we really need to).

Create some texture.

“Create casual texture on hair that’s a bit longer and grown-out by using a styling and finishing spray, like American Crew Alternator ($11.40). Spray liberally through slightly damp hair and use hands to push hair off the face for lasting versatility and a controlled messy finish for both men and women with any length of hair,” says Paul Wilson, artistic director at American Crew and co-owner of Art + Science Salon in Chicago.

Updos are a great redo.

Hair plagued by split ends and way too much over-grown shag? Consider a fun updo. “I like a low, pulled-apart fish braid twisted into a loose knot. You can achieve this by doing a two-strand plait,” says Janelle Chaplin, O&M creative director. Plaiting from the outside and going inwards, braid the hair in tight, then pull it apart at the end, twisting it around itself and securing with a grip. Finish with a light spritz of O&M Original Queenie ($25).

Use hot tools to create a different look.

Using a flat iron or curling iron to create curls or a nice little flip at the end of straight hair will give the hair a more polished look. “Hair will look more vibrant and hide flat dull hair,” says Marta Wilczynski, a stylist at Style Bar Hair Bar & Day Spa in Palm Beach.

Add some volume.

Flip your hair under, spray with dry shampoo and brush from under as you blowout. Hair in need of freshening up is often sad and flat looking. Adding volume can give new life to an old style.

Trim your bangs.

This sounds counter intuitive, right? But no. Most stylists will give you a quick bang trim for free—that is, if you go to them for your regular stylings, of course. While you can hide that you need a trim, you can’t hide that those bangs are in your eyes. If bang upkeep is too much for you, maybe you aren’t a bangs sort of girl. Consider compromising with side-swept bangs. They grow out very easily, and don’t need constant upkeep.

Experiment with different styling products.

We live in a world where styling products are abundantly available. “Play around with a sea salt texturizing spray. They build volume while creating a messy lightweight texture,” says Wilczynski.

Use a hydrating deep conditioning hair mask.

The right product can help to further prevent split ends in between salon visits and even conceal them. Using a conditioning hair mask helps to improve the appearance of unsightly split ends, leaving your hair luminous.

Learning how to make your hair grow faster naturally is easy, you just have to know the right methods. By simply avoiding conventional hair products and changing a few of your everyday habits, including poor dietary choices, you will see a radical improvement in your hair's length and health. Read on and take notes.

Don't wash your hair everyday:

Washing your hair everyday can strip away protective oils that help keep hair healthy. Try washing your hair only 3 to 4 times a week. It may seem oily at first, but your scalp will adjust in no time. You can also use a dry shampoo to help dry up excess oil. Wash your hair in colder water to help fight frizz and keep your hair shaft smooth and healthy.

Dry your hair with care:

When you get out of the shower, gently squeeze excess water from your hair and pat dry with a soft towel. Don't rub or massage wet hair with a towel. Comb your hair with a wide-toothed comb to work through tangles. Try to let your hair air dry as much as possible!

Avoid chemicals:

Commercial shampoos, conditioners, and styling products contain a lot of chemicals that make hair look good in the short term, but dry it out and damage it in the long term. Choosing healthier products will prevent your hair from getting dull and dry while its growing out. Use shampoo that doesn't contain sulfates. Also avoid conditioning products that contain silicone.

Eat well:

You are what you eat! Eating a healthy diet will help hair grow faster, thicker and glossier. Be sure to get plenty of vitamin B, found in fruits, veggies and nuts to keep hair thick and strong. Protein is the building block for your hair so eat plenty of meat, fish, legumes and leafy greens. Omega-3s like salmon, olive oil, nuts and avocados can help keep hair glossy and smooth.

Take vitamins:

Biotin (5000 mcg a day) promotes healthy skin, hair and nail growth. Prenatal vitamins are also packed full of folic acid and other nutrients to promote healthy hair and skin.

Let your hair down:

Avoid hairstyles that are tight and can cause breakage, like tight ponytails or buns.

Massage your scalp:

Give yourself a scalp massage 2-3 times a week to for 10 minutes to increase blood flow to the scalp and promote hair growth.

Trim split ends:

It is important to trim your hair when you are growing it out, but only trim when necessary. It is okay to skip your 6 week trim if your ends are strong and healthy!

Time is a luxury that gets harder to afford by the day. Case in point: that leisurely hour you set aside to primp for your big event suddenly, inexplicably shrinks to a mere ten minutes (it’s okay—we’ve all been sucked into an Instagram black hole). Before you cue the familiar panic, know this: with a few key tips and tricks, you can still arrive looking fresh, polished, and chic.


Concealer - Time: 30 seconds

Hide dark circles and blotchiness by applying concealer in a few key areas. Start by dabbing a brightening concealer like Giorgio Armani’s Maestro Concealer ($50) under and in the inner corners of your eyes, then apply it down the bridge of your nose and anywhere else where there’s redness. No need to blend just yet you’ll do that in the next step.


BB Cream - Time: 1 minute

Now is not the time for perfectly applied foundation. Instead, grab a BB cream like Dr. Jart+’s Black Label Detox BB Beauty Balm ($36) or Smashbox’s Camera Ready BB Cream ($39) and blend it into your skin using a beauty sponge or your fingers, the sheer formula will prevent any telltale streaks. Make sure to blend in your concealer as you apply!


Brows - Time: 1 minute

A dead giveaway that you rushed through your beauty routine? Unruly brows.  Take a minute to tame them by brushing through them with a clean spooly. Then, set them in place and add a touch of color with a tinted brow gel like Anastasia’s Tinted Brow Gel ($22).


Curl + Mascara - Time: 2 minute

Skip the eyeliner and fake wide-awake eyes instantly by curling your lashes and adding a coat of lengthening mascara like Benefit’s They’re Real! Mascara ($23). Hold a business card up behind your lashes to prevent mascara from getting on your eyelid. No Q-tip cleanup needed!


Blush + Lip Tint - Time: 1 minute

Dab a berry-colored gel blush, like Tarte’s Cheek Stain ($30) in Flush, into the apples of your cheeks with your fingers, then blend out with an angled blush brush. Pat the rest of the stain onto your lips for a subtle kiss of color.


Bun It - Time: 4 minutes

Today will not be the day you showcase a head full of luscious, perfect curls—but that doesn’t mean your bedhead can’t be tamed. Gather your locks into a sleek sock bun, or spritz a texturizing spray, like Oribe’s Dry Texturizing Spray ($42), through your ends and pin them into an upside-down topknot. Messy chic at its best!


Spritz + Smile - Time: 30 seconds

On your way out the door, spray your pulse points with an energizing fragrance like Burberry’s Brit Sheer ($50) or Marc Jacobs’ Daisy Eau So Fresh Delight ($75). Then, take a deep breath and smile—arriving at your destination with grace is always the last (and most important) step.

Hi Everyone, We haven’t all been blessed with naturally bold eyebrows, but the beauty of makeup is that we can fake our way to thick, lust-worthy brows with a few steps and a blend of products. Manicured eyebrows really define the face and can be the focal point of your look or played down when not wanting to distract from a bold lip or striking cheek. While trends will always change, there will continue to be a need for mastering how to get a full brow (Particularly when we’re older, because as we age our brows thin). So how do we achieve bold brows that would put Cara Delevingne’s to shame? With a little grooming and product


Step One: Tame those brows

Before you tweeze (if you do tweeze in between visits) brush the brow hairs straight up with a spooly (mascara-style) brush. I often spray alittle hairspray onto the spooly so that all the hairs stay in the right direction. Trim any long hairs or unruly hairs that wont follow the natural grain of your brow. Use two different paits of tweezers. The first, a slant tipped pair for thick hairs, and a needle nose pair for shorter, finer or hard to grab hairs.

Do not go overboard. Less is more. Remember that.

Step Two: Shape it up

Before plucking, use a white eyeliner pencil to draw the desired shape of your brows as a guide. Never, ever, go to thin. Once you’re there it takes a hell of a long time for them to grow back. If you are unsure about your shape- get your brows shaped professionally and then just maintain the shape they decide on for you. Otherwise you can also get brow stencil shapes- I have a few from a ModelCo kit that give a lovely, full brow shape. (You can buy the ModelCo Eyebrows Designer Brow Kit ).

Step Three: Fill em

There are a few key techniques here and the most important is matching the right colour to your brow, skintone and hair. There is nothing worse than badly filled in brows!

Some general guidelines for hair colours:

• For Blonde, match the darkest parts of your brow to enhance your brows and make them bold, without looking like you have caterpillars on your face.
• If you are older, or going gray, use a taupe color to avoid dullness.
• For redheads, go with sable.
• For Brunettes, opt for one shade lighter than your hair to avoid looking too harsh.

Step 4: Touch It Up

After all the above steps, its time to add definition and shine. Use a clear brow gel, or even a light touch of Vaseline to keep those hairs and colour in place and add a little lustre.

The bare minimum of maintaining healthy hair is shampooing and conditioning regularly, but do we really know as much as we should when it comes to keeping our locks in their best possible shape? We asked the experts for their top tips for healthy hair: Here’s what they had to say.

Add an oil or serum to your routine

“There are a thousand reasons hair gets dry, ranging from color treatments and heat tools to exposure to sun, chlorine, and saltwater. Adding an oil or serum will help guarantee that your hair is well-nourished and properly conditioned,” says John Frieda International Creative Consultant Harry Josh, whose clients include Gisele Bündchen, Miranda Kerr, and Amanda Seyfried. He loves the new John Frieda Frizz Ease Nourishing Oil Elixir ($8.97), which contains argan oil and vitamin E, used on its own or “cocktailed” with other styling products.

See a professional

Boxed dyes picked up from the drugstore for under a tenner make it really, really easy for us to decide to change our hair color on a whim. Resist the impulse and make a point of planning ahead and seeing a professional colorist. PRAVANA Stylist Cynthia Valentin says, “You may skimp on budget when DIYing your hair color at first, but going to a pro will give you the results you want without the need for excessive coloring or color correction, which will result in more money out of pocket and more damage to your hair.” Ask for a color treatment that’s low in ammonia and rich in protein, like PRAVANA ChromaSilk Hair Color. Rita Hazan Salon NYC stylist Cristina B. also recommends visiting a salon regularly for other treatments, like a protein treatment to restore nutrients to hair compromised by heat styling and coloring. She says, “[Treatments are] just as important as your highlights and haircuts.”

Constant vigilance

Hair can sustain damage even while you’re sleeping. Cristina endorses the use of a silk pillowcase to prevent breakage—the seemingly luxurious practice is actually grounded in a constructive truth. Kien Hoang, Oribe educator and owner of Umbrella Salon in San Jose, CA, has an additional tip for those with long hair: wrap it in a low bun that’s comfortable to avoid nasty tangles in the morning. He also recommends a light oil, like Oribe Gold Lust ($48), on the ends to provide extra overnight care.

Do a hair mask once a week.

Moroccanoil’s Global Creative Director Antonio Corral Calero recommends that we adopt a once-a-week hair mask ritual alongside our daily hydrating styling products for optimal hair health in order to “deliver deep conditioning and restorative benefits to improve hair’s texture, elasticity, manageability, and shine.” Antonio uses Moroccanoil Intense Hydrating Mask ($30) on thick, coarse hair and Moroccanoil Weightless Hydrating Mask ($32) on fine or limp hair. For extremely thirsty locks, he recommends using a mask twice weekly and decreasing use over time as the texture of hair improves.

Invest in the right tools

A powerful, salon-quality hair dryer and a good brush “will completely change the texture of your hair without breaking or frying your strands,” says Mark Hampton, global ambassador for TONI&GUY Hair Meets Wardrobe. While we’ve heard time and time again that frequent brushing is detrimental to hair’s health, Rodney Cutler, owner and creative director of Cutler Salon, says otherwise. “Brushing out your hair with a natural boar bristle brush, such as a Mason Pearson ($160), helps keep the scalp and hair healthy. Brushing your scalp is also key to stimulating hair growth and will help to distribute natural oils that can build up on the scalp.”

Shampoo less frequently

Cutler recommends only washing hair a maximum of three times a week to avoid stripping the hair of natural oils, which can lead to dryness, damage, and breakage. For those who exercise frequently, or just “miss the feeling of washing it,” he assures us that we can still rinse well with water and condition the ends between shampoos.

Avoid heat styling

“Heat causes hair to dry out or can even burn the hair follicle, causing a great amount of damage if you aren’t careful,” Cutler warns. We know, we know, but how are we ever to part with our beloved hot tools? We don’t have to, provided we air dry as frequently as possible and use a product with heat protection like Redken Hot Sets 22 Thermal Setting Mist ($29) to both minimize damage and strengthen hair whenever we blow dry, curl, or straighten.

Trim it

We know now that we don’t necessarily need to get our hair cut as frequently as previously thought, but Cutler advises, “When you first decide to grow out your hair, make sure you cut off all damage and split ends. A split end can end up splitting all the way up the length of the hair, leaving it weak.” Says Edgar Parra of Sally Hershberger Downtown, “It’s not about cutting a lot every time, it’s about cutting a little bit every time. Think of it as hairstyle maintenance.” So, as a general rule, cut what needs to be cut, when it needs to be cut, and go from there.

Today the occasional curling iron burn isn’t much compared to what some of the women in history went through to attain the perfect makeup look. Today, we’re sharing five crazy beauty facts that will blow your mind and give you a whole new appreciation for modern-day makeup.

1. In the 1400s, “Beauty is pain” had a whole different meaning. Pale, untouched-by-the-sun skin was all the rage for the women of the 15th century. If women weren’t naturally gifted with a porcelain complexion, they’d do everything from using leeches to “blood-letting,” a dubious medical practice of withdrawing a small quantity of blood to cure or prevent illness. Some women even used a white lead product called Venetian cerus, which caused hair loss and, in some cases, death. Yikes.

2. Neon nail polish is illegal in the United States. Love sporting shockingly bright polish on your digits? You (and your nails) might be in for a surprise: neon nail polish is actually illegal in the US. So if your polishes are labeled as “Neon”, they are most likely imported or not truly made with neon colorants. The reason? It’s less dramatic than you would think: Neon colorants have simply never been officially registered with the FDA.

3. The trend of tanned, golden skin was an accident. In the 1920s, fashion designer Coco Chanel accidentally got a sunburn while visiting the French Riviera. When she arrived back home, the sunburn had faded into a tan. Her fans started adopting this look, hoping to emulate the luxurious lifestyle of this chic and stylish woman.

4. Lipstick used to be made with crushed jewels. Giving a whole new spin to the term “luxury lip color,” it is said that ancient Mesopotamian women used to crush semi-precious jewels and use them to decorate their lips. Since then, lipsticks have been made with everything from red beetles to fish scales — giving a whole new meaning to the term “all-natural.”

5. Wearing expensive makeup used to be against the law. “Lex Oppia” was a law established in Roman times that restricted not only a woman’s wealth, but her displays of wealth — and this included any expensive “designer” makeup items and fragrances imported from China, Germany and Gaul. Thankfully, it was abolished 20 years later.

With so many hair removal methods available, it’s hard to know which one is best. We spoke to brow experts to get their opinion on the best way to get sculpted brows.

“The choice between threading or tweezing should be based on individual needs,” says Browhaus Brow Architect Michelle Wu. ”The difference is in the result of the final brow shape. Tweezing results in more defined brows as it removes the stray hairs strand by strand to give them a clean, precise look. Threading is able to remove even very fine hair strands. Threading is highly recommended for those who prefer a natural look.” 

Brow guru and makeup artist Ramy Gafni offers up a different opinion. “Dread the thread! Threading is what was done years ago before tweezers were invented. Today we have indoor plumbing and tweezers, so why revert to threading when tweezing is far more precise and hygienic?”

And what about waxing? “Waxing is fine for the lip and below, but is too harsh on the delicate skin around the eye area,” says Ramy. “With waxing, there is also a lack of precision, which can ruin an eyebrow.”