6 Fast Morning Beauty Ideas for the Busy (College) Girl

The following is a guest post by Angelita Williams. Although the title includes the word college, the tips will appeal to all the fun-loving women out there who like to get more beautiful really fast.


6 Fast Morning Beauty Ideas for the Busy (College) Girl

Image via 123rf.com.

Every college girl knows that mornings are not the easiest. With all-night study sessions, parties at all hours, and loud dorm halls, getting up in the morning and putting yourself together is something than many college girls just don't have time to do. But, instead of just throwing on a hoodie and some slippers to slink away to your morning classes, try some of these quick and easy tips to looking your best, even with no time:

1. Shower the night before.

Instead of waking up early, showering, blow-drying and then actually getting to your morning routine, try showering at night instead. It's great for your hair because it has the time to dry naturally, and it's great for your body because you can wake up much later. Simply shower late at night and put your hair up into a high pony tail or top knot. Then, take it down in the morning for relaxed waves, or run a straightener through quickly for a cool, boho messy look.

2. Splash cold water on your face pre-makeup. 

When you're out of time in the morning and suffering from a long night (or too many cocktails) the night before, it's almost inevitable that you will wake up with puffy eyes and an inflamed complexion. Instead of wasting time applying creams or oils, just splash your face with ice-cold water and gently towel dry. This will instantly wake you up and reduce puffiness so your makeup looks better.

3. Use a tinted SPF moisturizer, not foundation.

Don't waste time in the morning struggling with messy foundation that needs to be applied perfectly. It's much better for your skin to apply a light SPF moisturizer that has a bit of tint. This will add some glow to your complexion and cover ruddiness and discoloration. It will also protect your skin from morning rays as you hustle to class.

4. Focus on brows and lashes first.

Forget eyeliner, eye shadow and the like when you're in a morning rush. The best way to define your eyes quickly is to focus on your brows and lashes. It's also the easiest way to look great fast. Simply define your eye brows with an angled brush, some brow powder, and brow gel. Then put on a couple coats of mascara to make your lashes extra-long. Your eyes will pop without any time-consuming liner.

5. Use an SPF bronzer to sculpt and protect.

Another way to look good on the go is to focus on sculpting your face, rather than spending time on blush and highlighters. Grab a good bronzer, especially one with a mineral SPF, and use it to outline your face, under your cheek bones and down the sides of your nose.

6. Grab a lip gloss and go.

To finish off your look, you can simply do the final step as you walk out the door. Grab a sheer nude lip gloss and apply it as you walk to class or wait at a stop light. This will add that extra touch and give you a nice morning glow, without the mess of liner or lipstick.

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Angelita Williams works as a freelance blogger covering hot topics in www.onlinecollegecourses.com and college lifestyle. Feel free to contact her at angelita.williams7@gmail.com.

Do a Salon Manicure at Home with Fun Spring Colors

Image via bodycare.becomegorgeous.com

We all want to have some flashy, stand-out nails every once in a while, and nothing is more popular this spring that a well-groomed set of nails in a hot coral, pink, blue or mint green. The only problem is, if you’re going to go for a pop of color, the finished result really needs to look professional to get the right look, and that can cost you big bucks. If you’re low on cash, or just burnt out with heading to the nail salon every time you want a change of color, try picking out your own favorite spring shades and learning how to do it yourself!

First, you need to select the perfect nail color. Check out collections from American Apparel or Sally Hansen for easy-to-find inspiration.

Next, get your supplies together:

Polish in a spring color

Nail file

Cuticle Sticks

Cuticle clippers

Mixing Bowl

Clean towel

Exfoliating scrub (like a sugar or salt scrub)

Cuticle cream

Lotion

Nail polish remover

A flat soft-bristle makeup brush (for removing excess polish)

Finally, follow these steps for a perfect spring salon manicure, totally at home!

Step 1: File

Find a nail shape that you want to try from a magazine or online. Take a look at the shape and figure out how it will correspond with your natural nail. Make sure to contour everything to the shortest natural nail on your hands, so they will all be the same length. File inward with soft, short strokes until you get the shape you want.

Step 2: Moisturize Cuticles

Using your cuticle cream or oil, dab a good amount onto the cuticle of each hand. Then, use your fingers to rub it in.

Step 3: Soak Hands

Fill up your mixing bowl with warm water. You can add any sort of hand soak you like, such as bubble bath, bath beads, or body wash. Some people even use dish soap, and that works fine, too. Immerse your hands in the warm water, and let them soak for at least five minutes, preferably more.

Step 4: Exfoliate

After your hands have soaked for a while, take them out and slather them with your exfoliating scrub. Scrub your hands gently. Then rinse your hands thoroughly under tap water and pat dry with a clean towel.

Step 5: Shape Cuticles

The trick here is to push your cuticles as far back as they will go, so you can get the most bang for your polish. Using the cuticle stick, gently push your cuticles back, all the way around the nail. If you have hangnails or really thick cuticles, cut them (gently!) with your cuticle clippers. What you want is an effect that looks smooth, as if you have done nothing to your cuticles.

Step 6: Moisturize

Once your cuticles are smooth and groomed, you need to lock in the moisture with a nice lotion or oil. Pour a quarter-sized amount onto the palm of your hand and rub in, focusing on the cuticles. Once your hands are thoroughly moisturized, dry off the nail beds to prepare for polish.

Step 7: Polish

Before you start, use a cotton ball to dab some nail polish remover on your clean nails. This will get rid of any lotion you have left coating the nails. Then, start with a basecoat and paint a thin layer on both hands. Let dry. Now, you are ready for color! Paint two coats on each hand. After they have dried, finish with a high-shine top coat.

Step 8: Clean Excess Polish

This is the trick to getting that salon-quality look. Using your flat brush, dip the brush into the bottle of nail polish remover. Gently trace the outer corners of your nail bed to lift off polish that has gotten onto your cuticle area. Use the end of the brush to scrape of excess. Try to create a rounded effect that looks the same for each nail.

Once you’re done, let your nails dry fully, and you’re ready to go!

Author Bio:
This is a guest post by Nadia Jones who blogs at accredited online colleges about education, college, student, teacher, money saving, movie related topics. You can reach her at nadia.jones5 @ gmail.com.

How to Cure Winter Blues by Spending 30 Minutes at Your Hairdresser

Image via charlottemagazine.com

Maybe I’m missing some fundamental female genes, but I have never liked going to the hairdressers.  I am just not the biggest fan of sitting and waiting for ages where meaningless chatter and gossip surround you as some terrible music comes blasting from the stereos. 

And I definitely don’t like people I just met to let me tell them my life story, and pout when I don’t like doing so. Oh, of course there is the painful part of sitting for what feels like hours, while you have nothing to do as you count down the seconds until your hair is finished. 

Well, given that I’m a tad hyperactive, don’t like to do just sit and wait, and absolutely hate techno and computerized pop music, you might think that I am not the best candidate for writing a post on why going to the hairdressers is a practical and mood-lifting idea for the winter. But bear with me for a second.

I’ve recently realized that the hairdresser experience doesn’t have to be annoying, boring and bank-account emptying. All you have to do is to look around, research a little and find a hairdresser close to where you live that won’t make you go bankrupt, where the blow-dryers surpass the music and the employees respect your privacy and let you talk as little or as much as you want to.

I found such a place in my neighborhood. They don’t list a hundred reasons why my hair needs more work. They don’t ask about my private life. They are friendly but respectful, and the prices are affordable. Sure, I still have to sit and look at my hair for 30 minutes, but at least it doesn’t feel like hours, and the guy who blow-dries my hair is actually not bullshitting: when he blow-dries, my hair stays blow-dried for a couple of days- without spraying my hair as if we are still in the 80s.

I get it blow-dried, because even though my hair is straight, it gets frizzled really easily. At least it stays in shape, looks good and makes me feel better about myself. I’ve never been a fan of the cold, rainy and windy winter days and great hair takes the blues away.

Beauty Tip: When in doubt, get a haircut and dye the new do!

I’ll admit this is a very conventional tip. But then again, this blog is for all fun-loving women and we’ve nothing against the conventional methods that are easy, fun and put a smile on our faces afterwards.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m big fan of long hair. I have always lusted after the shampoo-commercial hair but my hair is never that voluminous, thick and long –even after a visit to the hairdresser’s.

So when I want to give myself a sexy make-over, I choose the quick path. I have a nice and modern cut (covering the cheeks and not the neck is usually a great length – easy to style & dry). Then I pick a color that I know looks good on me.  This time I went blonde, with the unintended effect of strawberry streaks (remains of previous coloring).

And I feel great. And I do look pretty decent. I should take some pictures of the new do and ask for your opinion too.

But remember, when it comes to looking and feeling awesome, your opinion comes first.

The Only Main Style Tip You'll Ever Need: Hide the Flaws, Accentuate the Assets!

Kate Bosworth. I think she topped it in the middle. What do you think? Image via refinery29.com

If done right, this style tip works all the time. How do I know? Because whenever I apply it (and trust me, I try to apply it whenever I can), I am either complimented on my body or asked if I have lost weight, or both.

What I do is I hide my flaws and accentuate my assets. Now, everybody has a different body type. I am tall and while I have around 6-10 pounds extra, I look in shape. When I put on weight, the fat is inclined to start growing in my bell first and goes to other places afterwards, so  my whole mission while getting dressed is to hide it as well as I can. 

The assets? It’s different for everyone but I have big breasts and long, lean legs. I especially love mini-skirts because anything but a turtleneck seems to give me a cleavage, even when I am trying not to have fun. But i especially love tight, short skirts. Well, short as in covering my butt totally. I wear them all year, and black is as gorgeous color whether you choose to go with leggings, tight pants or pantyhose. 

So that is what I do: show the legs, accentuate the breasts with a decent bra and hide the belly at all costs. Yes, I don’t look all that great in a bikini and I am going to be working on that But put in any short, tight legwear and I look just fine.

The tip: Show the good, hide the bad and feel & look just gorgeous.

Tip for Beauticians and Cosmetics Store Assistants: Practice What You Preach!

The make-up sales people should have good make-up skills. Plain and simple. It won't help their sales if they are looking like they just dropped in a pool of paint! Image via grinningplanet.com

Recently, I was at a cosmetic store, trying to buy some necessary make-up, and hopefully without going over my budget. But you know how these shops are. Every single fault of your skin is brought to attention under the oh-so-unflattering white lighting. I have always been lazy and frankly it’d be nice to have some efficient product take care of my skin- doing most of the work. So yeah, I am more of the type to go for the concealer to hide the skins under my eyes rather than taking care of my face with masks regularly. 

Oh, and I do have dark circles under my eyes. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with my skin because those circles have been there for a long time. It doesn’t matter how well or little sleep I get, they are just there (so you have tips for me, go ahead and leave them in the comments. I’ll be more than grateful). Anyway, after I got my mascara and being totally put off by my skin, I wanted to look for a concealer. The sales-girl was suggesting that I should use almond oil for my eyelashes. What? Remembering to put on  mascara is enough trouble! And then she suggested, if I were to use a concealer, I should put it on after putting on a layer of face cream. What face cream? I am not using anti-aging stuff just yet. My dermatologist had suggested it is ok if I started them at 27 and so I am thinking, there is still a little time (OK, I am turning 27 next year). The sales girl was certain I was already too late. Of course she has a commission-based job.  So we started talking to another sales girl who started talking about a set which would easily set me back $100-150. OK, there is no way I am taking advice from someone 1) is paid according to what and how much she sells and 2) horrible make-up skills. 

I should elaborate on the second thing a little. She was wearing too much make-up for a day job.  The powder she was using wasn’t exactly her color and you could so obviously tell it was powder.  And she wasn’t pretty. At all. Isn’t make-up all about hiding your faults, accentuating your good qualities and well, making you look prettier? Anyway- I wasn’t about to take skin advice from a girl whose skin wasn’t exactly glowing with radiance. So no, of course I didn’t buy the expensive stuff. I am seeing my dermatologist next week and get some brand recommendations from her. 1) She is not on commission. 2) She is an expert 3) and yeah, she is also pretty and knows her make-up.

Just like you wouldn’t take relationship advice from a serial cheater, you shouldn’t take make-up advice from just any store employee. I am just saying. If she was such an expert, she would apply her skills on her face first. So unless you fall in love with the looks and make-up of the sales-girl, just stick to your own gut and well, budget.