Friday, April 28, 2006

12 Huge Beauty Faux Pas


Are you guilty of any of the following? These are real beauty faux pas, not just because they affect the way you look, but also because they can cause people to form a bad impression of you.
  • Chipped fingernail polish. This says that you do not pay attention to details and think that others don't either. Chipped polish can spoil the effect of the most expensive clothing.
  • Chewing gum. Have you ever noticed that when an actor wants to portray someone as stupid or ignorant, lower-class or just plain "trashy", she will chew gum to get the point across. Do you chew gum? Enough said.
  • Cutting your own hair. No, you can't, even if you cut other people's for a living.
  • Not getting your long hair trimmed regularly. Can you say split ends? Do you realize how they look?
  • Wearing too much mascara. You'll look messy and as though you have spiders sitting on your eyes. It will rub or flake off if you put enough on, no matter how good the product is.
  • Wearing inappropriate shoes. Sure, they're sexy, but if you're prissing down the street in 4 inch heels with snow and ice, you will look silly.
  • Not wearing lipstick (or something on your lips). Everyone needs some colour, even in their twenties. If you're over 35, you really need it, and if you're over 50, you should be shot for going out of the house without it.
  • Ignoring your eyebrows. Okay, if tweezing hurts, have them waxed; they really are like frames for the face. Long unruly brows can make you look unkempt, and if you're getting older, you may need to fill in if they are thinning or some have turned grey or white.
  • Dyeing your hair one too-dark colour. Natural hair is not one colour. Maybe you want to be a brunette, but ask yourself if black is the right colour. Dark brown is usually enough.
  • Bleaching your hair all one colour. See item immediately above.
  • Covering all your hair with colour every time you colour your grey hair. You only need to do the roots most of the time. Covering all your hair to the ends will make the lower part of your hair hold more colour and look different from the rest of your hair. It will also cause your ends to become dry and brittle.
  • Ignoring the way your voice sounds. Too harsh? Too screechy? Bad, bad grammar? Do you associate any of those with being pretty or sexy? How you sound when you speak to people does matter. Pay attention to your own voice.
If you don't care how people see you or if it isn't important in your business, fine. But if you want people to think the best of you, you're going to have to pay attention to these problems!

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Yukky Feet? Two Products That Work

Do you have dry, cracked heels and ugly feet? I do; my heels are so dry that I sometimes get deep fissures and have to use a sealing product (I find it in the local drugstore's footcare department) to keep the fissure (crack) closed. My dry, cracked heels have been the bane of my existence for many years, and the truth is, they only seem to get worse. The vaseline and socks overnight works, but I need to do that almost every other night! Not very practical!
Luckily there are some new products on the market for people with this problem. I recommend their use highly, especially because summer and pooltime will be here before you know it. If you're like me, you like to go barefoot, and dry, cracked heels aren't only ugly, they can be a source of infection.
Two new products have come to my rescue: one is Aveeno, a lotion I regularly use on my face and body. They have a special footcare cream that is great!
The second is called "Miracle Foot Repair", and I bought it at a Bed, Bath, and Beyond store. It is produced by Ontel Products Corp, and you can visit their website at Ontel Products . It also contains an analgesic. Great news, because if you have really dry, cracked heels, you know that they can be painful as well as ugly.
Neither product works overnight, but with regular use, you can see a definite change within a week or two.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Fat Closet? Lose That Weight!


Is your closet fat? No, not you, but your closet? Can you really find what you need or want to wear in it when you are looking for something? If the answer takes you a minute to think about, or if the answer is a resounding "NO", then you need to lose some closet weight.
You've seen these articles before about how you need to clean out your closet, throw away things that you haven't worn for a year, two years, three years (depending on whom you're reading). That is so very difficult to do, isn't it? First, you don't really want to throw things away, right? Never know when you may need to use them or want them again? So don't throw them away.
My suggestions do require some purchases. First, buy some plastic bags that you can seal to put clothes in: space bags may work for some people; personally, I cannot keep them with the vacuum seal. I have found some plastic containers (bags that are supple, not hard containers) at Sears that have good heavy zippers and that are made of heavy plastic. Use these bags for those clothes that you know are not likely to be wearing, but cannot bring yourself to throw away. I have clothes that I cannot throw away or give away because: I bought them in a foreign country and they are unique; they have sentimental associations for me; I loved the way they look so much that I want to keep a reminder of the style; they are not worn out, in fact, are almost new and I just can't get rid of them for that reason.
Now, if you're like me, these clothes are crowding your closet - and they are also preventing you from cleaning or organizing it. Store them in the bags, and store the bags - in the attic, under the guest room beds - wherever. You won't be wearing these clothes, so you can store them in an incovenient place. The important thing is to
just get them out of your closet! You'll be glad that you did.
Donnachloe