The skin care step that will give you immediate results? Exfoliation. Whether it's to bust breakouts, diminish dark spots and scars, or even smooth away lines, finding the right exfoliant for your skin will help ensure that your complexion stays healthy and glowing. Learn what type is right for you and shop our favorite picks, when you keep reading.
Blowout salons are typically easy to find, but the service can range anywhere between $35-$100. To get the most mileage out of that next hair appointment, we have the cardinal rules of extending your blowout past day two, giving it leverage to last throughout the entire week. On Kirbie: Club Monaco top.
Split ends: You can't grow long hair with them, but it's nearly impossible to prevent them. Allure discovers the top three reasons why your ends are breaking.
Even an Allure beauty editor with gorgeous, glossy, healthy-looking hair — and a bathroom full of damage-repair masks and heat-protecting serums has split ends. The lesson? Split ends happen to everyone. I asked hairstylist Ruben Colon of Sally Hershberger Salon how we can best minimize the damage. "Split ends happen primarily for three reasons," he says. Find out why, when you keep reading.
Let's face it: Wednesdays are rough. By the middle of the week, getting yourself ready and out the door in a timely manner can be almost impossible. But January Jones showed off a gorgeous, and incredibly easy, hair and makeup pairing that can pull you out of your hump day rut. Her crimson lips and textured topknot can be done in five minutes or less:
If you spend time on your makeup in the morning, it's annoying to see it smudged and smeared by the day's end. Luckily, we have the tricks to keep your look put. Find out the key products to maintaining your makeup, from the morning commute to that final drink at happy hour. On Kirbie: H&M blouse.
Greening up your makeup bag might sound a little daunting, but if you're looking to make more eco-friendly choices this Earth Day, we have some advice on how to find the right Earth-friendly beauty buys for you. Sasha Plavsic, founder of the luxury natural beauty brand ILIA, gives us her green beauty tips, when you read more.
Contouring. Just the word strikes fear into many hearts, but this technique shouldn't be left only to the pros. A simple swipe of bronzer and highlighter in the right places can bring light to your best features (and detract from others). All face shapes are beautiful and unique in their own right, but artists try to give the illusion of a more oval face by creating shadows on the face. "The key to a perfect contour is proper blending and remembering that light accentuates the face, while shadowing recedes it," Floriane David of Make Up For Ever Academy says.
In order to contour at home, choose an eye shadow, foundation, or bronzer that is about one shade darker than your complexion, and grab an angled brush. Get your personalized guide to contouring based on your face shape when you read more.
Ever walk into a Sephora, take one look at the rows of makeup brushes, and feel so overwhelmed that you don't know where to start? Take a deep breath . . . we've got you covered. Our makeup brush cheat sheet breaks down every brush you could think of, for any use there is. Trust us, we've done the research. Get schooled when you keep clicking.
Well-polished fingers can enhance your hands, but the removal process (whether it's with an acetone or acetone-free formula) can quickly dry out your nails and cuticles. The easiest way to lessen the damage is to coat your fingertips with cuticle oil before you even open a bottle of polish remover. Yes, before.
Apply Essie Apricot Cuticle Oil ($8) all over your cuticles to seal in moisture with cotton seed and soybean oils, and then take your polish off. Once you've cleaned up your nails with polish remover, add another dose of cuticle oil to your nails and skin. If you're planning on doing a fresh coat of polish, then just use nail polish remover or alcohol to swipe the nail clean before applying your base coat. And once your polish is in place, give your nails one more shot of cuticle oil for the ultimate in dry-nail prevention.
Buying makeup at the department store can be a complex ordeal. Do you have to buy something after a free makeover? Are these products really worth it, or better bought at the drugstore? How do you avoid leaving with products you don't want? We answer all your shopping questions, so you'll leave with just what you need and nothing more.
