Recently in Tips & Tricks Category

We’ve all been there. The manicure we’re trying to do on ourselves goes horribly awry, and we don’t have time to repaint our nails! Or the manicure we got was perfect, and we screwed it up somehow! Thankfully, those scenarios can be a thing of the past with these three tips guaranteed to keep your nails looking absolutely perfect.

Wear rubber gloves while washing the dishes.
Every manicurist has told us to do this. Seriously, it’s in their top 3 nail tips! Wearing rubber gloves while you wash the dishes keeps your nails looking perfect much longer, and it makes your skin so much better not to be in that hot, soapy water.

Clean up stray polish with a cotton-wrapped orange stick.
So, you’ve given yourself a pretty amazing manicure … and then disaster strikes. Your cuticles are covered in red/green/blue/purple/(insert other color here) nail polish. The easiest way to clean them up? With an orange stick wrapped in cotton and soaked in remover! Simply swab it over your cuticles and the excess polish will come right off.

When in doubt, start simple.
So you’ve never really been that great at doing your own nails, but you want to get better. Start small! Rather than jumping right into dark, hard to apply colors like red, blue or black, start with a pale pink or nude that won’t show up as much if you make mistakes. We recommend a color like Deborah Lippmann Fashion ($16 at deborahlippmann.com), which not only is indistinguishable if you make a mistake but is such a gorgeous nude.

One of the things I love to do most with my extensive nail polish collection is layer the colors to make my own colors. There are times when my efforts have resulted in failure, some colors just don’t mix the way you thought they would. But sometimes they result in beautiful colors that are completely custom and really quite stunning. One of my most recent combinations was Essie Mambo and Essie Curtain Call for a beautiful bronzey-nude color. 

We try out different products every day, and while we love many of them, they don’t all fall into the category of a beauty breakthrough. But these five products are so different than everything else on the market, there’s just no other way to describe them! Below, the products that are changing the face of beauty right now.

Sarah Potempa’s Beachwaver
While we’ve always had trouble mastering a curling iron, this one—developed by celebrity stylist Sarah Potempa—makes things super easy. The barrel rotates as it curls and even has left and right buttons so you can easily control the side you’re curling. Voila: perfect, beachy waves every time.
$189 at qvc.com

Boscia B.B. Cream SPF 27 PA++
Moisturizer. Foundation. Sunscreen. Want to only use one product instead of all three? This is it. B.B. creams are the new cool kid on the block when it comes to skincare, and with the ability to nourish, hydrate, protect and give color to the skin, it’s certainly easy to see why.
$38 at sephora.com

Pantene Pro-V Aqua Light Weightless Conditioning Shake Conditioner
We’re always putting way too many products into our hair—shampoo, conditioner, leave-in conditioner, serum, heat protectant. But with this bottle, the dual phase formulation (white liquid and blue liquid that mix together when shaken) conditions and protects your hair from heat styling in one fell swoop.
$6.27 at walmart.com

Luster NOW! Instant Whitening Toothpaste
Usually, we don’t really think whitening toothpastes do all that much. But this one, which is infused with Bluverite technology to instantly give the impression of whiter teeth, tastes great and really does make teeth appear whiter and brighter almost instantly. Say goodbye to coffee and wine stains.
$9.99 for a pack of 3 at lusteroralcarestore.com

Clarisonic Mia 2 Sonic Skin Cleansing System
We’ve long been fans of Clarisonic, and this new sonic cleanser is no different. Two speeds, a pulsing timer that lets you know when it’s time to switch cleansing positions, and a handy carrying case make this our new favorite member of the Clarisonic family.
$149 at beauty.com

The weather outside is no longer frightful, in fact around me, it’s downright delightful. Warmer temps usually mean more attention paid to unwanted hair removal. Unfortunately with the smooth-skin benefits of hair removal, can come unsightly blemishes, in the form of razor bumps and even, UGH, ingrown hairs. Tend Skin the Skincare Solution is my go-to for any problem that arises from hair removal. I just apply some to a clean cotton pad and swipe it over any affected areas. It works so incredibly effectively that I don’t mind the rubbing alcohol smell (nothing a little lotion or body spray doesn’t fix immediately). And I like the tingly sensation it leaves on my skin.

Did you know that you can get rid of skin puffiness with the help of chamomile tea? Expensive lotions and creams beware, this stuff does the trick nicely. All you have to do is steep some chamomile tea to a golden yellow (follow the instructions on the tea and add a couple minutes to make it stronger). Let it cool and then then soak a clean washcloth in it and apply to the skin as a compress. Let the compress sit on your skin for about 10 minutes, more if you’re feeling really puffy, and then rinse and dry the skin. If you roll up a washcloth like a hotdog you can use it to treat those pesky under-eye circles.