Everyday Baby Steps

We're about midway through the summer. Does your hair feel like mine, coarse, dry, and dull? I recently realized that I should have been taking better care of my locks from the very beginning of summer. After swimming at the pool and playing outside, the damage from so much chlorine and sun is really starting to take its toll. But it's not too late to repair the damage. Here are some things you can easily add to your routine to bring back your hair's shine and vitality.

Wear a Hat

Your mom probably told you to wear a hat in the summer to protect your scalp from sunburn. This is still a good idea, but it's also smart to cover up your hair to protect it from sun damage. While SPF is great for protecting your skin from the sun's damaging rays, it doesn't work the same way with hair. A sun protectant in hair products like shampoo and conditioner would only be washed away when rinsed out. Therefore, the FDA has not allowed for hair products to display an SPF level on their packaging.

Moisturize

Though you won't find an SPF hair product, you can look for ones that contain a protectant like sunflower oil. Also, check for moisturinzing and conditioning ingredients to help restore moisture lost to sun and surf. You'll want to apply protective products liberally and regularly in order to maximize their benefits. I use KMS California Solperfection After Sun Shampoo, which contains coconut oil, grapefruit extract, and caffeine, all beneficial to hair health. I recently started using Healthy Sexy Hair's Soy Renewal. This product came in My Pretty Pink Box and has sunflower oil and argan oil to protect hair. Since adding these to my regimen, I have noticed a difference in the condition of my hair. You may also want to try using a leave-in conditioner containing natural ingredients like keratin, wheat germ protein, or jojoba oil to condition your hair. The product's effectiveness wil be enhanced by the summer heat.

Give It a Soak

Rinse hair with clear water before and after swimming. Wet hair will absorb less chlorine than dry, and it makes sense to rinse away as much of the chemical as you can after taking a dip. Bring along a bottle of fresh water with you expressly for this purpose. I usually fill a bottle or two with water to keep us hydrated throughout the day, anyway.

Take a Break From the Burn

You may want to take a few days off from your electric styling appliances like blow dryers, curling irons, and flat irons. That kind of heat just strips away moisture and damages your hair's cuticle. I recently got a cute new style that requires lots of straightening, but it also looks nice with my hair's natural curl. So I skip the iron at least every other day, which helps to mix things up a little, too.

Good luck keeping your hair in tip top shape this summer and have fun. Stop by Total Beauty and check out their quiz to find out what's the best shampoo and conditioner for your hair for a little help on deciding which hair product to buy.

Do you have hooded eyes, also known as "bedroom eyes"? Madonna does, and so do I. Hooded eyes refers to eyelids that are not easily seen because the upper lid "hoods" or obscures the lower part the eye lid. Applying makeup to this kind of eye shape can be tricky. Before learning the technique I'm about to share with you, it always seemed pointless to even put eye shadow on because you could hardly see it. Do you have this problem too?

I learned how to make my hooded eyes stand out as a consultant with Mary Kay, so I'll first point you to a great demonstration video on the Mary Kay website. Go on and check it out (press the blinking green play button beneath the illustration to start the video), then come back here for a little more in-depth explanation of the application technique.

Did you learn anything from the video? Basically, the main point to remember is that you want to concentrate the darkest or accent color toward the outer part of your eye lid. You'll notice that you'll use very little of the lightest or highlight color. That's because you want to maximize the darker shades of the midtone and accent colors to make the lid appear to recede. This makes your nonexistent lids appear more noticeable.

Watch the video a few times to get the hang of it, then give it a try. If you're anything like me, you'll be so excited to be able to see your pretty eye shadow that you'll want to explore with tons of new colors! Don't be afraid to play. It's exciting to see the possibilities. Let me know how this application technique works for you.

Photo Courtesty of Skin Deco

Everyone's been asking how I'm managing to avoid wheat and milk in my diet. It certainly isn't easy, otherwise I would have stuck with it ages ago. But it is possible to eliminate wheat and dairy products from your diet with a little planning and creativity. Thankfully, my allergies aren't as severe as some, people's but they do cause me to feel fatigued and to get frequent headaches. I'm feeling so much better since eliminating the trigger foods, and I believe I am actually losing weight! So here are some of the ways I'm sticking with it this time.

Variety

Any diet is hard to stick to if you have to eat the same thing all the time. While I am eating ALOT of salads these days, I try to mix it up by adding different things to my salad. Last night, I had a taco salad with leftover taco meat, salsa, and tortilla chips. Of course, I had to skip the cheese and sour cream, but it was pretty tasty without them. Sometimes I have tuna or chicken salad on a bed of lettuce. I'll add almonds, raisins, or apples for a bit of sweetness.

Texture

No, I don't just eat salads! When I'm craving something crunchy or salty, I'll eat tortilla chips or rice cakes. You have to be careful about things like flavored rice cakes though. Some of the most common milk derivative ingredients that people may not be aware of are whey, casein, and caseinate. Check the ingredient list carefully.For example, I can't eat even the cheddar flavored rice cakes, but the caramel ones are good to go.

Another thing I like to snack on now is cereal. I can eat Corn Chex or Rice Chex. Kix are also good; they have a new honey flavor. I've tried adding soy milk, but this is something I just can't get accustomed to. So I eat it dry, and it provides a nice breakfast with a piece of fruit or a crunchy snack during the day.

Flavor

A girl's gotta have chocolate. And, believe it or not, I can. One of my favorite indulgences is Pierre's chocolate sorbet. Yummy. And it contains no dairy. Even my kids love it. It's creamy and rich, giving you the illusion that you're eating ice cream. You can also buy a frozen treat made from soy instead of cream. Almost as good. I like the chocolate peanut butter kind best. I mix it with soy milk and a scoop of real peanut butter in the blender for a really good smoothie.

Another favorite of mine is cheese. While I can no longer snack on cheese and crackers, I've found a great substitute. Veggie Cheese is quite good. My recommendation is to get the pepper jack or other flavor, as it masks the texture a bit. I add Veggie Cheese to my omelettes, and you'd never know the difference.

Convenience

Finally, as a mom, probably the most important thing in sticking with a change in eating habits is convenience. I've started eating Lean Cusine dinners. They're really surprisingly good. I bought them on sale, and I was a little nervous because I bought ten. I'm so glad I did. Being able to grab one and put it in the microwave and have a healthy meal in five minutes keeps me from grabbing something that doesn't fit in my diet. I had to be careful when making my choices, but I was able to find ten different meals containing no wheat or milk. Remember, variety is important.

There are lots of things you can do to improve your diet, even if allergies aren't an issue for you. I've found that making these substitutions isn't as hard as I thought it would be. And the extra effort is definitely worth it. I think I may even be able to button my old jeans soon!

I used to hate lipstick.  What a waste of money!  I'd put it on, and it looked great. . . for about a minute, five tops.  Then my poor lips would be pale and pitiful all over again.  But I've finally learned a way to make it stay.  From Mary Kay.  Yes, I'm a poet. . .

Anyway, back to my life-altering makeup tip.  The secret is in the lip liner and what you do with it.  Don't, I repeat, do not draw the thick line around the edge of your lips or, even worse, outside your natural lip line to make your lips seem fuller!  Yuck.  Not natural, not pretty.  Instead, use the liner to fill in your entire lip, acting as a base for your lipstick to adhere to.  It's like foundation, for your lips!

Once your lip liner's in place, apply a complementary color of lipstick.  First, put lipstick on the upper lip, from the middle to the outer edge.  Then the other side.  Next, sweep the color on your lower lip from one side to the other.  A light application should be sufficient.  Finally, if you'd like a bit of shine, add lip gloss - either clear or even a coordinating shade.

Don't be afraid to play with color.  Adding the lip liner base is not only practical for maintaining your lipstick's staying power, but it also adds a little variety to your daily lip color.  Mix it up a bit, try these tips, and you'll be loving lipstick again, too!

How many of us have been wearing makeup since our teenage years, but still feel like we don't know how to apply it?  Before my adventures with Mary Kay, that was definitely me.  But now I've learned lots of makeup application techniques and will share them, periodically, with you!

The first thing to know is that there are tons of techniques, and not one of them is necessarily the right one.  There are different methods for different eye shapes.  Also, different makeup artists will recommend their own application tips.  I'd like to start with a simple application of three colors, for a standard eye.  You can see a demonstration here - I'm sure you'll want a visual for this, but I'll try to explain it as well.

First, take your lightest shadow, or highlight, and sweep it on your browbone right underneath your eye brow.  Next, your midtone shadow will go on your eyelid from the inner corner out.  Finally, take your darkest color, the accent, and apply in the crease from the outside in.  This is probably opposite from what you've been taught, but doing it this way puts the darkest application of shadowon the outer corner, which changes the look dramatically. 

Give it a try to see if this way works for you.  You can check out the rest of the application tips to find a fabulous new style for your specific eye shape.  Have fun!