Beauty tips on hair, nails and makeup you should know

While the eyes may be the window to our souls, our hair catches first impressions. Name a woman who does not strive for silky, strong and voluminous hair. There is none. 

Today, there is so much contradicting opinions and bandwagons regarding haircare products. To make things complicated, our hair is much like our skin, there isn’t one routine or one product that will fit all.

The following are some beauty tips and tricks in achieving that gorgeous mane that will make horses jealous. Doing so naturally is the best course of action in getting healthy and beautiful hair.

Just like our bodies, diet plays a crucial role in the overall health of our hair. Some additions to our diet per hair type that will add some shine and volume to your hair can be followed below:

Normal hair: Fish. Chicken and sprouts

Dry hair: Raw vegetables, brown rice, bananas, nuts and Vitamin E capsules

Oily hair: Green leafy vegetables, salads, fresh fruits and yogurt

Massaging mashed avocado into the hair is an effective treatment for frizz control. Also, you can try simmering two slices of lemon in two cups of water until it reduces in half. Then pour the liquid into a spritz bottle and use as a hairspray. This will eliminate hair static and flyaway problems. 

This may be the most important method in haircare: keeping it clean. Remember to always look for mild ingredients that will not damage the scalp. For dry hair, choose a shampoo that doesn’t strip natural oils from the hair and vice versa for oily hair.

And remember: a coin-sized portion is all our hair needs in the shower.

It might be a little unorthodox but eggs are amazing on our heads. Because the yolk is rich in fat and protein, it is a great moisturizer for the hair while the white is great in removing unwanted oils. A whole egg for normal hair, yolks for dry hair and whites for oily hair. Rinse well with lukewarm water only. This is non-negotiable.

Stress, poor diet and the environment all play a part in causing an itchy scalp. Fortunately, there are easy and natural ways in dealing with the itchiness. All you will need is 2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice, same amount of water and olive oil. Mix and massage the mixture onto the scalp and leave for 20 minutes. Rinse well. Lemon juice helps remove the dry flakes on the scalp while the olive oil moisturizes it. 

Honey is a miracle ingredient. It is not only holy grail for the face but for hair as well. To treat sun and chemical damage, massage ½ cup of honey and 2 tbsp olive oil into clean damp hair. Leave on for 20 minutes then rinse well. With honey being so beneficial in everything, the only thing left to do now is to take a bath in honey.

 While it is said that 50-100 strands of hair falling a day is normal, running our hands through our hair and seeing strands between our fingers or on our brushes is scary. The solution is aloe vera. It heals the scalp and balances pH levels back to normal condition.

Mix aloe vera gel with ½ tsp of pure lemon juice and add 2 tbsp coconut oil. Massage on the scalp and hair and let rest for 20 minutes then rinse.  

For times when a shower and blow dry does not fit into the schedule, sprinkle some talcum and alum powder on your hairbrush. Let your hair hang over your head while facing down and brush from the neck to the tip. Throw your hair back as seen in commercials and you’ve got yourself voluminous oil-free hair!

Now we move on to the face. While the beauty section in PandaGossips have been quite dedicated in skincare recently, let us not forget the activity that we love doing: makeup. Some tips to achieving that gorgeous transformation are as follows.

Wash your face with ice-cold water or rub an ice cube on the face with a tsp of honey. Meanwhile, beat an egg white until it peaks and brush onto the skin and let it dry. Wait 5-10 minutes and you will feel your skin stretching. Wash with icy cold water after and you have yourself an incredibly cheap facelift.

With your face stretched and prepped, makeup can be applied so much easier.

Make a DIY lip scrub made of coconut oil and brown sugar (in equal amounts). Scrub on the lips and rinse. For best results, use an old toothbrush and exfoliate 2-3 times a week.

Business cards aren’t just for reference but can help you achieve a perfectly clean application of mascara. Put behind lashes and it will ensure that the mascara remains on the lashes and not the eyelids.

By mixing moisturizer with foundation, you can achieve a radiant glow. It will make your foundation a little more sheer and comfortable to wear all day.

Let’s leave puffiness to marshmallows and puppies and avoid them on our eyes by sleeping on our backs. Based on beauty tips, sleeping on our backs will avoid fluid buildup around the eyes which will make it swollen come morning. The goal is to elevate enough to avoid fluid from filling our already thin skinned eye area.

It is so much easier to apply eye makeup when we do not have the problem of puffiness to worry about.

Using a bronzer and other tanning products have an instant slimming effect on the face and body. After contouring, apply bronzer to highlight the skin and achieve a healthy glow when light hits the face. Use a brush when applying bronzer and follow the shape of the number “3”, along the forehead, cheek and jawline.

The eyeliner game is definitely a hit and miss endeavor and we all have those days when it just doesn’t look right and even. In order to achieve a perfect look like it was done by professionals, you will need some gel or cream eyeliner, an eyeliner brush and a smudging brush. Dip some cream or gel eyeliner on the pointed side of the eyeliner brush and create a line of dots as close as possible to the upper lash line. Taking the smudging side, blend and connect the dots to create one smooth and even stroke. To spice things up, add some bright colored eye shadow above the eyeliner for that extra glam look.

The genius thing about this technique is that it can be used for any eye shape!

Do you hate waiting for your pedicured nails to dry? Ice water will solve that problem in an instant.

Handling a broken nail?

What you will need:

• Fingernail file
• Nail glue
• Tea bag
• Tweezers
• Scissors
• Base coat
• Nail polish
• Top coat

Clean the broken nail area. Run a file across the broken nail to roughen it up a bit. Cut a small square out of your tea bag (only the size of the nail is needed). Apply glue on the broken nail and its surrounding. Place the cut piece of tea bag on top of the nail and use tweezers to push firmly into place. Apply more nail glue to ensure it sticks. File to smoothen and then it will be ready for a base coat.

When filing your nails, do so slowly, gently and in one direction. Failing will result to weak nails that break prematurely. The direction should be from one corner moving to the center and moving forward to the other corner. This will achieve a smooth finish and doesn’t harm the nail beds.

Achieving the picture perfect skin is not so hard. With a few tips and tricks in remedies and diet, a glowing healthy complexion can be yours.

Lightly warm up some virgin coconut oil and apply on the face and neck. Gently massage for a few minutes in circular motions then leave on overnight. Can be used every night for best results. This remedy works best for dry and dull skin because coconut oils locks moisture in the skin while nourishes it with essential acids that leaves you with glowing skin.

Boil 1 tbsp of green tea leaves in 1 cup of water. When the color starts forming, remove from the fire. Coll and add 2 tsp of brown sugar and 1 tsp of cream. Apply over the face and scrub gently in circular motions. Rinse well with cold water after 10 minutes. Apply once or twice a week.

Green tea leaves preserve our skin’s collagen making our skin glow and reverses signs of aging.

Pro tip: brown sugar can be added to any remedy to transform your mixture to an instant exfoliator.

You will need 4-6 pieces of carrots, water and a small piece of ginger that has been peeled. Cut the ginger and carrot into pieces and extract their juice through a juicer or consume whole by blending. Add water to dilute the consistency. Drink the juice preferably in mornings alternately. Antioxidants in the carrots will cleanse the body from free radicals which will have an effect in making the skin healthy and glowing.

Mash one banana in 2 tsp of milk and apply on the face and neck. Leave on for 15 minutes and rinse. Rub an ice cube all over the area for a few seconds to fully close pores. To be used once or twice a week. Because of the vitamins A, B, C, and E and potassium in bananas and milk, the skin will be nourished and hydrated leaving it soft and glowing.

For a more detailed post of the skin types and proper care they need, head on over here.

Up next is some tips from the best and fabulous. Because sometimes, it’s reassuring to find out that even the famous use the same products and routines as we do.

With an explosion of tips and tricks and a little encouragement from our beauty idols, it’s time to apply what we’ve learned. Try one, try all, discover new secrets and enjoy! Nothing will be lost as we are only on a journey to make ourselves even more beautiful.