How do I get rid of Dark Circles under my Eyes?

Dark circles appearing under your eyes can be the cause of several things. Aging, improper skin care, makeup, ect. SO here are some ways to rejuvenate that skin under your eyes and why they work!

1- Always Remove your Makeup at Night
we are always told to wash our face before bed, but most of us don't do it! If you don't remove your eye makeup it stains your skin over night and smears and just makes it look slightly darker. Always remove your eye makeup thoroughly! I suggest using Mary Kay Tear Free and Oil Free Eye Makeup Remover. It is gentle and gets all of it off, every time. ($15)

2- Fight Signs of Aging

Women who wait until the skin under their eyes have become puffy a loose have to spend a lot more money to rejuvinate than those who work at keeping skin firm at a young age! If you are older and trying to reverse the effects of aging I suggest Mary Kay Age Fighting Eye Cream ($28). It's hypo allergenic and oil free, and it is used to dramatically lessen the appearance of eye puffiness as well as fine lines and wrinkles around and under the eyes (seen on the left). For younger girls who are trying to prevent signs of aging I'd use the Mary Kay Daily Night Solution ($32 alone or $90 in a 4 piece set). It is a part of their Timewise Miracle Set, and is meant to be used over the whole face. While you can (and are certainly welcome to) use it over the whole face, if you use it under and around your eyes you will have taken care of the most important part of your face! This stuff is packed full of keratin, nutrients and antioxidants essential for the skin renewal process (seen on the right).


3- Throw a Cucumber on your Eyes!
Cucumbers are full of wet vitamins that help brighten skin and give it a healthy glow while reducing puffiness, plus it smells great! So throw on your favorite mud mask and put a couple slices of cucumbers over your eyes and soak your feet for 20 minutes on the weekends!

4-  Don't use Concealer to Cover Up
Concealer isn't really meant to cover up the darkness under your eyes. Instead go to Walmart and findcheap Creme-to-Powder foundation (I like Neutrogena Healthy Skin Compact Makeup, seen below) 2 - 3 shades lighter than your natural skin tone. Use a makeup sponge to dab it under and around your eyes and then apply your normal makeup.

***Thanks to Alice, Alyssa and Magic for asking this question***

What are the different types of Hair Removal Methods and which is the Best?

There are several hair removal methods, including electrolysis, and laser hair removal. But I am not going to go over those two, they are both electric ways of permanently removing hair. They are expensive and time consuming as well. Here are the simple and inexpensive methods of hair removal.

1- Shaving

Obviously you use a razor to cut off the hair at the surface of the skin. But what I am about to share with you will change your shaving-life! Razors are SO expensive! I hate it! To get three Venus razor blades it costs $13+ dollars! SO unless you want crappy bic ones that cut you up you are out of luck! Until now! Join the Dollar Shave Club. It's amazing. There are three plans you can join. All plans come with a solid and comfortable handle. You either get 5 two blade cartridges every month for $1, 4 four blade cartridges every month for $6, or 4 six blade cartridges every month for $9. I recommend the 4 blade for leg shaving! You can also set you plan to ship these blades to you once every other month! I get a brand new razor every other week for $3 a month! (I use the 4 blade and have it set to send them to me every other month) I never have nicks or cuts and I get a smooth shave every time! Plus I am saving money! What could be better!

Click Here to join the Dollar Shave Club Today

2- Waxing 

You can get full body waxing everywhere, but I usually have it done on the face. Hair is ripped out of the follicle by means of warm wax. This is best done professionally. Go to a salon or beauty school to have it done for $10 - $5!

3- Hair Removal Creams

These are okay to use on the face, but I don't recommend them anywhere else. The best to get is Sally Hansens Facial Hair Removal Cream, you can get it at WalMart. But the effects don't last as long and there are more risks involved in using it. It is more likely to clog pores and it can burn your skin and irritate it if left on for to long. 

***Thanks to Kay for asking this question***

Why is Box Color So Bad for you Hair?

Today I had this message sent to me:

"Professionals and stylists always insist that box color is bad for you hair, but I have never heard why. What's the big deal? Isn't it the same stuff as you guys use, but cheaper?"

The answer to that question is no, it isn't the same at all. I have a question for you guys. We all have different hair right? We have different hair textures, lengths, density, wave patterns, history, and damage levels. So doesn't it seem like someone with platinum blonde and damaged hair would need something different than someone with light brown virgin hair (never had a chemical texture service or a color service before)? The answer is yes!

Box companies use the most oxidation and the most pigmentation in each box to achieve the closest result every time. But this also achieves the most damage every time. And the more damaged your hair is the faster your color will fade. It will also cause you to get split ends, excessive oils or dryness, and often dandruff. A professional will asses your hair's current state and history and create a color formula using your specific hair's needs that will achieve the best result with the least amount of damage possible.

Plus the color we use has a lot of vitamins, antioxidants, and conditioners in them so we can give your hair a little TLC even during the coloring process. While box colors use a lot of cheap ingredients that leave harsh metals and alkaline deposits IN your hair even after you wash the color off! Because the color used on your hair actually stays in your hair, it is important that it is made with good and healing ingredients! Not the other way around. %75 of box color has metal in it, METAL! Do you really want metal shards in your hair. They do it because it helps open then cuticle layer of hair so that the hair color can penetrate the cortex (middle) layer and deposit the color. Professionals do lift the cuticle layer of hair using chemicals, but those chemicals will also be neutralized and then smooth the cuticle and allow it to lower down and lock in the color. Box color can't do that.

On top of that it's the know how. As stylists we go through thousands of hours of training to learn how to formulate hair color. We literally look at everything from your percentage of gray, existing tone and level, natural tone and level, and target tone and level, to your hair history, porosity, density, and more to decide what to use on your hair. And I promise you every single one of those things (and a few others) plays a massive role in how and what we formulate. You simply wont get that from a box color. If you come to me and tell me you'd like me to dye your hair exactly like another one of my client's most likely I  won't use the same formula at all to achieve the same result.

Most people who dye their hair at home do so to save money. If you are trying to save money try going to a hair school instead of a salon. They usually charge much less and all students are trained in what they are doing and are being supervised and guided by industry professionals! Is it a risk? Yes. But it is a smaller (and healthier) risk than box color. Plus if they mess it up, usually the school will fix it for little to no charge. Although when I was in school I never had a problem with it. It does take A LOT longer though. A typically 3 hour process is a 5 hour process at a school, so be prepared for that.

***Thanks to Tiffany for asking this question***

Calluses, Alligator Elbows, Shaving Cream, and Soft Skin!

So this post is going to be a combination of 4 questions I have gotten over the last few weeks, all of which I answered to the individual person but not on here!

I have had a ton of questions about and lotions and creams to get softer hands or legs. I have also been asked about shaving cream and if there is any that is better for your skin or gives you softer skin. The last question I am about to answer is about calluses. I have had tons of questions about calluses on your feet, hands, elbows, ect.

I have one product that will solve all of those problems! This is the amazing Mary Kay Satin Hands Pampering Set! It costs $34 and comes with a 3 step system. Hand Softener, Exfoliating Hand Scrub and Hand Cream! You can buy it in fragrance free or peach! It has been clinically tested for irritancy and allergies and it's dermatologist tested and approved!



You just apply the hand softener (a little tiny half-penny amount will cover both hands). Then use the exfoliant and rub it into your hands for a couple minutes, then wash it off. After, apply the hand cream! Done! It's simple and easy!

As far as shaving cream goes, apply a small amount of each step onto a small sized loofah sponge. Then add some body wash and mix them together. You can use this as the best body scrub in the world, or on your legs as a killer shaving cream!

When applying it to your heels to get rid of calluses you can apply the softener and then the exfoliant, and then place your foot into a plastic walmart trash bag, I usually leave mine on for about 10-20 minutes before washing them off in the tub and then applying the hand cream.

If you are getting ride of alligator elbows or knees apply the same way you would if you were trying to soften your hands. The only place you shouldn't use this stuff, is on your face! The crystals in the exfoliant are to harsh for your face. So go to MaryKay.com and fine a consultant near you so you can order this wonderful stuff!

***Thanks to Kay, Markey, Kirra, Angela, Shantel, and Corey for asking this question***

Why is Primer and Product Important in Hair and Makeup?

I am SO glad someone asked me this question! I am a big believer and advocate of both makeup primers and hair product! BUT both have to be professional!

Makeup Primer does several things for you. Primer sets the makeup and helps it last all day long. It protects your skin from the makeup setting in the pores and causing acne. It also protects your skin from being dyed by the pigment in the makeup. Dark circles under your eyes are often a result of not washing all of your makeup off thoroughly at the end of the day and having it stain your lids and under your eyes throughout the day and while you sleep. It also creates a smooth base for your foundation to sit on, so it removes or decreases visibility of unsightly creases, wrinkles and spots. It also controls shine and prevents flaking.

Some people feel like it seems daunting or silly to spend money on yet another product or to add one more step to their routine, but it is worth it. Think of it this way- how often do you reapply your makeup throughout the day? If I am not wearing primer and I have a full day, it's usually three. If it's a normal day it's two. But if I am using primer, whether I have one errand to run or a full schedule I am good to go all day long without reapplication. So if I don't use primer I am using 2- 3 times more makeup every day than if I do. Plus the primer does make your makeup look better!

Another question I was asked was what primer is most important. There is lipstick primer (which I never use), eye makeup primer (which is a must) and foundation primer (which I use for clients but it isn't a necessity on my own skin). The reason I don't always use it on myself is because honestly, I am lazy! I don't like applying more stuff to my face! I don't have the time! So I don't do it. But if I have an interview, a day packed with clients, church or anything else like that I always use foundation primer in the morning.  So I guess the answer to that question in my opinion in the eye makeup primer.

The reason I feel eye makeup primer is a necessity is because eye makeup is usually darker than your skin, and does stain it, but primer will help prevent unwanted pigmentation on your skin. Plus I feel like eye makeup is the thing that I am always having to reapply throughout the day, it also seems like it is the one that flakes and smears easiest. And lastly we touch and rub our eyes all the time! So there is more chance of your eyemakeup smearing.

Now hair product is a little different. Hair product protects your hair from damage and aging, and it also protects your styling! I do not like crunchy hair! I have a few clients (all with perms) who like crunchy hair, but I still always try to get them to use something other than mousse for styling! Use a Mousse Wax or something like that! But anyways, my point is that everyone just automatically goes to hairspray. Did you curl your hair? Hairspray! Flat Iron maybe? Hairspray!  Or maybe you did some fun beach waves? Hairspray! What I am trying to say is STOP! Hairspray is great for pulled back looks and teasing, but that is about it! So if you have a sleek pony tail and you want to manage all fly-aways use hairspray. Or if you are in a dance recital and your hair needs to be as hard as a rock use hairspray!

For other styles though, there are better options! If you have curls (natural or permed) there are millions of products out there that are meant to help you specifically! Most likely whether you want separation, or bounce, or you are flat ironing it, or whatever there is at least one product out there that is specially meant to aid in exactly what you are trying to accomplish! And it's going to work a whole lot better than hairspray!

Heat protecants are my big thing though! You HAVE to protect you hair. You hair is constantly getting damaged. Between flat irons, blow dryers, curling irons, the sun, hot showers, being twisted up in towels, being pulled back into pony tails, clipped up and other styling methods, your hair is pretty much done! All of those things that I mentioned before cause your hair to dry out, break off, and create split ends. So it is SO important that we use quality product to care for our hair and for ALL heat applications you must protect it!

If you want to see what primers and hair product I recommend, check out my posts:
What Makeup Products Do You Use?
What Hair Products Do You Use?

***Thanks Jenny and ChickaDee63 for asking these questions!***

How do I Control my Dandruff?

Many of us fall victim to the small white flakes of dry scalp in our hair, on our pillows and on our clothes! They make us look unhygienic and gross no matter how many showers we take! Yes, I too suffer from dandruff! But luckily I also know they best way to get rid of dandruff!

1- Scalp Treatment

These are your best friends, bottom line. Not a lot of salons do them (surprisingly enough) but most hair schools do for cheap! These treatments use a mint tea-tree oil deep conditioner to soften and condition the scalp. A boar bristle round brush is used at the roots to stimulate hair growth and loosen any dried flakes already present. This removes any present dandruff and protects, moisturizes and conditions the scalp to prevent the scalp from drying and flaking in the future. Usually a scalp treatment is $10-25

2 - The Right Shampoo

There are two shampoos I recommend. The first is Heads & Shoulders at Walmart. yes, I am recommending a drugstore shampoo, shocking I know. But it works for dandruff. Although some people who have really bad dandruff need a little something more. For those unfortunate folks I recommend Redken Scalp Relief Dandruff Control Shampoo. You can usually find this at a Salon or online. 

3 - Use Conditioner
A lot of people feel like conditioner isn't important. It's a step that is often skipped or overlooked. But your scalp needs the moisture! If you have a hard time with your hair looking greasy or oily you may want to invest in a professional conditioner (it doesn't have to be dandruff fighting conditioner) because these have less filler oils in them and focus more on vitamins and essential oils. When I say professional conditioner, or product I do not mean "Loreal Professionals" or whatever you can pick up at Sally's Beauty. In the salon world there are brands that are exclusive to salons. Aside from American Crew and TIGI, most professional product can not be found at Walmart or Sally's unless it is counterfeit or expired product. For example Redken, Paul Mitchell, Wella, Alloxi, Big Sexy, Aveda, ect. The only place you should be able to find these products are in a salon. Most salons have a retail section where you can purchase these products.

4 - Don't Wash Your Hair Every Day
This is a good rule in general but it is important that nobody who is battling dandruff over washes their hair. It dries our your scalp and causes the dandruff! My husband has the worst dandruff ever and he found that if he only washes his hair every other day (sometimes every 3 days) his dandruff is completely gone! It's like if you have a dry patch of skin on your arm, would you consistently wash it and dry it? no, you'd probably put moisturizer or lotion it often. So moisturize your scalp.

Here is a link to some of the product mentioned before
Redken Scalp Relief Dandruff Control Shampoo
Heads & Shoulders Dandruff Shampoo 

***Thanks to Jamie, Alexia, RobbieRay and PotterFan2000 for asking this question***

Let's Talk About Curly Hair

Curly Hair is different! It needs more moisture and more product to be controlled and mainatianed. Some of us straight haired gals can just get up in the morning and not touch our hair, but for frizzy haired folk it's a little different. Here are my tips and tricks for handling frizzy and curly hair!

1- Diffuse

If you have curly hair and you don't know what a diffuser is shame on you! A diffueser is an attachment for your blowdryer than diffuses the heat do it doesn't dry out your coarse hair. It promotes the curls and the seperatin of them, without creating frizz. The best diffuser is the Conair Universal Diffuser, because it fits on any blowdryer!


2- Product, Product, Product! 

The use of product is so important for people with thick and dry frizzy curls! Here are the products I use on my curly clients!

To seperate curls and give definition while controlling frizz I use TIGI BedHead Hook-Up Mousse Wax
It will define your curls without feeling crunchy! But if you like a little crunch TIGI BedHead Foxy Curls is the way to go!
If you are straightening your curls use a heat protectant. I usually recommend Iron SIlk by Redken but you'll need a little more strength to tame naturally frizzy curls. So instead I suggest Redken Iron Style 11. Trust me, you'll love it! It protects your hair from the heat, while smoothing out fly aways and its a spray starch so it act like a hairspray too!
Using a leave in Conditinoer is so important for you girls! So I recommend Redken Outshine polishing Milk. It's thick creamy formula is strong enough to withstand s=curls while giving them protection from breakage and damage!

***Thanks to Kelly, Anna, and Rachelle for asking this question***

How Can I Control My Fly-Aways without making my Hair Look Greasy?

In order to answer this question first I need to explain what fly-aways are. They are damaged pieces of hair. The cuticle (which is the protective outer layer of the hair strand) has been opened making the individual hair strand lighter, and more attracted to static than the other strands. So the best way to control these pesky fly-aways is by taking really good care of your hair. I have three recommendations for those who have trouble with fly-aways.

1- Blow Dry Differently
If you blow dry your hair, blow dry it with heat (like normal). But then after you are done use the cool setting (most blow dryers have a cool shot button) on your hair. Heat opens the cuticle layer and causes damage. If you use the cool shot button it will close the cuticle layer. AND for extra fly-away resistance point the nozzle of your blow dryer down (so it's pointing towards the floor or ends of your hair) when doing this it closes the cuticle in a more smooth and compact manner allowing for more shine and less frizz.

2 - Use Heat Protectant
If you use a thermal Straightener or curling iron on your hair use heat protectant! I can not stress enough how important heat protectant is for your hair! My favorite is Redken Iron Silk. It's lightweight, smells fantastic, and has great hold!

3 - Use a Smoothing Serum
A smoothing serum is not a leave in conditioner. It serves the purpose of smoothing down fly-aways and maintaining control, but without feeling heavy. I suggest Redken Align for people with medium or thick hair, or people with dry and very damaged hair. It is a polishing milk that comes out of a pump. It allows for a lot of control and smoothing and a little goes a VERY long way! For people with thin, fine or oily hair I suggest Redken  Sheer Straight. This allows for a lot of control but is more lightweight than Align. Align also has some conditioning properties that Sheer Straight doesn't (which is better for those with oily hair)!

The first two suggestions are about conditioning and protecting your hair. The more you do these two things the less fly-aways you'll have thus the less smoothing serum you'll need.

If at first you still feel oily while using the smoothing serums, try using dry shampoo. It can be hard to find a good dry shampoo and they can be pretty pricey, so what I do is use baby powder! It works like a charm! And if you have dark hair add some cocoa powder to the baby powder to darken it. Sprinkle the mixture along your hairline and at your part. Then rub it in with the pads of your finger tips. If you need more, you can use it, just try to keep it on the roots of your hair.

If you have curly hair consider using a mousse wax. TIGI BedHead Hook-Up Mousse Wax, dispenses foamy (like a mousse) and dries light (like a wax). It will not leave your hair feeling crunchy! 

Here are some links to buy the product suggested above online direct from Redken and TIGI! Or you can find these buys at a salon near you! 

Iron Silk Heat Protectant $16.44
Align Polishing  Milk $15.16
Sheer Straight $15.25
Mousse Wax $11.00

***Thanks to Annette for asking this question!***

What Mary Kay Products do you not Recommend?

I have had this question a couple of times and I have answered it to the individual people who have asked instead of on the blog. I guess I felt like if I said anything bad about Mary Kay it would make me an awful beauty consultant. Somewhere in my mind I have even felt like there would be some sort of Mary Kay Secret Service that would find out what I had said and kick me out! A little irrational maybe, but it's better safe than sorry! Then I realized that as a reader, follower or client I am more inclined to trust someone who can give me the good, the bad, and the ugly truth. All of it. So I am doing that today. I will give you my least favorite Mary Kay products that I don't use or recommend to people.

1- Medium Coverage Foundation
I just feel like their liquid foundation has a lot less coverage than most liquid foundations do already. But I love their liquid foundation! It's light and if you use it with the miracle set it's phenomenal! Where the medium coverage foundation, it feels like moisturizer to me. I don't like it at all!

2- Mary Kay Fragrances
I suppose this is personal opinion, I just don't like the scents. They are all heavy and powdery to me, and they smell like old lady. I do love most of the scents at Victoria Secret however, so I suppose if you think those smell to "young and fruity" that you might like these.

3- Satin Lips Set
I might really get in trouble for this one, considering that Satin Lips is one of Mary Kay's best selling products, but I am not a fan! The satin lips set comes with two little 3 oz tubes (one with a mask and one with a balm) to make your lips silky smooth! It's $18, which seems like a lot for a glorified chapstick. Plus they also have Satin Hands sets! These smell like peach (yum!) it's a 3 step process and you get about x10 the amount of product for $34. And if you use the defoliator and the hand cream on your lips (just a tiny baby amount!) you get the same results. In fact I think it works better!

***Thanks to Chelsea Taylor, LaurenLovesLions, and Felicia for asking me this question!***